Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Max really didn’t have time to deal with Mister Mxyzptlk.

He really, really didn’t have time to deal with the intergalactic being that liked to fuck up his life every once in a while.

Or, well, he simply didn’t want to deal with Mister Mxyzptlk.

He had just flown away from Sergio and hidden away in his Fortress of Solitude (like a coward, helpfully provided by the snarky voice of Isack).

And he was losing his mind. Just a little bit.

Max thought that things between him and Sergio were at a point in which he could feel comfortable with the older man’s rejection.

He thought that his (embarrassing, according to Yuki’s familiar sass) crush would be treated with annoyance at worst, and be reciprocated at best.

But then he was punched by the very same man he was hoping would return the kiss, and the blow hadn't hurt. What hurt was that Sergio found Max disgusting to the point that a kiss had such a visceral reaction.

And Mister Mxyzptlk appearing in his life just at the right ( worst ) time was the last thing he needed.

“Ah, I see.” Mister Mxyzptlk was floating around, giving Max one of his signature manic grins. If Max wasn’t already familiar with the Joker, he would’ve found Mister Mxyzptlk unsettling. After the Joker, not many people managed to rattle Max. Or well, Superman. “A broken heart? The Man of Steel, nursing a wounded heart, what a romantic notion.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Max really didn’t want to deal with Mister Mxyzptlk. With his luck, and his ability to just read Max (you kind of are an open book when it comes to a certain bat, Pato would say, with a knowing smile), it was bound to be a disaster.

Whatever the all-powerful being had in store, it was bound to make Max want to retire. Permanently. That manic smile never promised anything good.

“There’s always time for love!” Mister Mxyzptlk started to float around Max in circles, slowly picking up speed. “And for Superman, love must be essential! How could he be aware of the horrors of the world without some love to balance it out?”

“I didn’t say anything about love.” Max tried to not let his utter dismay show through his voice. By the way Mister Mxyzptlk was looking at him, it obviously was in vain.

“Then, why the isolated refuge to take care of your broken heart?” Mister Mxyzptlk was starting to circle too quickly around Max, almost to the point that he wasn’t able to keep up with the colourful figure.

“It’s my Fortress.” Max thought that ignoring the ‘solitude’ part of the name was appropriate. He didn’t need to give Mister Mxyzptlk any more advantage. “Can we do this another time?”

“No.” The all-powerful intergalactic being just kept on spinning around Max, and if he was honest, it was starting to get him a bit dizzy. And nauseous. And really, Max should’ve been more focused on the fact that the air around them was starting to feel charged with power . But really, no one could blame him, because Max was still reeling from the rejection and– “I will solve your problems, Man Of Steel! Oh, yes. Yes, I will. Can’t fight you properly if you’re not completely focused.”

Before Max could even comprehend what Mister Mxyzptlk was saying, he felt terrible.

The feeling put his emotional turmoil to shame. It was as if every single cell in his body was boiling, and for a terrifying moment. Max considered the possibility that he would die at the hands of Mister Mxyzptlk. But then, as he was experiencing the feeling of choking, of oxygen not completely reaching his brain, it all stopped.

“Oh but look at you!” Max blinked. What? “Aren’t you adorable? Oh, yes. I just know that mystery heartbreaker will adore you. Yes, and all will be solved.”

What.

Max really didn’t know what was going on. He opened his mouth to ask, or really, just express his confusion, but all he heard was a familiar bark.

What the fuck.

“Don’t worry, Kal-El.” Mister Mxyzptlk was hovering above him, and Max instinctively buckled his knees to fly up. That’s when he noticed that he didn’t have two knees. He had four. What. The fuck. “It’s a simple spell, really. A consciousness swap. Your own body is in limbo, with your little dog’s consciousness in that body. And it can only be reversed by a true love’s kiss.”

Now.

Max was already feeling completely miserable.

But now?

He truly wished he could just die.

Really, things would be easier if he could just steal whatever Kryptonite Sergio had in store and cut himself open in the middle, for his guts to spill out.

Because at that point, Mister Mxyzptlk was asking for Max to spill his emotional guts out again , and he had barely survived the first time. It would be relatively easier for him to spill his literal guts out in exchange of his consciousness in his own body.

Apparently, Mister Mxyzptlk disagreed.

“Now, don’t use those lethal puppy eyes!” Mister Mxyzptlk reached down to Max, and before he could move out of the way, the all-powerful being had him in his arms. It was a bizarre experience. It felt like he was a plush toy, too small to really do anything other than squirm on Mister Mxyzptlk’s grip. “It will be rather manageable, with your adorable eyes. Just use them against your beloved and all will be solved. A kiss to your nose and then you’ll be on top form!”

Max growled.

It really came natural, more natural than barking. Barking felt like he was screaming in a wrong way, but growling was familiar, somehow. (Not somehow, he had spent hours trying to imitate the subvocal growl that Sergio used whilst speaking as Batman. Every time Max was able to hear past the vocal modulator, a chill ran down his spine with something close to desire. He hoped that if he figured it out, he could provoke the same reaction from Sergio.)

“Now, who do we call?” Mister Mxyzptlk ignored Max’s pretty impressive growl, and reached over the Fortress of Solitude’s main control. The intergalactic being didn’t hesitate to snoop around the list of people allowed in, and he made an amused sound at seeing the short list. Of only three. “I assume your dearest must be this so-called Batman. I don’t think your dog is on the receiving end of that level of affection. So, to Batman we send you!”

Mister Mxyzptlk put Max down, and before Max had the chance to run away, the all-powerful being pressed a button.

Soon enough, Max felt the familiar pull of the Zeta-Tube.

Poor Krypto’s body, never having used the Zeta-Tube as transport to the Watchtower, immediately felt the tax of the Zeta-Beam, and Max fell asleep.

Before losing completely his awareness, Max heard Mister Mxyzptlk’s voice whisper something that sent dread through him.

“And you better come back with your darling.”

Max was rudely woken up by a very hyper Lando.

It took him a couple of blinks before completely regaining consciousness, and by then, Lando had already taken a trip around the Watchtower calling all the main people on board.

Soon enough, Max found himself overwhelmed by the assault on his unusually sharper senses. Max was aware that his senses were sharper than the average human’s, yet, Krypto’s senses somehow managed to throw him off. He wasn’t used to regulating that huge input, and for a moment, he felt the urge to buckle his knees and fly away.

Then, as he was curling up on himself, and resisting the urge to growl at the people around him, he heard a heartbeat. A very particular, steady heartbeat. One of the few heartbeats he had memorized, a heartbeat he could identify no matter the circumstance.

Sergio’s heartbeat.

Max hadn’t realized, but he practically threw himself at the older man.

He heard the heartbeat against his ears, and Max felt nothing but pure, unadulterated happiness. Not only because he could hear Sergio’s heartbeat as clear as he had ever heard, but also because Krypto’s particularly sharp nose managed to capture some subtle hints on Sergio’s scent that Max had never smelled before.

Like how bits of Fernando, Pato, Esteban, Yuki, Emely, Alice, Isack and Hamda were clinging to Sergio. They were not only over the familiar scent of leather, gasoline, earth and Fernando’s polish coming off from the Batman armor, but they were on Sergio’s skin. As if it was not enough that Sergio carried his family in his heart, he had to carry them in every way that was physically possible.

It was such a small detail, something that he had never noticed before, that made Max practically wiggle with excitement.

Oh, Raoh.

The downside of being in a canine body, was that there were things Max simply couldn't control. And the fact that he was practically wiggling on Sergio’s arms like the overexcited puppy that Max felt like, was going to be something he would carry to his grave. If Pato ever found out (or, God forbid, Esteban), he would never live it down.

Or, for the matter, if any of the Justice League ever found out, Max would have to leave Earth and vanish himself to the Phantom Zone and–

“Okay…” Sergio’s voice hit Max like a train. If Max, in his own body, thought that the subvocal growl was the sexiest sound to ever reach his ears, the depth of Sergio’s voice through Krypto’s sharper senses was enough to send Max into another dimension. “Lando, it’s been almost four days, but I don’t think the dog knows something.”

“Not that he could tell us.” The amused voice of a Lewis Hamilton still in his Lantern uniform reached Max’s ears, and a surge of irritation flashed through him. For some reason, Lewis smelled strongly of Sergio, as if they had been recently close together, and Max couldn’t help the growl that escaped him. “Wow, what? Wait, that’s not Krypto.”

It was a relief for Max that everyone was too busy paying attention to Lando, and how he couldn’t seem to stay still. Well, more than usual. Because if Lewis, of all people, managed to figure out that Max was trapped inside of Krypto’s canine body, then everything would be over. Max would actually have to vanish to the Phantom Zone.

“Lando, I really think you should go back to your base.” Sergio’s voice reached Max’s ears, and instantly everything faded into the background. That voice, the way he was able to basically swim in it, was all Max needed to exist. “I think I know why Krypto is here.”

Max was in heaven. Sergio’s hands were all over behind his ears and over that ridiculously amazing spot on his neck. It was the most perfect sensation Max’s overwhelmed mind had ever felt. Even without the direct contact of the older man’s hands, the worn leather of the suit felt fantastic against his fur.

Oh, Max was going to give Krypto so many more scratches after he was back in his own body. It was just too good to be true.

“Here, read it.” Sergio’s voice said, and Max resisted the urge to whimper when the hands suddenly stopped. Honestly, that was not fair. Max knew what heaven felt like and now Sergio was just taking it away?

Max was too immersed in his own frustration that he didn’t notice that, indeed, a whimper escaped him. Instantly, the scratches behind his ears returned, and Max then became a bit too immersed in that sensation.

A bit too much, to the point that he didn’t notice when Sergio stepped into his own Zeta-Tube.

That time around, Max had the foresight to burrow his head in the space between Sergio’s arms and his firm chest. And what a magnificent way to fade away.

Chapter Text

Sergio Pérez is Batman. Or is Batman Sergio Pérez?

At that point in his life, he truly has no idea.

He's been The Bat of Gotham for longer than he hasn't, at only age 34. It's like asking if Robin ever was someone else than Patricio O’Ward. Well, no longer. At least his eldest hasn't been in bright green, yellow and red for a while.

If anyone asked Sergio, the twinge of happiness and something else when he saw his pride and joy (shut up Esteban, Pato is not the favourite) draped in black and that familiar navy blue was nothing more than that. It wasn't wistfulness, it wasn't.

(Shut up, Esteban.)

Back to the point.

Sergio has been Batman for longer than he's been Sergio Pérez.

Stupidly rich, dead parents, a pretty smile and a crippling addiction to adopting strays.

And lately, he's realized how… Alone he's felt lately.

He would never say it to his kids, god no. He would never let them think that they weren't enough for him, that he wasn't proud of them. He might be a bit of an ass when things get out of control, but he's been taking care of the kids for longer than he hasn't, so he knows better.

And he would rather be poisoned by Scarecrow and Ivy and Joker at the same time than ever make Fernando doubt that he wasn't enough.

No, it wasn't about his family.

It was about fucking Superman.

Fucking Superman, and his endearing smile, the way crow's feet were already forming and how his blonde hair made it stupidly difficult to pay attention during JL meetings.

For a fucking alien (shut up, Isack) that was supposed to be untouchable, cold, as unbendable as steel, and capable of destroying the Earth in a matter of seconds , the son of a bitch was incredibly adorable, and almost… fragile.

Sergio had never known other than pain.

He was once happy, as a child.

His parents were good, and he was never starved of attention and love and positive reinforcement.

But then they were gone, and all he's ever known since then has been pain and resilience.

And he's gotten through things that would make the average person lose any and all hope, but because Sergio has never known anything else, he's always had no other option than to keep going.

When he didn't have Pato, he had only a memory, revenge, and Fernando.

Then came Pato, and soon after, Alice.

Then he was gone, out of the nest. Alice had to recover from being shot by the Joker, and Sergio didn't want to involve anyone else. Fernando knew better.

And soon enough, Esteban came along.

And then Esteban died, and Sergio felt like the only option he had was to push forward and die trying to move on from the pain.

Then Yuki forced Sergio to become a better man, the father that he never was (and probably will never be, to that little boy that died –) and soon enough, Emily joined, Pato was willing to repair the shaky foundation of their house, and Isack and Hamda became the reason he had grey hairs.

Esteban still hadn't forgiven him, but at least he was more willing to talk to him than when he came back. Lazarus pit be damned, Sergio had made too many mistakes and he was not willing to repeat any of them with Esteban.

But it all had made him forget, just how easily some people break.

Superman was fucking missing, and nobody knew why.

And the Justice League, for once, were noisy to the point of making Sergio question why he had even bothered with creating the fucking–

“You know, father, all of us can hear you think.” Isack was busy sharpening his katana, acting as if he hadn't done his usual routine just a day ago, obviously stalling to see if Sergio would offer up any information on his own.

As always, his youngest got impatient, and had to break the silence before Pato (or Esteban, when he really wanted to push Sergio's buttons) could do it for him.

In the corner of the cave, getting out of the lab, and looking like one cup of coffee more will either revive him or cause him a heart attack, Yuki made his opinion known. “I hate to say it, but the brat is right.”

Sergio loved his children, he really did, but he could practically feel one of his hairs becoming grey at the upcoming confrontation.

“You ungrateful piece of–”

“Isack, Yuki, behave.” Sergio could feel the migraine already forming, the pulse in his temples the gentle reminder that as long as Superman was missing, he couldn't do anything other than think about a way to get the ray of sunshine back.

“Sergio, we know the League has been useless at tracking Superman, but that doesn't mean you have to do it all on your own.” Yuki, the reasonable one when Pato didn't feel like doing so, was pretending that Isack wasn't inspecting the cave for the best blind spot (there wasn't any) and focusing his suspicious glare on Sergio.

“Replacement's right.”

At least Esteban had answered the call. Sergio was getting better at understanding his undead son, but there were moments (like the ones in which the word ‘Replacement’ was said with too much bitterness, or when Esteban picked a fight with Yuki just because he knew Sergio would be too tired to engage with him at all) in which he couldn't place his expression, his thoughts, his intentions, at all.

Even without his retractable mask, even without the familiar domino mask.

“Say that again and your original print of Emma will end up on the hands of Ivy.”

“You do that, and I will make my first assassination attempt look like a field day.”

“Esteban, Yuki, behave.” He resisted the urge to apply pressure to his temples. It wasn't worth it, because really, they had a bigger problem to deal with.

Thankfully, and to the amusement of the fucking dog that Superman had named Krypto (of all things, why couldn't that fucking alien be normal… ) if the way the dog kept wagging its tail, Pato intervened before any more death threats could be made.

“Sergio, please tell us why you're pet-sitting Krypto and why you haven't made any advances on the ‘Superman is gone, oh shit we need to call Batman’ operation?”

“Because apparently, Superman can't handle rejection and has decided to take a vacation.” Sergio had to be honest with his kids at some point about it. And well, things are out of control, he hasn't slept in a week and really, Superman shouldn't have tried to kiss him in the middle of dealing with Lex Luthor and his fucking Kryptonite suit (again). “The note said that Krypto didn't want to be left alone. Go figure.”

“Okay, I am never missing another League call just because the Titans Tower is too far away.” Yuki was looking at Sergio like he had grown another head, and Sergio truly wanted his head to blow up. At least if that happened, his kids wouldn't push the issue and the migraine would never reach his eyes. “Did our dad just say he rejected Superman? Did our dad, Batman, Gotham's prince of the night, the dark knight, reject ‘there’s always sunshine and rainbows coming out of my ass’ Superman?”

“If you'd given my younger self those news, he would've hated Sergio for the rest of his life.” Pato tried to make sense of the confusion with humour, but the joke fell flat because Isack looked like he wanted to murder Superman, Yuki still had his eyes on Sergio like he couldn't believe that was his legal guardian, and Esteban had visibly checked out of the conversion.

There was a tense silence, in which Pato had rang the bell to calm for Fernando, and then take a sit right next to Sergio, obviously looking to make up a united front against the aghast expressions of the rest of the family.

“I didn't.” Sergio could feel the expectant eyes of his boys on him, obviously not expecting to break the silence first. How did he wish for Emily, Alice and Hamda, in those moments. At least his girls were sensible enough to let him brood in peace before looking at him like he was a particularly weak prey. “I was fighting Luthor on my own. Did the whole show of spray painting the suit with lead, and before I could make sure that Luthor was incapacitated, Superman came from behind and kissed me. I punched him with the can of lead spray paint. He didn't see it coming. He took it as a rejection.”

“Father, that Alien kissed you without your consent.” Sergio saw how Isack was dangerously eyeing the special hidden compartment in the cave that had a considerable amount of Kryptonite inside. “I say we hunt him down with the dog, and then we keep the dog. Titus could use a playmate.”

“I am not cleaning Kryptonian dog shit.” Yuki immediately jumped to argue with Isack, and as easily as they were ignoring each other after the first jab, they were exchanging venomous words.

“Sergio, did you want Superman to kiss you?”

There was a reason why Pato was his pride and joy. Out of all of his children, he was the one often underestimated due to his sunny disposition and aloof character. And he also had the advantage of not only being the first, but also knowing Sergio in a way that only Fernando, Charles and (surprisingly) Max, managed. Catching Sergio when he let things slip, and taking the hint that he was willing to give more than expected.

Sergio didn't answer the question.

That was enough to have Yuki and Isack stop fighting, and for Esteban to look properly interested in the conversation once again.

“Wait, do you want to jump Superman's bones?” That question was without the usual bite, coming from Esteban, it meant that he truly hadn't seen that coming.

A sly part of Sergio, the one that liked to mess around with his kids every once in a while, could admit to certain pride at seeing how utterly shocked his children looked at his silent confession.

The other part of Sergio, the part that was full of fatherly instincts and the need to protect his children from everything, even the impossibility of another father figure in their lives, was panicking at his own willingness to admit through silence to his own non-feelings.

Because that was the thing.

Sergio had been feeling a bit alone, and at night, on one of those occasions his legs had given up on him and his metal vertebrae had to be carefully replaced, he had allowed himself to think, to fantasize, what it would be like to break the fragile interior of the man of steel.

And apparently, he'd done it, and the part of him that will always be vulnerable, that will always have hope, had cried out in fear.

It hasn't done so, at least not since Esteban came back from the dead. (Was forced to come back, came back damaged, hurt, and more fearful than he'd ever–)

He didn't know what to do with the stupid dog.

Usually, Sergio was good with dogs. More than good, if Titus and his predisposition to always look out for Sergio and his aches on rainy days was anything to go by.

But Krypto was looking at him with those puppy eyes, and there was something about that stupid alien dog that was not the same, and Sergio couldn't deal with a reminder of the man (Alien, the bitter tone of Isack fresh, a reminder of the childish resentment) that he apparently broke with rejection, to the point of making him run away.

“Fuck.” Esteban looked a little too amused. If there was anything more painful than a migraine, Sergio would've used that word to describe the pounding in his head after seeing Esteban's reaction. “I never thought I'd say this, old man, but maybe you should fuck Superman.”

That was enough to rouse Isack out of his quiet contemplation of the Kryptonite storage, and straight into threatening Esteban with his recently sharpened katana.

“Say that again!” And Sergio was amazed by how Esteban didn't even flinch. Well, the League of Assassins and their methods were hard to forget. “I dare you to even suggest my father be dishonoured in such a way!”

“Este…” Sergio's warning tone never stopped working with his kids, thankfully. Esteban was wise enough to relax his body and let Isack press his katana further on his neck, and before Sergio could even stand up from his chair, Pato was moving along.

“C'mon, H. You know Este is always joking around.” Sergio was glad when Pato stood up, and managed to swiftly take away the katana before Isack could even apply enough pressure to break the skin of Esteban's neck.

And just in time, the familiar glide of the elevator doors opening to allow access to the cave was heard, followed soon after by the echoing steps of Fernando's shoes.

“Master Isack, Master Esteban, I brought freshly baked cookies.” Fernando had a tray ready, and as soon as the smell of the freshly baked cookies hit the cave, he was away from the corner and in front of Fernando to take a cookie.

“Awesome!”

“None for you, Master Yuki.” Fernando raised one of his perfect, and totally threatening, eyebrows, clearly about to judge Yuki for his notable lack of sleep and eagerness to eat sugar. “The last thing your caffeinated brain and heart need is a sugar rush. Do you want the crash to be harder than usual?”

“… No.” Yuki deflated, and was obviously mourning the cookies that were instantly decimated by Isack and Esteban.

Sergio was always glad for Fernando, the only one to ever manage to make the family forget about their differences, if only so they could eat his extraordinary food.

“Then I advise against eating my cookies.” Fernando smoothly took the tray away from Isaac and Esteban so Pato and Sergio could have their fill. “Masters, dinner will be ready at dawn. Miss Alice, Miss Emely and Miss Hamda will be joining us after their patrol.”

When Fernando didn’t receive any objection at the late dinner (or in Pato’s case, early breakfast), he turned to look directly at Sergio, and curled up the corners of his mouth in vague amusement. Fernando had a very wry sense of humour, and he also found the idea of Sergio having to take care of the stupid dog, very amusing.

“Master Sergio, I take it you've told the boys already.”

The cookies did help with the migraine. Since he was a child, those cookies helped with any and all trouble. Sergio would die for those cookies (and for Fernando). “Yes.”

“Wait, why did you only tell us?” Yuki stopped his brooding (back in his place in the corner) and directed a pointed glare at Sergio.

“Who do you think is on patrol right now?” Sergio swiveled in his chair, and showed the feed Alice always kept going of whomever was on patrol when Sergio wasn’t. “I met with Alice this morning. She knows. She's told Emely and Hamda, and both will have their questions. But I wanted to talk to all of you first.”

“Sergio…” Pato was now back on his chair, next to Sergio, and looking at his father figure like he knew he wasn't telling them the whole story. It would’ve been a worrying image, because of the somber tone, but he still had cookie crumbles all over his mouth and face. “You need us to do something, right?”

“Yes.” Sergio kept looking at the live feed of Hamda silently tracking some group of young teens that obviously wanted to rob one of the apartments in the downtown area, and wondering how much worse his kids would take to the request he had for them. “I need you, Pato, to take care of Batman for three days. I'm going to the Arctic. Yuki and Isack, you will both take care of your Titan's and Robin's duties, and take care of Krypto. Esteban, if you wish, you can help Alice locate as much information about Max's whereabouts before Superman decided to flee.”

There was immediate protest coming from all fronts, except from Esteban. Even Alice, who had been listening in, started to furiously type away on the screen, clearly showing her discontent over having to ‘invade Max's privacy’. (As if she didn't constantly monitor all the people she cared about.)

“It will only be three days.” Sergio finally caved, and started to apply pressure to his temples, the migraine having caught up with him and making looking at lights a little too painful.

“I just said I wouldn't clean Kryptonian dog shit!”

“Master Yuki, when Titus plays with Master Isack, Master Isack is the one that cleans it up.” Fernando still had his eyebrow raised, not amused by Yuki’s implication that he would let the Manor be anything but perfectly clean and in order. “That was the agreement Master Sergio arranged so Master Isack could keep Titus.”

“But this dog is not even ours!” Yuki pointed at Krypto, and as if the dog could understand what Yuki was saying, he cowered and tried to hide between Sergio’s legs. “I know the moment everyone is out of the Manor I will have to take care of it!”

“I will help Alice.” Sergio was glad for Esteban’s distraction, because he really didn’t want to think about the white dog. There was a reason he was going to the Arctic. Dealing with his kids and a new animal wouldn’t help with Superman missing. Yuki and Isack had just stopped fighting about the cow, they didn’t need Krypto in that particular mess. “What? I don't have anything else going on, and the old man looks like he's about to fall over.”

“When did you last sleep, Sergio?” Pato was his pride and joy, but he was also a bit of a nagging bastard when he wanted. And Sergio didn’t need sleep , he needed answers.

“Not relevant to this case. I need to go over to the Arctic, and try to search for any traces of Superman in his Fortress.” Sergio didn’t want to think that Max (Superman, if he goes missing, it’s Superman) would be as stupid as to hide away in the first place people would look for him.

Then again, Sergio was the only allowed in, and he hadn’t visited the Arctic because of that very same logic. So maybe Superman was onto something if he really was sulking around in his Fortress of Solitude. But then again, that didn’t explain the dog.

“Not relevant…” Pato was shaking his head, disagreeing with Sergio, and clearly not amused by his dismissal of his lack of sleep schedule. “You are aware that you’re the only one with access to his Fortress, right? If you die of exhaustion no one else would be able to enter.”

Yuki shrugged, and gave the dog a very pointed look. “Well, maybe the dog–”

“Do you really think Superman would be–” Esteban was starting to argue against Yuki’s idea, but then clearly thought better of it, because it did sound like something Max would do, give his dog access to the Fortress of Solitude without hesitating about potential security issues. “Actually you might be right. Nevermind old man, go have fun freezing in the Arctic.”

“I would advise against taking up flight early, Master Bruce.” Fernando said while distractedly putting away some of the batarangs and steel staffs that were laying around in the utility belt restock area. “It’s cloudy. Visibility won’t clear until tomorrow afternoon.”

“It’s early spring, Fernando.” Isack said in his no-nonsense tone.

“In the Arctic, Master Isack.” At that, Isack had to raise both of his eyebrows in amazement. It was clear that he still had doubts about the lengths Fernando would go through to ensure his family's safety, but Sergio gave it one minor life-saving event for Isack to change his mind. “April snowstorms are more common than you think.”

“Oh!” Yuki suddenly perked up, as if he had just gotten one of his breakthrough moments. He wasn’t working on any active case, so Sergio doubted it was anything related to crime. “Then Sergio cleans the Kryptonian dog shit. He’s the one that brought it home.”

Sergio closed his eyes, and let the chatter of his family making plans soothe him.

“Yuki, are you done with that Ivy sample?” There was a silence, in which he could guess all of his children were looking at Pato with disapproval at the sudden change in topic. “What? Sergio will be gone soon, and I need to cover as Batman. Might as well catch up.”

“Not that, Master Pato.” Fernando’s voice was nice. It was always nice to hear his family just talk, not big fights or intense arguments. “Master Yuki will take a nap, before dinner and before he can be done with that sample. Same as Master Sergio. If you need any assistance, I’d be happy to provide it, of course.”

“Nice, thank you Nando.” Pato said, in the tone he liked to use when one of them was stressed, or lulling themselves to sleep whilst he was talking. Sergio appreciated the gesture, even if he really wasn’t that close to falling asleep. “Este, are you staying over for dinner?”

“Before answering, I would like Master Esteban to know that I’ve made his favourite for dinner and Hamda wanted to ask for permission to use your private library.”

“Thank you, Nando.” It surprised Sergio, that Esteban was also using that voice, the one he used with frightened children and jumpy teens and women. And, when it came to family, when they were sleeping or falling asleep. “Yes, Pato, I’ll stay– Why do you want to know?”

“I may have a lead on the drug smugglers you’ve been tracking.”

“And…?”

“If you cover for me as Batman for one day I’ll tell you about it.”

“Dirty move O’Ward, dirty move.” When no one said anything, everyone waiting for Sergio to weigh in at the idea of Esteban using the cowl for a day, Esteban talked again. “No objection, old man?”

“You know my only rule when you have to cowl on.” Sergio said, with his eyes still closed. When he didn’t hear anything, he decided to open his eyes, and the sight that greeted him was enough to know that his children were about to start bickering about who would be who during the time he would be in the Arctic. “No, no objection, Esteban.”

Esteban’s face was expressive, when he was shocked. And it was clear that nobody in the room expected him to agree to Esteban wearing the cowl for a day.

That was the moment Sergio decided that it was better to leave his children to do as they wanted for the rest of the night. He was tired, and Fernando had made sure to deem it unsafe to flight, so his children would be alert at his every move, even if he tried to sneak out.

If he had to deal with his children and their shock with a migraine, without the possibility of sneaking out, then all he could do was try and get away from the noise to deal with his children, all together, without a migraine.

So, to sleep it was.

If he hadn’t been so tired, if his (usually) sharp senses weren’t dampened by circumstance and how his guard was (usually) down around the cave, he'd have noticed the way his children looked at each other. They were almost conspiratorial, even Fernando sharing the same look with them.

And he would’ve noticed how Krypto wasn’t acting exactly… canine? And how easily it ignored his children, how easily it got around the cave, and how it didn’t hesitate to follow Sergio, and how he didn’t notice the dog until it was too late and it was inside the elevator.

“You…” Sergio sighed. He rubbed his temples, tired. He was so tired, he didn’t have the energy to deal with a dog. Much less… Max’s dog. Krypto had never been around the cave, because Max insisted the dog was too claustrophobic and needed to always fly around, and the bats around the cave wouldn’t appreciate rough play.

So why did it follow him to a fucking elevator, of all places?

He didn’t have an answer for any of it. Max’s dog really didn’t like to interact with anyone in his family, mainly because the dog didn’t really like Gotham. Any and all unusual behaviour wouldn’t have an answer. At least not until Max was back from his vacation.

Sergio refused to think of the situation of Superman being missing.

The main reason as to why he hadn’t gone to the Arctic… Superman was not missing, hence there was no need to try and get some independent intel. But as soon as Max hadn’t shown up to the JL meeting, and the fucking dog showed up in with that note…

So, Sergio resisted the urge to sigh again, and hoped that Fernando had managed to predict he had a migraine and had sneaked in some very strong aspirin into his room.

His reliable bottle had run empty two nights ago, when the first week of sleep deprivation had settled in. At least now he had an excuse to sleep.

Then he heard a yelp. And then a bark.

He was making his way up the staircase towards his room, when Krypto literally flew the whole way up and started barking up an invisible threat.

Because that familiar ‘merde! this is why I hate dogs!’ gave away who was sneaking their way in the Manor. The only person other than his extended family that could sneak in and not activate all of the booby traps and alarms around the place.

“Charles…” Sergio closed his eyes as soon as he reached the top of the stairwell, and snapped his fingers to get Krypto away from his ex-lover. It obviously didn’t work, because Max couldn’t be firm with himself when he needed to, he wouldn’t do so with his dog. Sergio got close to catch the dog mid air, and barely kept it away from Charles. “What now?”

“Aw, my Checo, Chequito.” Charles did his thing, with that lower register that always made it sound like he was purring, and gently traced his fingers up Sergio’s arm. “What’s with the attitude? Can’t exes be friends?”

“We are friends, Charles.” Sergio gave the dog in his arms an unimpressed look. Sergio had seen how Krypto got around cats, and the dog was truly bening. Apparently the dog decided to act up around cats for the first time, go figure. With Charles, of all cat related things. “But you usually don’t enter through the Manor, unless you want something with me.”

“I heard the kids.” Charles shrugged, and Sergio managed to smile a little. Even after their amicable breakup, Charles had to care for his children. The tender grip of his arm turned a bit tight, and Sergio didn’t bother to say anything. He could understand why it was difficult for Charles to talk about even seeing his children. “I didn’t want Isack to see me. He still hasn’t forgiven me for the breakup.”

“I told the kids it was mutual.” Sergio only held Kypto with one arm, and let his hand gently rub circles on the small of Charles’ back, an old reflex to soothe the younger man. “They still like you, Charles. You are the only one that made galas fun for them.”

“I know, Chequito.” Charles angled his head just enough to make it so their noses were barely touching, and Sergio had to smile a bit more at the familiar intimacy between them. “But I would rather not risk it. Not with the boy scout missing.”

That made any trace of amusement vanish, and Sergio put a little distance between them again. He didn’t take his hand away. Charles hadn’t done anything wrong, he simply was pointing out the obvious. That didn’t mean Sergio liked it, though. “He’s not missing.”

“You know he is, Chequito.” Charles blinked, his green eyes flashing with recognition. Sergio was glad that Charles could read him so well, because he really didn’t want to get into any sort of argument. At least not when he didn’t have any energy left at all. “That’s not why I’m here, though. I want to use your lab.”

“If you share whatever you find…” Sergio allowed Charles to move back in, a little less close, but still close enough for them to be found in what could be considered a ‘compromising’ position. At least, if you were the Gotham Gazette (or Isack).

“Ivy and I have been… Looking for a clandestine operation that illegally tests on cats for various big pharmas.” Charles loosened his grip on his arm, and Sergio was glad for the amount of trust the younger man was willing to put on him. “We accidentally found Joker’s lair. And there was a lot of that new batch of laughing gas.”

“Deal with Pato for that.” Sergio started to rub circles on Charles’ back again, to just subdue the younger man’s surprise. “I’ll be in the Arctic all week.”

“The original boy wonder, now dressing up as daddy with the real thing.” Sergio rolled his eyes at Charle’s teasing tone, and he was glad for his ex, really, because he was one of the few people that had known Sergio since the start of his vigilante career. “One gets nostalgic, you know.”

“Pato will appreciate it if you collaborate with him with whatever you’ll find.” Sergio was now whispering, following Charles’ cue for some friendly flirting. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d done so since they broke up, and due to the nature of their relationship, it would likely never stop. “Keep Oracle on it, please.”

“As you say, Chequito.” When Charles got close, too close to Sergio’s mouth, he was startled by Krypto’s snarl. Charles looked at the dog as if it had been personally offended, but Sergio couldn’t help the slight amusement at the sight. “What’s up with Krypto?”

“Didn’t know you two were on a first name basis.” Sergio’s amusement soon vanished, when he had to take his hand away from Charles’ back because the dog wouldn't stop moving.

“I got stranded with him, remember?” The younger man raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Sergio’s slip up, and he resisted the urge to curse. He didn’t want Charles to worry.

“Oh.” When Krypto stopped moving when Sergio started to pet it in an attempt to get it to calm down, he remembered. “The meteor cabin last year, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Charles looked at Sergio’s hand easily petting the dog, and pursed his lips in consideration. “You do look awfully tired. Want someone to warm your bed?”

Another snarl from Krypto, and that time around it had turned into a bark, that was close to biting the hand that Charles was trying to use to pet it.

“That’s not Krypto.” Charles glared at the dog in Sergio’s arms, and very carefully got to eye level with the dog. Sergio tried to not roll his eyes. “What? I know I’m all about cats, but I do get along with many animals. Krypto has always been nice.”

That last part was said with particular venom, Charles’ face close to Krypto’s snout. When the dog barked and sent some spit flying, Charles got away with a hiss and made a face at Sergio. Then, like something clicked, he smiled that shit-eating grin, while leaning exaggeratedly on Sergio.

“Don’t worry about it, Chequito.” Charles was slow, deliberate, while placing a gentle hand on his arm and letting his other arm curl around Sergio’s neck. “I’m sure all will be fine.”

That time around, when he got close to Sergio’s mouth, and heard Krypto snarl and bark, Charles didn’t back away. And Sergio, too used to petty fights and too much affection from Charles, didn’t even question why his ex had put a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“Charles…”

“Go rest, Chequito.”

With a last bat of eyelashes, and a dimpled smile, Charles turned his back on Sergio, and got back from where he came from.

Sergio couldn’t deny that he missed Charles, if just for the fact that he was around. That they got to the point that his kids missed the younger man, that they got to live together and got to consider adopting a cat. Hell, they had argued about possible cat names.

It probably didn’t help that he was feeling lonely, and there came Charles, with his easy smile and affection. It was not a bad thing, to miss Charles. But they had agreed they were too similar, and that sooner or later, one would do something to hurt the other, and they wouldn’t regret it.

At least they remained friends. At least Sergio could miss him, and not feel absolutely terrified about having those particular feelings for Charles.

The way Krypto was wiggling around in his arms got Sergio out of his own thoughts.

The way the dog had acted around Charles was weird, but he decided that it was all because the poor dog had been left alone by Superman, and then he had been taken straight from wherever it was, to space, and then to the cave.

“Stop it, Krypto.” Sergio looked down to the dog in his arms, and tried to use his ‘tired dad voice’ (as Pato would call it), to get it to stop squirming around and chase down the hall for Charles. “Charles is a friend, he’s not a threat. And he’s gone.”

That seemed to pacify the dog, and Sergio had to sigh again.

At least Charles’ visit did manage to make him forget about his migraine.

His room was not that far, and he only had to walk for a bit before reaching his door.

Once in front of the door, he put Krypto down, and opened the door, hoping for the dog to get the hint, and stay outside of his bedroom.

It obviously didn’t work, because apparently Max didn’t have any boundaries with his dog, and the dog had decided that if Max wasn’t around, Sergio would have to be the next best thing. Sergio opened the door and let the dog in.

It hurt Sergio, to sacrifice a bit of his sleep because of the dog, because it obviously wanted to sleep on the bed, of course it did. He really wasn’t used to sharing a bed, not having shared it with anyone after Charles and he broke up.

At least he could count on the dog to wake him up before Fernando could. If he knew the older man, he would make him skip dinner and let him sleep straight to breakfast.

Chapter Text

The second time around, Max was rudely woken up by an eager Isack.

And for a moment there, Max genuinely thought that he was going to die.

Really, is not that Isack– No, Isack hated him.

Max was sure that the youngest and most recent addition to the family was just cautious, and overprotective of his father in the wake of the loss of his mother.

But it still stings when Isack can’t keep the venom out of his voice when he calls him ‘Alien’, even if in his guilt, Sergio lets Max stick closer the next time they’re alone, almost as if the older man knows how badly Max needs the silent reassurance.

So, when he was woken up by the unfamiliar touch of Isack giving him scratches, Max was really close to biting the young boy’s hand off. Then, realizing how close he was to making an actual relationship ending mistake, Max wanted to die out of guilt and embarrassment.

It was a very good thing that right after, Pato’s voice was heard.

If there was someone that was actually rooting for Max in his (mostly secret, mostly fruitless) pursuit of Sergio, it was Pato. He knew that the young hero had an inkling of his feelings for his father figure, and Max also knew that when he could, Pato pushed them together.

(More often than not, it was a literal push. There was one time that Max will never forget, in which The Bat and The Boy Wonder met Superman in Metropolis, when Pato literally pushed Sergio over the edge of the building, knowing that Max would be there to catch him.)

So, in the presence of the oldest, Max allowed himself to relax into Isack’s scratches. Then, as if sensing a disturbance in the peaceful mood, Max perks up.

Oh, and that’s new.

Esteban steps into the room, and Max’s heart clenches in his chest (Krypto’s chest? Do dogs experience heartache?). It’s not only because Max can count with one hand the amount of times he’s actually seen Esteban, not Red Hood. But because with the sharper senses he now has, he can smell the wrong that’s always around the young man.

It was something he hadn’t noticed with his senses in his non-canine body, but now that he can smell it, he can’t think of anything else.

And just as quickly as he had gotten used to Isack scratching behind his ears, he had to use all of his canine control to stop a pitiful whine. All due to the fact that there was still lingering tension around Isack and Esteban, and that Isack always put physical distance between himself and the people he thought were most likely to blow up first.

The youngest of the siblings ran away, and Max found himself questioning, for the first time since waking up, where Sergio was.

He was so distracted by the Isack of it all, that he hadn’t noticed where he was.

Max was literally under Sergio’s chair in the Batcave.

Oh.

Max instantly began to wag his tail with excitement.

It was flattering to think that Sergio chose that place specifically for Max, and Max couldn’t be happier about it. It was such a nice, intimate, and safe place, that Max’s part that was starting to understand the ‘ dog ’ of it all, was basically melting.

With Max having his own little meltdown provoked by his intense feelings, he didn’t notice Yuki coming in, and immediately disappearing inside the lab.

Not long after, Sergio came along.

The steady heartbeat, the familiar smell, and the sound of the boots against the solid metal of the base of the cave, it was all so close to a comfort Max had never allowed himself to have before. Without really thinking much of it, he rests his head ( Krypto’s head? ) on his front paws ( Krypto’s front paws? ) and Max promptly lets all of the comfort wash over him.

“Wait, do you want to jump Superman's bones?”

That basically got Max out of his stupor.

What.

Leave it to Esteban to drop a bomb the size of the Fortress of Solitude and then just start to look the most amused Max had ever seen him since he came back from the dead.

Okay, Max knows that he’s been out of it. And basically focusing all his attention into Sergio. Because really, it’s just so easy to look at Sergio, and get lost in all of who he is. His overwhelmed senses as Krypto need something familiar to cling to, and Sergio is as familiar to Max as the giddiness he always feels when flying.

But just… Why did Esteban have to go ahead and say that?

Sergio stayed silent. And apparently, that was all Esteban needed to hear, because the conversation that followed made everyone around have different reactions. And Sergio’s reaction was to look at Max. Or well, to look at Krypto, who, unbeknownst to Sergio, was not Krypto, but Max. Sergio’s eyes were staring straight at Max, and he felt like the universe stopped for a second. All that existed in that moment was Sergio looking at Max.

“Say that again!” Isack’s voice was almost like a slap to Max. It shook him back to reality, a reality in which Sergio was a father of way too many kids, and a reality in which one (or possibly three, Max wasn’t too sure about Yuki or Emely) of those kids hated Max’s guts. “I dare you to even suggest my father be dishonoured in such a way!”

Max’s heart broke in two.

Because really, if Sergio was aware that one of his kids didn’t approve of the relationship (or in that case, the mere suggestion of one), said relationship wouldn’t happen. Sergio cared about very few people, the way he cared about his kids, and he would never risk adding into their already complicated dynamic an unliked partner.

“Este…” Sergio’s warning tone made Max swallow a whine.

He had heard that particular tone a couple of times, and all of those times he was glad he was never at the receiving end of such sternness. It reminded him that Sergio was The Batman , and that he had to deal with danger in a way that Max could never completely understand.

“C'mon, H. You know Este is always joking around.” Once Max saw Pato take that very sharp katana out of Isack’s hands, he allowed himself to go back to his head on his paws.

He ignored everything, even Fernando and his absolutely stunning cookies. Even if they smelled fantastic, nothing could get Max out of his melancholia.

He needed to make peace with the fact that as long as Isack hated his guts (and the potential dislike of Yuki or Emely), nothing between Sergio and Max was going to happen. And Isack must’ve had a very strong reason to hate Max, so no matter what he tried to do to get in the youngest’s good graces, it was never going to happen.

Really, Max should just get used to being Krypto. It wasn’t–

Oh, Sergio moved!

No, Max would not let that happen. Whenever Sergio was going, Max was going to follow. He wouldn’t let that man out of his sight. If he had to make peace with the fact that nothing was ever going to happen, might as well take advantage of the fact that he was in Krypto’s body and he could do as he pleased and it all would be excused as ‘Krypt being Krypto’.

“Oop.” Max managed to hear that. He wasn’t sure if Sergio heard that, because honestly, the man looked like a zombie. If Max wasn’t a dog, he would’ve already nagged Sergio about his sleep schedule. But Max did hear it, and he had to bark.

Because he knew that smell.

Cat.

And not any cat, Chat.

As in, Charles.

Beautiful, agile, and (probably) in a committed on and off relationship with Sergio.

Before Max knew what he was doing, he flew up the stairs and started to bark at Charles.

“Merde! This is why I hate dogs!” Charles was using his hands to protect his ears, and Max, being as petty as he was feeling, started to circle Charles’ head and bark even louder.

Max was a little satisfied at seeing the grimace the cat-man had on his face, and without really thinking about it much, he started to get closer and closer to Charles.

Thankfully, before he could do any harm, Max felt a strong grip around his middle. Sergio’s touch was very nice. It was firm, and his hands were warm, and the feeling of his bare hands against him was even better than he could’ve ever imagined.

For a moment, he was satisfied.

Then, Charles opened his mouth.

“Aw, my Checo, Chequito.” Charles did an absolutely disgusting thing, gently tracing his fingers up Sergio’s arm. Max seethed. “What’s with the attitude? Can’t exes be friends?”

Exes?

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Max knew that they were in a relationship. He knew it. The fact that he was going to win the (ridiculously) large running bet pool that the League had running since the first time Wonder Woman saw Sergio and Charles interact, did very, very little to calm down the burning jealousy at the pit of his stomach.

Because Charles, beautiful, agile, Charles, had already dated and broken up with Sergio.

“We are friends, Charles.” Max felt even worse at that confirmation. There were moments in which Max himself doubted their relationship. He wasn’t even sure Sergio considered them friends until after Lex Luthor almost managed to actually kill him. “But you usually don’t enter through the Manor, unless you want something with me.”

And oh, Max didn’t like that implication. Not one single bit.

First of all, Sergio needed to sleep.

Second of all, Max was right there, and he was not going to let that happen.

Third, and lastly, almost all of Sergio’s kids were in the Manor, and even if it was a pretty massive manor, they could and would hear something.

“I heard the kids.” Oh. Well, Max was glad. Yes. That meant nothing was going to happen. But if nothing was going to happen, then why was Charles holding Sergio so tightly? Max was going to bite Charles. Yes, he was. That insufferable cat– “I didn’t want Isack to see me. He still hasn’t forgiven me for the breakup.”

Max couldn’t help but perk up a bit at that.

That was news.

Apparently, their relationship was much more serious than Max thought. Because Charles had a relationship with the kids, and Max was safe to assume they even liked Charles. Liked him enough to the point that Isack, of all people, felt hurt by Sergio and Charles breaking up.

It made something ugly take hold of his heart. Max didn’t like it. Not at all.

“I told the kids it was mutual.” One of Sergio’s arms left Max, and Max felt himself die a little, because Sergio stopped touching Max in order to put a hand oh so delicately on Charles’ lower back. Max felt sick. “They still like you, Charles. You are the only one that made galas fun for them.”

Charles made galas fun for the kids? Oh, so it was serious serious. And really, who was Max to compete with Charles? It made sense that Sergio didn’t like him, because Max was the polar opposite of Charles, and Max could never even make Isack be slightly civil around him.

“I know, Chequito.” Charles’s nose was almost touching Sergio’s nose. It was such an intimate gesture, such a sweet gesture, that Max doubted they were friendly at all. Max gave them at most a month before they were back together. He hated it. “But I would rather not risk it. Not with the boy scout missing.”

“He’s not missing.”

Sergio’s voice got Max out of his own mind, if just to notice the distance, and how the older man was tense.

“You know he is, Chequito.” Max hoped that whatever was going on would finish soon. If Max had to guess, Sergio wanted to be left alone. (‘Totally not projecting there, Supes’ Max heard in Alice’s trademark no-nonsense tone.) “That’s not why I’m here, though. I want to use your lab.”

“If you share whatever you find…” Sergio allowed Charles to move in closer, if it was even possible, and Max just let himself go limp in Sergio’s remaining arm around him.

“Ivy and I have been… Looking for a clandestine operation that illegally tests on cats for various big pharmas.” Because of course, that was something Charles did on his free night. Going around Gotham saving cats from illegal testing. Of course he did that. “We accidentally found Joker’s lair. And there was a lot of that new batch of laughing gas.”

“Deal with Pato for that.” Max noticed Sergio rubbing Charles’ lower back again, and if dogs could cry, Max would be a river already. “I’ll be in the Arctic all week.”

Uh.

The Arctic?

Max definitely missed something whilst moping all over the Batcave. 

“The original boy wonder, now dressing up as daddy with the real thing.” It was so over for Max. Charles knew that Pato was the first Robin. Things were more than serious. Scratch a month, Max could see them back together in a week. “One gets nostalgic, you know.”

“Pato will appreciate it if you collaborate with him with whatever you’ll find.” Sergio was whispering into Charles’ ear, and Max felt that burning jealousy return with a vengeance. It was such an ugly thing, but Max couldn’t help himself. Knowing how important Charles was to Sergio was a rude awakening. And jealousy was the only outlet Max for all the mess of emotions coursing through him. “Keep Oracle on it, please.”

“As you say, Chequito.” Then Charles got too close to Sergio. More specifically, his mouth . Max really tried, he did, but the snarl that escaped him was the only thing keeping him away from straight up jumping at Charles’ face. “What’s up with Krypto?”

Oh, now Charles wanted to act friendly with him? That was not going to happen.

“Didn’t know you two were on a first name basis.” Max didn’t stop moving, trying his best to get rid of Segio’s grip on him for the first time. 

“I got stranded with him, remember?” 

Shit.

Max, in fact, did not remember.

“Oh.” Max felt Sergio pet him, and that, along with the embarrassment of forgetting Krypto had met Charles before, was enough to get him to stay still. It was the least he could do as a bit of an apology. “The meteor cabin last year, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Max felt Charles’ eyes on him. It was deeply embarrassing. Max really should’ve behaved better, he wasn’t actually a dog. And not even Krypto behaved the way Max was behaving. “You do look awfully tired. Want someone to warm your bed?”

That time around, Max didn’t contain his snarl. Even let it turn into a bark. Because really, Charles couldn’t just do that with Sergio, not with Max around. And, he had already messed up by acting so impulsive around Charles, what was a little bite going to do? Blow his cover?

“That’s not Krypto.” Charles yelped at Max’s poor attempt at biting his hand. Then, Charles got to eye-level with him, and Max felt that glare in his soul. Shit. “What? I know I’m all about cats, but I do get along with many animals. Krypto has always been nice.”

Max knew that his cover was, in fact, compromised. Because after barking again at Charles (oops), the cat-man was looking at Max like he just knew . That stupid grin was making Max shake in Sergio’s arms, and there was nothing he could do at what happened next.

“Don’t worry about it, Chequito.” Charles put a gentle hand on Sergio’s arm, and then, in slow motion, he put his other hand around Sergio’s neck. Max was going to make sure Charles never was around Sergio ever again. It just wasn’t fair. “I’m sure all will be fine.”

Because Charles could simply get close to Sergio’s mouth, breathe the same air, and then kiss the corner of his mouth. He could be affectionate like that, he could caress, he could exchange whispers and soft kisses like it was normal.

Max could never compare to Charles. And it wasn’t fair.

“Charles…”

Sergio’s voice was raspy, and Max could do nothing other than wiggle around, as if saying ‘I’m also here! You’re not alone! Don’t go after him!’

That was all Max could do, as Krypto.

“Go rest, Chequito.”

Charles let his gaze linger on Sergio, and Max felt himself die a little.

It just wasn’t fair.

Sergio let out a wistful sigh.

Max kept wiggling aggressively on Sergio’s arms. He would do so until the older man got out of his own thoughts, if only to avoid seeing Sergio chase after Charles.

“Stop it, Krypto.” Sergio looked down and used his ‘tired dad voice’ (Max hadn't overheard Pato call Sergio that, no, certainly not), and Max was certain that it was all in an attempt to make him stop the wiggling. Well, he was not going to stop until he was sure Sergio wouldn’t chase after Charles. “Charles is a friend, he’s not a threat. And he’s gone.”

Max stopped.

Well.

That was as good as it was going to get for Max, apparently.

Sergio sighed wistfully, again, and Max was ready to chase after Charles, again.

But Sergio walked towards his room, so Max had no excuse.

Then, the best thing that had ever happened to Max, happened.

Sergio let him into his room.

Max, still not completely at peace with the fact that he was never going to have a chance, and he never really had a chance with Sergio, took the chance.

He made himself at home in Sergio’s bed, curling up on himself, and promptly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Sergio woke up thanks to the yelp and the unfamiliar weight of Krypto on him.

He was used to being woken up by heavy weight on him, but the dog wasn’t as heavy as one of his children, and the way it was wriggling around almost made him consider that one of the kids had managed to sneak in a snake in his bed.

That was before he got his bearings, and before he remembered that a certain Kryptonian dog had made itself comfortable in his bed.

He tried his best to not sigh with exhaustion, the voice of Pato fresh in his head reminding him of that folktale about sighs taking away people’s life. He still did it a lot, but Pato had a way to get under his skin with his subtle way of letting Sergio know he wanted him to stop some of his most annoying habits.

So all he did was let the dog blabber all over his face and try to slowly let his senses wake up.

Usually, it was the other way around, his senses sharper, whilst his mind needed at least a few milliseconds before completely being aware.

At least with Krypto all over him, Sergio could get his mind into focus more quickly than he would’ve on a normal day.

After a couple of seconds, he heard a knock on his door, and the familiar shuffle of feet that indicated that at least two of his children were waiting outside of his door.

“Master Sergio, the children are ready for early breakfast.” Fernando’s voice was like a balm for his abruptly awakened senses, and Sergio had to resist the urge to smile at the familiarity of it all. Well, near familiarity. Krypto was still on his bed, making it hard to ignore the alien, red and blue elephant in the room.

Or, his mind?

He probably had slept too much at once.

Years of conditioning his body to function with just the minimum of sleep made it difficult for it to stomach more than a couple of hours of sleep at once.

And if Fernando was calling it ‘early breakfast’ instead of ‘later dinner’ it meant that his family had let him sleep for longer than usual.

“B! Get out or we’re going in!” That was Yuki’s voice, clearly annoyed (and recently woken up, most probably). Sergio waved his hand at Krypto, and thankfully, the dog got the order, and got down from the bed to let him quickly change his clothes. “Hurry up! Hamda wants to meet Krypto! And Fernando said breakfast will get cold.”

“Calm down, Yuki.” Sergio paused, looking at the way the dog didn’t follow him inside the closet, and to get Hamda some time alone with Krypto before all of the others, he decided that he could let the kids in. “I’m getting changed in the closet. Get in the room.”

He heard the door open, and then the excited yelps of Krypto greeting the two children.

Because, even if Yuki was lead of the Teen Titans, and Hamda had been a trained assassin for as long as she’s been alive, they were still children, his children.

“Oh no!” Just as Sergio had chosen what he would wear for the day, he was alarmed by the sudden shout from Yuki. Before he could make his way towards his own room, the sound of Yuki trying to stifle his laughter reached his ears. “Krypto calm down! Don’t chew on that!”

And then the familiar dread settled in his stomach. Of course, the dog would chew on something. Max clearly needed to teach his dog some proper manners.

Oh god, he really was raised by Fernando.

“Not Krypto.” Hamda’s voice reached him, and Sergio deemed that whatever the dog had been doing was not dangerous, so he started to actually change clothes.

“What do you mean, Isi?” Yuki’s voice was still amused, and Sergio could clearly picture both of them, kneeling on the carpet of his room, smiling while playing around with the white dog. “That’s Krypto! Look. Krypto, fly!”

Sergio heard the happy laughs of his children, and he couldn’t help but smile. The sound of his carefree children wasn’t one that he heard often, and he was glad for the dog for bringing them some sense of normalcy.

Even if the situation was literally as far from normal as it got (because really, no one has a command to make their dog fly).

Once he was ready, he got out of the closet and saw what the dog had been chewing on.

It was one of Charles’ old sweatpants, from a couple of nights prior, when he needed a place to crash and Sergio was out on League business. The clothing had been by the window, and the kids had obviously let the dog do as it wanted, and it wanted to chew on Charles’ clothes.

Sergio resisted the urge to sigh, and made a mental note to talk to Charles about the clothes, and maybe take him out for a quick trip to his favourite shops, and maybe for coffee. Later.

At that moment he had to try and take the piece of clothing out of the flying dogs’ mouth.

“Isi, Yuki, why did you let Krypto chew on Charles’ clothes?” Sergio leaned on the frame of the closet, trying to see if his children did it on purpose.

“We didn’t know!” Yuki opened his eyes, clearly offended by the sudden accusation. Okay, so they didn’t do anything to lead the dog to Charles’ clothes. Then why did– “I blinked and the dog was suddenly in front of us chewing on those sweats.”

“Not Krypto.”

That was the second time Hamda had brought it up.

She wasn’t one to repeat herself, not when she didn’t think it was important. Not even in sign language.

He was going to have to ask Hamda about it when she inevitably cornered him to talk about her turn with the cowl. (The voice inside his head that sounded too much like Max provided the helpful ‘she’s too young’.)

Sergio made way to stand next to the dog, which had stopped flying and was now slowly chewing on the pair of sweats. He crouched in front of Krypto, and just put his hand under the dog’s snout. “Krypto, give it.”

He had seen Max play with the dog before. He only hoped that the alien dog hadn’t forgotten the right command to hand over toys.

There was no sign of recognition in the dog’s eyes, but it still dropped the spit-soaked sweats.

“Gross.” Yuki made no attempt to hide his disgust, and Sergio could already hear all of the children at his table complaining about him delaying dinner in order to meet Yuki, Isack, Hamda and Fernando’s cleanliness standards. “You believe us, B?”

“Yes.” He was a father, for god's sake, he wasn't allowed to roll his eyes at other people like a teenager. Much less his children. “Now, let’s get back, Esteban won’t come to another dinner if I let it go cold.”

Yuki and Hamda rushed out of his room, and Sergio followed after them, ignoring how Krypto seemed rather reluctant to leave the room. It did follow after them, but it was a bit odd to see the dog act like that.

Hamda's earlier claim about that dog not being Krypto ran alarm bells in his head.

Too bad he was distracted by an indignant Pato screaming (‘it’s not screaming, Fernando taught me better, Sergio’) about an early meeting and forced to stay for breakfast against his own will.

“Now, Pato, don't say it like that.” Sergio arrived just in time to prevent a clearly annoyed Esteban from provoking his brother further. “If you do, people will talk.”

“Like they haven't stopped running to the ground that rumour about me being forced to drop out as punishment for that one gala thing years ago.”

Sergio remembered why that particular rumour got going with so much force. He might've been feeling the emptiness after Pato first left the nest, with a fight and a promise to never go back, and might've indulged in ‘Checo’ behavior with real alcohol for a change… and well, it was a particular moment of weakness he wasn't proud of.

“Ah. Might as well give them something new to talk about.” Sergio turned to the kitchen once he saw Pato back in his seat at the dinner table, taking the chance to wash his hands with the five step routine Fernando had in place after animal interaction. “Because you have been settling quite nicely in Blüdhaven, we don't want attention on that.”

“Yes, we wouldn't want eyes on the sudden appearance of a new vigilante after Robin suddenly got shorter.” Esteban said, the sarcasm heavy. “Again.”

“Well, good thing the pictures they manage to take are when we're brooding on a rooftop.” Yuki said, always the one to answer back with an oblivious remark to a clear jab from Esteban. “Or that they don't notice how Robin is suddenly in two places at once.”

“Yes, Master Yuki.” Fernando appeared with his usual sneakiness, used to the fact that he could no longer startle any of the people at the table (or kitchen). “Now, less chatter and more washing hands. Masters and Misses, I saw Krypto sneak a couple of pets from all of you under the table.”

The collective groan from all of his children at the table was enough to get a smile out of him.

Sergio would always appreciate Fernando and his own way of making sure everyone in the family suffered the same in terms of proper cleanliness.

As he was on step four, and about to make his way on to step five, Sergio managed to see all of his children glare at him with various degrees of annoyance. The only ones slightly delighted by the idea were Alice, Hamda and Isack, who had all different reasons to comply without complaint, but kept up pretences regardless, just to annoy Sergio.

The only thing he felt at seeing his children all lined up and glaring at him was a certain degree of pride that would have Max rolling his eyes. It was not Sergio's fault that he could always appreciate a good attempt as his own glare directed at himself.

“I would advise against petting Krypto for the rest of the early breakfast.” Sergio did his best to keep the ends of his mouth in their neutral position, but if Esteban's eye roll was anything to go by, it didn't work to hide his amusement.

He started to make his way back to the table, and was about to sit down at his usual place on the head of the table, when something caught his eyes.

Krypto was chewing on Charles' pants.

Again.

Well.

Really, if the dog had fixated on the piece of clothing there was nothing Sergio could do.

He was wise enough to know when he lost a battle, and he wasn't going to fight against a Kryptonian dog for a pair of sweats that could easily be replaced.

He sat down in his usual place, and ignored the way the dog looked oddly smug.

Slowly, all of his children started to trickle back into the dining room, and Sergio could see how all of them were starting to get to that point in which hunger made them particularly irritable.

There were some things that never changed when it came to his children, and it was the fact that all of them heavily resented having food in front of them and not being able to eat it.

So, once all of his children were seated at the table, Sergio patiently waited for Fernando to serve himself, and when the oldest had finished serving himself, he quickly poured in some soup. Soon, all of his children followed.

The chaos at the table was another thing Sergio could never live without.

Fernando and him always exchanged a charged glance, full of regrets, sadness and gratefulness; a way for each other to make sure that it wasn't a dream, it wasn't fragile, it wasn't something that could be taken away from them. Their (not so little, not anymore, and hopefully never again) family.

And just like that, Sergio let himself enjoy the sound of all the people at the table eating, chattering away and trying to sneak food to–

That can't be right.

“Emely, I don't think you should do that.” Sergio reprimanded before even Fernando could. It was one thing to allow them to sneak food to Titus (or the cow in one occasion, dammit Emely and Isack), it was another entirely to let them potentially poison Max's dog.

“What do Kryptonian dogs eat?” Alice asked before Emely could throw whatever she was trying to feed at Sergio.

“Food for Krypto.” Hamda said, her voice cutting through all the noise of Isack and Esteban arguing about proper use of semicolon and contractions in messaging texts that Yuki was (not really) mediating.

Ah.

Okay, so his girls were ganging up on him.

Sergio would be naive to hope it wouldn't be because of the not-admission of his not-feelings towards Max. Because it was clearly that. They knew about Max going AWOL, they knew about the dog, they even knew about the expedition to the Arctic. So it had to be that.

He really didn't want it to be that.

If the boys were looking at him like dying prey, weak and perfect for some fun, his girls were looking at him like he was already dead, and they were some particularly advantageous crows.

To save himself, he could offer them something shiny. At least it would work until he came back from the Arctic, and then he could throw Max at them and hope for the best.

“Wonder Woman suggested that because the dog is Kryptonian, having it fly around would do.” Sergio prepared himself to give his proposition and not feel too much like he was being manipulated. But really, when it came to his girls, he was more flexible. If anything because he trusted their survival instincts more. “I hear he can carry at least five people on his own. Maybe, all of you three can put that rumour to rest.”

He saw the cogs turn in Emely’s head. Out of all the three, she was the one with the most natural strategic mind. There was a reason she managed a stint as Robin when Sergio was a bit of an ass after Yuki first left the nest. Or after Esteban came back.

Sergio was still in awe of how Emely had forgiven him. She had been through so much, as Robin, and then he made it all worse when Yuki came back into the picture. But they were better now, and she was around more, and wore the bat symbol on her chest, if only for Hamda and Yuki.

Emely turned to raise an eyebrow at Alice, and she nodded.

“You're not out of the woods just yet, B.” Emely said, giving him a pointed glare. Then, she whistled and Titus appeared. She handed Alice whatever she was about to give Krypto, and then looked at Sergio again. “We still want our turn with the cowl.”

“That can be arranged with me.” Esteban said from his side of the table, ignoring whatever Isack was about to say, and giving Emely his most menacing smirk. “I'm doing a favour for Pato. But, I want to track down that lead he gave me as soon as possible, so there is a perfect slot for you to take the cowl and patrol with Hamda and Alice.”

There wasn't much Sergio could do with that, he trusted they would be able to handle his absence just fine. Alice would be in their ears, Hamda had more experience than he ever wanted her to have at seventeen, and Emely was as skilled as they come.

He was a father, after all, a proud father, and he would let his children do something on their own. At least just this one time.

He was going to the Arctic, after all, and his children knew that he was taking things seriously and would need all of his energy and focus on finding Superman, so all he could do was trust them. And hope Fernando kept them in line for three days.

He turned to look at Fernando, only to be distracted by Krypto.

The dog was right at his feet.

And it looked completely content to just… be at his feet, wagging its tails, resting its head on one of Sergio's shoes and with the chewed up cloth on the other.

He was a bit disturbed by that, mainly because he hadn't heard the dog move, much less fly, and he hadn't noticed the nice warmth against part of his leg and his feet.

“You okay?” Pato was looking at him with amusement, but it was clouded by a bit of worry at Sergio's reaction.

All he did was blink, and then briefly shake his head, just enough to be like a reflex, to soothe Pato over anything being wrong. “Yes. The dog…”

“Oh.” Pato looked down too, and saw what Krypto was doing, and all worry that was visible was replaced by complete amusement. “Oh yeah, that's not Krypto.”

Okay, maybe Sergio should really think about that more.

It's one thing if it was the first time he's heard it. But it's been more than once, and this time around it was said by Pato, who didn't mind a harmless joke or prank, but would never do anything to harm his family on purpose.

But he's with his family, they're having a relatively calm early breakfast, and Pato looks amused and when he's that happy he tends to look so much like the young boy Sergio met all those years ago.

So he doesn't pay any mind to it, merely shrugs and lets Pato laugh at him.

Chapter Text

Max was gently woken up.

For the first time.

And wow, what a difference it made.

That time, it was Fernando who woke him up.

The butler/father figure for Sergio was as clever as the Bat himself, and had been whispering Krypto’s name. It was such a soft thing, almost fond, that Max couldn’t help the fondness that overcame him. Fernando was, truly, one of the most thoughtful people he’d ever met.

Because he was whispering to wake Krypto (a.k.a. Max), so he could then wake Sergio up without any incident.

It was one thing to hear from the kids how much Fernando cared for Sergio.

It was another thing completely to be witness of how truly careful and mindful the older man was of his guard, and Max felt glad for Fernando’s existence.

Then, Max heard the soft (almost impossible to hear, with normal ears) footsteps that at that point, he suspected were a family trait. And soon enough, he could hear Fernando stopping at Sergio’s door, knocking on it so softly, Max had to strain his ears to catch it.

“Master Sergio, the children are ready for early breakfast.”

Fernando, quiet as always, simply went away. Max could admire how good Fernando was at reading Sergio, because that soft morning call was enough to get him moving, even if it was with the little things. His hands started to flex, his eyes were unfocused but still blinking, and his breathing became just the slightest bit faster.

That’s when Max noticed where he was.

He was on top of Sergio.

Max wasn’t even sure at what point during the night he just settled himself on the older man’s chest, but it did make sense. Mainly because Max found very few sounds soothing, and Sergio’s heartbeat was one of the few things that would always calm him down.

Thankfully for Max, Sergio was making no effort to move him.

He could appreciate the relative calm that was the two of them, sharing a moment.

That was until he heard Yuki.

“B! Get out or we’re going in!” Max panicked a bit. Then, he remembered that he was in Krypto’s body, and the panic faded into disappointment. He could pretend all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he was still sharing those moments with Sergio as a dog. Truly embarrassing. Max barely noticed Sergio waving his hand around, and Max decided that it was as good a moment as any to explore Sergio’s bedroom.“Hurry up! Hamda wants to meet Krypto! And Fernando said breakfast will get cold.”

Max perked up at that.

Max liked Hamda.

She wasn’t extremely social, but Max found her presence calming. There was something about her that was easy to like, and he felt glad for the fact that Hamda already liked Max in his human body. He would be in his best behaviour to meet her as Krypto.

“Calm down, Yuki.” Sergio paused, and Max felt those intense brown eyes on him. He tried his best to not squirm. “I’m getting changed in the closet. Get in the room.”

That was all the preparation Sergio got him before he turned around, and left him alone to wait to meet Yuki and Hamda.

They entered the room, and without hesitating, went straight to the bed, clearly confident that Sergio wouldn’t mind. Max had to start yelping excitedly, mainly because seeing the kids acting so natural around Sergio’s bedroom was such a sight to see. With their nighttime activities, it was easy to forget that almost all of the kids under Sergio’s wing were extremely young. For once, Max was willing to act the part of an excited dog.

And Yuki and Hamda didn’t really seem to mind.

They welcomed him into the bed, but before he could properly settle himself between the teens, his sight focused on something.

A pair of sweatpants.

That practically reeked of Charles and Sergio.

In the blink of an eye, Max went over to the sweats, grabbed it and started to chew on them as he was settling himself between Yuki and Hamda.

“Oh no!” Max saw as Yuki recognized the piece of clothing that was on his mouth (snout?) and he felt his tail wiggle with excitement at the poorly concealed laughter coming from Yuki. “Krypto calm down! Don’t chew on that!”

Max didn’t pay attention to that. Instead, he got up from where he was sitting down, and started to parade around the bed with the sweats still on his mouth.

“Not Krypto.”

Max stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at Hamda, only to find her already looking at him with a knowing (and amused) smile.

“What do you mean, Isi?” Max looked at Yuki, and he had that same amused smile. They did take after Sergio in the most unexpected ways. “That’s Krypto! Look. Krypto, fly!”

Max wasn’t sure that if he was actually Krypto at that moment, he would’ve taken flight. But Yuki was looking close to laughing, and Hamda did look like she was curious.

So, Max started to fly around Hamda and Yuki, and felt that familiar warmth related to pride when he heard the teens laugh. It was such a weird thing to see, the serious Yuki and the always composed Hamda letting themselves be children.

All was worth it, if at the end of it, he got to make Sergio’s children laugh.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Sergio got out of his closet and Max had to focus on flying to not drop and start drooling over the man’s attire. Sergio looked too good in simple, casual clothing. It was such a rare sight for Max, usually only catching glimpses of Sergio in half-armor or the professional bespoke suit.

“Isi, Yuki, why did you let Krypto chew on Charles’ clothes?” Sergio asked, and Max thought it would be appropriate to stop flying. Also, it was a good excuse to see how the muscles moved underneath the fabric as Sergio leaned on the frame of the closet door.

“We didn’t know!” Yuki was the picture of innocence, and Max wondered if Yuki actually didn’t know. Suspicious enough, but Sergio obviously didn’t think much of it, if his slightly raised eyebrow was anything to go by. “I blinked and the dog was suddenly in front of us chewing on those sweats.”

“Not Krypto.”

Max resisted the urge to whine and hide his head between his paws. Hamda had already said it twice, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to have to give a lot of explanations to Sergio’s whole family at four in the morning.

He started to chew more enthusiastically on that pair of sweatpants, and soon, Sergio was crouched in front of him, his palm up, as if to ask for something. “Krypto, give it.”

Oh, so Sergio wanted the sweats? Well, Max was going to give them to him.

The sound of wet fabric dropping on Sergio’s hands left Max with a feeling of satisfaction.

“Gross.” Max could agree, it was gross. But Sergio deserved it. “You believe us, B?”

“Yes.” Max could practically hear Sergio rolling his eyes. He didn’t do it, but he obviously wanted to. “Now, let’s get back, Esteban won’t come to another dinner if I let it go cold.”

Yuki and Hamda practically ran away from the room, and Sergio followed after them. Max hesitated, he didn’t want to leave the room. There was probably no chance for him to see the room ever again, and he wanted to commit every single little detail to memory. After a couple of seconds, Max followed after Sergio, ignoring the pointed look the older man gave him.

To escape the pointed look (the one that Sergio always gave him when he was dozing off during a League meeting), Max picked up the pace and basically flew down the stairs to hide underneath the dining room table.

It never ceased to amaze Max how extremely huge the Pérez Manor was, and the dining room and table left no room for doubt about the grandeur of the family manor.

It was also great for a hiding spot and receiving some pets from all the children already seated at the table. He was glad for his canine form, because it allowed him to be as shameless as he wanted to, and to ignore everything around him to focus on the important things in life: affection.

He was definitely going to shower Krypto with cuddles and pets and scratches after everything was solved and he was back to his own body. Affection in dog form was the only thing Max could seriously see missing.

Max was distracted by a collective groan, and the sudden scrape of chairs moving and feet walking to somewhere. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but if the amused chuckle that Fernando let out once he was alone in the dining room was anything to go by, it wasn’t anything that Max had to worry about.

So, he made his way out from under the table, and decided to quickly fly up to Sergio’s door, snatch that pair of sweats, and fly back.

If he was going to be prohibited from receiving pets, the least he could allow himself was some smug chewing.

He heard Sergio’s footsteps, and Max pretended he didn’t hear the sigh the older man let out, and felt even more smug at the fact that Sergio had continued his way towards his place on the table and didn’t even try to take the sweats away from him.

Max kept his calm demeanor whilst waiting for the children to trickle back into the dining room, and saw how all of them patiently waited for Fernando to serve himself, then Sergio, then all of them began to serve themselves some amazing smelling food.

If you’re speaking technicalities, Max (and Krypto) could survive with just sunlight. There wasn’t any need for actual food. Yet, Max (and Krypto) could eat like normal humans, and at that moment, nothing was more alluring than the smell of Fernando’s cooking.

Slowly, and as silently as he was capable of, Max moved under the table and slightly started to poke his snout into any legs available. Well, all except Sergio and Fernando. He wasn’t sure if the heads of the household would risk giving Max (in Krypto’s body) any food.

Just as he was getting out of legs to poke, he saw Emely’s hand under the table, holding a piece of magnificent looking bacon.

But just as he was about to get that piece of bacon all for himself, Emely was stopped.

“Emely, I don't think you should do that.” Sergio’s voice was that distinctive ‘dad voice’ that made everyone around the table pay attention. And it worked on Max as well as it did on any of Sergio’s children. It was truly a lethal weapon.

“What do Kryptonian dogs eat?” Alice’s voice was calm, but Max could detect something firm underneath it.

“Food for Krypto.” Hamda said, her voice just as calm as Alice’s, but with that same firmness underneath. And the fact that Hamda was involved could only mean one thing.

Was Sergio in trouble?

Well, it was none of Max’s business.

He blatantly ignored what was going on around him in favour of sneaking under the table to place himself right at Sergio’s feet. If he couldn’t take what the children were willing to sneak him, the least he could do was make himself comfortable with Sergio’s body warmth and steady heartbeat to soothe him.

His new chew toy (take that, Charles) and the proximity to Sergio did wonders for Max, quickly dozing off and enjoying the homely noise of all of Sergio’s family around him.

Chapter Text

Krypto simply wouldn’t stop following Sergio around.

He had some things to sort out before going away to the Arctic, and he needed to do them fast before the good weather in Gotham decided to take a break and made it difficult to take off in the batwing. Even if the batwing was resistant, it wasn’t necessarily the best for unpredictable weather.

It was the fastest way to reach the Arctic, and Sergio needed to reach the Fortress of Solitude.

And to do that, he had to leave some things in order.

Most importantly, it was everything related to Pérez Enterprises.

It was a pain in the ass, most of the time, even if Lucius was very helpful with letting Sergio get away with skipping multiple important meetings. And with Checo going around and making a scene every time the company needed to do something risky in order to prosper.

His weekly appearance at the main office building was normally on Friday, but he had more pressing issues, so it was better to show up, do Bat business while pretending to do nothing, and then leave straight to the cave for a last check-in with his kids and Fernando, all so he could leave without worrying too much.

As he was making his way back to his room, to change into his designated office suit, Krypto was eager to follow after him, leaving him a bit annoyed.

It wasn’t like Sergio was going to pay much attention to the dog, but it seemed determined to follow him around.

As he was changing, allowing himself a little quiet before having to face the whole company building, the dog seemed… shy? About watching Sergio undress himself, of all things. As if Krypto didn’t live with Max, who probably changed in front of it all of the time.

Then, Sergio made his way to the bathroom, and the dog still seemed shy, even nervous, about following him to the bathroom. He let the dog hide somewhere in his bedroom, and let out a deep breath at finally being all alone in his own room.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the dog, but it was starting to… unnerve him? Sergio himself wasn’t sure about it, but it was probably the reminder of the fact that Superman was missing and the only thing left (for the foreseeable future) was his dog.

When he was done, the dog still seemed reluctant to move from its hiding place, and Sergio took the opportunity for what it was, making a run for the door and locking the dog inside.

He would tell Fernando to open the door once he was far away enough to not be followed.

Sergio didn’t need to take a dog with him to the office, not when it was a normal weekly appearance and not when Lucius was going to discuss some serious matters in terms of charity galas and further investment in medical research.

A dog that adorable would just distract him.

(And make you look soft, provided by the ruthless voice inside of him that sounded a lot like the Yuki molded by the family duty.)

Ever since Pato had come into his life, he tended to make his public persona care more about the company. And he didn’t need a dog ruining that.

He quickly bid goodbye to his kids (except Pato, who had taken a few rushed bites and then got back to Blüdhaven to sort out his things) and Fernando, then rushed to the front of the manor, where his car was already waiting for him.

He didn’t even notice the blur of white blasting past the entrance door before Fernando could close it.

He also didn’t notice how it was discreetly floating over the rooftops, following him (the car) all the way to Pérez Enterprises.

He also didn’t wasn’t aware of, as he let the valet take the car to his designated parking spot, how the dog went over his head and straight into one open window, entering the building without being noticed.

As he was entering the building, he was pleased to find Lucius already waiting for him in the main reception lounge, and with a quick nod of acknowledgement to the receptionist, went to Lucius to start with his weekly check-in.

“Lucius.” The older man stood up from his seat, and gave Sergio his signature tired smile.

He should really give the older man some vacation time.

“Sergio.” Lucius shook his hand, and with the familiarity of someone that has been invited to many early breakfasts and late dinners, put a hand on the small of Sergio’s back. “We have no time to lose. C’mon, I don’t think we can clear everything by lunch, but we can try.”

They made their way to his private elevator, the one that made no stops and shot directly to his office. Sergio ignored how the people around the lounge were looking at him.

As if the weekly visits haven’t been a thing for almost five years.

Once inside the elevator, Sergio allowed himself a heavy sigh, and Lucius, as perceptive as always, let him lean more of his weight on his arm.

Ever since Max and Sergio revealed to each other their secret identities, he’s noticed how much he’s gotten used to other people ( important people, people he cared about) casually touching him, Sergio letting them reach out.

It was new, but it wasn’t unwelcomed.

Mainly because it only made Max more eager to touch, and Sergio was a weak, weak man.

And it was easy to pretend it was all some sort of exposure therapy, something he was doing for his family and his loved ones, not for himself.

The elevator ding was the thing that got him out of his own thoughts, and soon enough, Lucius was ushering him towards his desk and laying in front of him all sorts of confidential documents he needed to revise, approve and sign.

He sighed again, and started to read while listening to Lucius explain all about future charity proposals and the quarterly earnings meeting he couldn’t miss.

As the older man was leaning on his space, trying to read the fine print of a patent that LexCorp was (potentially) stealing from a Pérez Enterprises employee, Sergio heard a growl.

Unfortunately, it was a familiar growl.

“Krypto.” Sergio raised an unamused eyebrow to the dog, and he was glad to confirm that it was as effective on the dog as it is on Max. “Sit.”

Lucius looked up from the document, just at the dog just as it was sitting on the chair in front of Sergio’s desk. “Is that your dog, Sergio?”

“No.” Sergio leaned completely on his chair, glad for the extra comfort of the plush padding, and rubbed his left temple, the one that usually carried more tension. “I think you might have heard something, but I’ll clear any doubts. Superman went away and left me the dog.”

The dog barked, as if offended by the way Sergio called him ‘the dog’.

“Fine, Superman left me with Krypto.” He sighed again, and was glad when Lucius, without asking, reached out for his handy bottle of aspirin as he got a bottle of water. He swallowed down three pills and drained the bottle, gaining an unimpressed stare from Lucius.

“Care to elaborate?” The older man was clearly willing to let him not elaborate, and Sergio, for once, was glad to take that chance.

“No. Can we please go back to the patent?”

Without saying anything, Lucius turned back to the patent, and Sergio let the other man explain to him what was going on, and started to compare LexCorp’s patent and the original proposal from that particular employee.

They were interrupted by another growl.

Well, they were going to have to go for that lab check-in before scheduled.

Sergio was not going to deal with whatever was making Krypto growl at Lucius.

All he was going to do was to distract the dog while Lucius explained through earcoms all the documents. He didn’t have time for any of whatever was going on with the dog.

“Can you make it stop?” Lucius gave the dog a weary glance, and Sergio wanted Max back, if only to take the dog away so he could do what he needed to do without disturbance.

“No.” He stood up, and started to look around his desk for his and Lucius’ earcoms made for easier communication whilst in the same building. “I’ll check on the labs and will take Krypto with me. Hopefully it will distract him. You tell me about all the documents.”

He let out a content humming sound when he found the earcoms, and handed Lucius his own pair. “So you only have to sign what you agree with and write down any suggestions.”

“Yes.” Sergio put them on, and was aware of how Lucius was still looking at Krypto a bit wearily. Mainly because it was definitely weird, for such a friendly dog, to be treated like it was something dangerous. Especially for someone like Lucius, well aware of the risks of vigilante life and used to caution. “Sorry for…”

“Don’t worry about it, Sergio.” Lucius took his eyes away from Krypto, and offered Sergio a small smile, tilting his head in question. “I take it you’re in a rush?”

“Something like that.”

Sergio didn’t want to elaborate, and he really didn’t need to talk about Max missing. No, Superman. Superman was missing. And he needed to find him.

“Okay.” The older man looked down to the bunch of papers on the desk, and Sergio had to resist the urge to take another couple of pills. He could deal with all of it, he’s been through worse. “If you need me to elaborate just double tap on your coms. The lab staff would appreciate it if their boss appeared to be actually paying attention.”

“Don’t worry about it, Lucius.” Sergio gave Lucius a tentative smile, and then said with the driest tone he could manage: “I am sneaky.”

And Sergio pretended that he didn’t smile at Lucius’ sharp laugh, as he turned around and went to the normal elevator.

Sergio sighed, as he was absolutely not looking forward to that last check-in with his kids.

While he was driving, Krypto kept no disregard over his personal space, feeling like it needed to lean on Sergio and doze off and dream of whatever Kryptonian dogs dreamt of.

It was mainly because he simply couldn’t seem to shake off the dog, and the dog didn’t seem too keen on letting Sergio get out of his sight. And that was going to be a problem, mainly because Sergio didn’t think it was going to be productive to bring an overeager dog in search of someone that wasn’t going to be there.

That someone being his owner, master or last Kryptonian companion.

So he was going to have to be really creative over how to make the dog stay, and his children were going to (most likely) protest.

He could basically hear in his head Yuki’s groan over having to take care of the dog he didn’t want to take care of, Isack’s delighted happiness over Yuki’s misery, Pato’s sadness over having to (lightly, very lightly) incapacitate the dog with Kryptonite and Fernando’s raised eyebrows.

Oh, it was going to be a disaster.

And he had already taken his daily aspirin dose, so he would have to find a way to meditate in the batwing to let some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders and his neck.

He debated over parking his car at the front of the manor, but as soon as he was making his way towards the private grounds, he convinced himself it would be easier to just park his car and not have to explain to his kids why the dog was in his car.

As he was entering the batmobile tunnel to lead them into the cave, Sergio woke up Krypto, and stopped a little after the entrance, making it jump out of the car.

It didn’t work.

The dog just tilted its head, the epitome of the phrase ‘lost puppy’.

Sergio stared at the damned dog, and sighed again.

“Fine.” He turned to start the car again, and took in and out a deep breath. “Max, you are going to pay for this. I don’t care if you can or can’t hear me, when I find you, and trust me I will, I will make you pay.”

In the end, he was going to be left alone in the Arctic for a couple of days, he could think of something embarrassing for Max to do.

As he parked the car on the platform, and as he got out, he was surprised by a deeply unimpressed Fernando. Sergio was never going to question how the older man just knew how he was feeling and when would be the best moment to breach a delicate subject.

And since Fernando had saved him from having to answer to his children about his feelings towards Max, Sergio might as well answer any questions the older man might have.

“Master Sergio.” He kept the door open, trying to avoid Fernando and his piercing stare, and letting the door out. “I take it you know my opinions over what happened in Metropolis.”

He was vaguely aware that Fernando would agree with Isack, mostly over the fact that the kiss was an unnecessary distraction that could’ve harmed both Superman and Batman.

But it was better to act clueless around Fernando, if only to spare himself the embarrassment.

“I would like for you to explain yourself, Fernando.” Sergio started to walk to the platform that would take both of them to the main area of the batcave, and where his children were.

“If you could stay here, so the young Masters and Misses don’t come up with questions of their own.” Sergio hated it when his children and Fernando ganged up on him. It was usually an impossible situation to escape from. “Superman shouldn’t have done what he did.”

Sergio could only nod, because even if Isack’s clear disdain for Superman showed through his initial reaction, he himself could admit that the kiss immediately made him forget about Lex Luthor, of all people, in a fucking Kryptonite suit that was still posed a great risk to the man that was so focused on him that he hadn’t seen a punch coming.

And there was the fact that they were lucky that all civilians had been cleared and Luthor was unconscious inside his suit and hadn't seen a thing, because as far as possible catastrophe for their public and private lives, anyone seeing anything was on the major side of it.

“But, if you feel the same way towards Max…” Sergio looked at his feet, feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Not even being chased by Gotham’s rogues made his heart hammer inside his chest, and he’d been in that situation more times than he would like. “Master Sergio, I think you should’ve reached out right after.”

It wasn’t usual for Fernando to behave so… paternal. Not if it wasn’t a particularly precarious life or death situation.

And now his butler, the man that had raised him and had seen the ugliest parts of him, was standing in front of him, a hand on his shoulder and the other cradling his neck, giving Sergio a small smile.

“Go to the Arctic, Master Sergio.” Fernando let him have a moment, allowing him to close his eyes and taking it all in. When he opened his eyes, Fernando was still smiling. “And come back with Max.”

Sergio could do that.

He nodded, and gave the slightest of smiles to Fernando.

Then, as if sensing that Sergio had just had a moment and just needed to be brought back to a sense of normality, a heavy thud behind them was heard.

And Sergio saw a Krypto that was literally running in circles, as if chasing its own tail.

He was definitely not going to miss Krypto, at least not while Max was missing, but he could admit that he was really glad for the dog and the distraction it provided.

Chapter Text

Max Verstappen considered himself a good man.

He was Superman, because he was also a concerned man, a man that cared too much, and a man that needed to help others in order to live a fulfilled life.

Max saw Sergio Pérez as one of those unsettling mirrors that the Joker was fond of. Not a pleasant experience, to see yourself in such a disturbed image, but in that same image one was still able to recognize their own selves.

Max saw Sergio as a disturbed reflection of himself.

Max could see himself in Sergio, but it would be naïve of him to ever consider them sides of the same coin. He wasn’t as romantic as to think that Sergio was similar enough to Max.

But there were still moments in which Max could see Sergio as a completely different person to him, living a completely different life, revolving around completely different people that also had completely different experiences.

That is to say, Max was starting to realize how actually desired Sergio was.

People desired Sergio’s attention. People desired Sergio’s touch. People desired to share a moment with Sergio, to share his time and to be understood by him.

Watching Sergio move around Pérez Enterprises was driving Max insane.

If he thought that Charles draping himself all over Sergio was bad, watching as Sergio was the subject of intense stares, of any and all types of desire, was like nothing he had the tragedy of living through before.

First, it was Lucius.

Max knew of Lucius. He was aware of the deep respect Sergio had for the older man, but he wasn’t aware of how close they were. Watching as Lucius was allowed to put a hand on Sergio’s lower back, and Sergio let himself lean into the touch.

His logical mind told him that Sergio trusted Lucius, not only with the management of the company, but with such a coveted secret as Batman's civilian identity.

But then, it was also everyone else.

As Sergio managed to listen to Lucius and pretend he was hearing what all the people around him had to say, Max was hit with the sudden urge to get all of his attention. He didn’t want those dark eyes on anybody else but himself.

It was hard to understand that Sergio would always be a coveted man, that all he did and all he was not only belonged to the older man himself, but to every eye that had ever been exposed to his likeness due to his fame and his name and fuck.

Max was so incredibly fucked.

He couldn’t even be around one of Sergio’s closest confidants without thinking about how he could never compare.

In that moment, as Krypto, and as the man that had to run away from the consequences of his actions, Max felt truly miserable.

The car ride back to the Manor was the definition of paradise.

Max could barely think of anything that would ever reach the same levels of perfection.

Laying his head on Sergio’s thigh and pretending to be asleep on top of the older man’s warmth made his brain turn into mush.

It was all so fuzzy, Max never wanted to move ever again.

So, it was only fitting that when he was actually dozing off, Sergio decided that it was the time to stop at the entrance of the tunnel that lead into the cave and wake Max up.

He opened his eyes and saw Sergio getting out of the car, clearly gesturing for him to also jump out and follow him.

Yeah, like Max would leave the comfort of the car that smelled so distinctively of Sergio and was just so warm and he would rather keep being a dog to spend the rest of his life in that car. Preferably next to Sergio, but the man didn’t look particularly inclined to follow Max’s amazing idea.

In fact, the older man looked a little pissed.

Max heard Sergio sigh, and say in a very bland tone, “Fine.”

Before Max could even think about wagging his tail in excitement about the prospect of actually getting Sergio all for himself in a little space again.

Then, before he could get too comfortable, the older man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The way that Sergio said the words to the air made Max dread.

“Max, you are going to pay for this. I don’t care if you can or can’t hear me, when I find you, and trust me I will, I will make you pay.”

If he was wishing that he could stay as a dog forever, at that moment he felt that he should stay that way if he wanted to keep on living. Maybe Sergio was speaking out of frustration, but a promise like that one didn’t tend to go without being followed through.

Sergio drove the car through the cave, until he parked it on the platform.

Max saw the opportunity to slip away when the older man was distracted by Fernando, who always had the perfect timing.

He loved that as a dog, he had the perfect excuse to just go around and snoop. When he was allowed in as a guest, Max had at least three pairs of eyes on him at all times. But as a dog, he was seen as a little dumb and harmless (not completely, because he was still an overpowered dog), and he was basically free to do whatever he wanted.

And at that moment, what he wanted was to play around with the bats.

Max found it extremely amusing that Sergio had actual bats in his… bat cave.

The older man insisted that he wasn’t dramatic, that he didn’t like the theatrics, but he had grown with Fernando, a man that had a thing for theatrics. Max thought that it was a little funny how Sergio would deny it when asked, but still do little things like that.

Like having bats in his bat cave.

He was so focused on playing around with the bats, that everything around him faded away. It was so much fun, to chase around the exasperated mammals, Max would let Krypto play around with the squirrels at the park more often.

Or, probably not. Max was being careful, and he even managed to make some dents into the walls of the cave. He couldn’t think of Krypto being as careful with the poor little squirrels, so when he was in his own body, he would ask Sergio for some robots for Krypto to play with. It could be a good alternative.

Apparently, Max was not being careful enough, because he was so focused on chasing around one specific bat that was making him fly around in circles, that he didn’t notice when said bat started to slowly bring Max to the ground.

With a thud, he almost crashed on high ground of the cave, and he would’ve done some considerable damage if it hadn’t been for the fact that Max realized at the last second.

He somehow avoided full contact with the ground, and to cover up the fact that he was being a little too reckless, Max started to chase his own tail.

He heard Sergio’s exasperated sigh, and Max allowed himself a moment of relief.

At least he hadn’t looked like a complete idiot (in dog form) in front of the older man.

Chapter Text

Sergio blamed the still cloudy sky for the fact that he hadn’t seen Krypto.

The batwing was a quick, effective way of traveling around. It was probably the fastest airplane in the market that wasn’t a spaceship, so the trip from Gotham to the Arctic wasn’t as long as it could’ve been. Things were relatively quiet after the snowstorm, but visibility wasn’t the best.

Hence, why he hadn’t seen Krypto following him around.

He only noticed when he was halfway through the Atlantic, and a voice message from Pato reached him.

“Hey, Sergio, just to let you know that we can’t find Krypto.” Sergio could hear the frantic shouts of Yuki and Esteban clearly fighting about who lost the dog, and Fernando and Hamda arguing with Isack about… taking the emergency batwing? “Can you do us a favour and look around? We think it took off as soon as you did.”

And that was it.

Sergio saw the flying dog keeping up the pace with the batwing, clearly just enjoying the ride and playing around with whichever bird just happened to pass by.

He had to take several deep breaths, and had to pretend that the fact that Krypto was not as affected by Kyptonite as Superman was, did rattle him just a bit. He had to deal with one crisis at a time, and that little Krypto fact didn’t need to be on the top of the list.

He had to stop in a deserted place in Canada, the idea of the dog just following him around didn’t sit right with him.

There was also the fact that the batwing wasn’t as fast as Superman, and he didn’t need to be detected and taken down by a missile just because someone saw something on a radar.

Once he was on the air again, Sergio had to use an unusual amount of self-control in order to shake Krypto off of his thigh when the dog promptly made itself comfortable as soon as he sat down. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, it was more unnerving than anything else.

Titus wasn’t a particularly affectionate dog, and the few times Max had allowed Sergio and Krypto to be in the same room, it didn’t seem like the Kryptonian dog was comfortable with Sergio either. So the way the dog appeared to be familiar with Sergio, was enough to faze him, just the tiniest bit.

It wasn’t a lengthy trip to the Arctic, but with the silent company of Krypto, time seemed to stretch for Sergio.

Even if the dog had some strange behaviour that Sergio was very much ignoring in favour of focusing on finding Max, it was still company, and company that he felt grateful for.

At least Krypto was surely missing Max as much as Sergio.

And the dog couldn’t make fun of Sergio, or prod and poke until he didn’t have any other option other than lash out or try and argue his way out of any interrogation.

So Sergio was willing to ignore the bizarre behaviour in favour of having a bit of a perplexing (and silent, thank god) journey.

One good thing about the Arctic was that finding a landing spot wasn’t extremely difficult.

He landed as close to the Fortress of Solitude as he dared.

Even if Ma– Superman, Kal, had given him clearance to enter the place and do as he pleased, he still didn’t want to risk anything with the batwing activating any Kryptonian defense mechanism. As flattered as he was by the show of trust, Sergio still hadn’t gathered the courage to make an excursion of his own to try and understand more of Krypto.

It also felt like an intrusion of Kal’s privacy, a part of Superman that was so far removed from Max, that Sergio wasn’t even sure he truly wanted to explore it without the younger man knowing.

But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Superman had been missing for almost a week by that point (six days, twenty three hours, and forty-seven minutes), so Sergio had no other option than to enter the Fortress of Solitude and find the answers he was looking for.

As he got out of the batwing, he looked back to see the way Krypto jumped out of the batwing, and he immediately went straight to the entrance of the Fortress.

Sergio raised an eyebrow at the dog sitting near the entrance and looking at him, expectant.

Again, weird, but not something he was willing to question at the moment.

Without wanting to delay the inevitable, Sergio stood in front of the gate, when it hit him how he didn’t know what to do. Sergio has seen Kal pick up the key and open the doors, but he’s sure he wouldn’t be able to do that. At all.

He looked down at Krypto.

The dog was wagging its tail, obviously excited about the prospect of finally being somewhere familiar, and completely oblivious to Sergio’s sudden idea.

Or…

Sergio closed his eyes, and tried to remember the way Max behaved around his dog, and remember if the dog had a basic command to fetch something.

He drew a blank, the closest thing he could remember was just Max letting Sergio throw a can of lead and telling Krypto to ‘fetch!’.

Okay, there was not much Sergio could do, other than walk over where he remembers the key being, hope that Krypto could lift the key up for him and try to run towards the entrance in record time. He really didn’t want to run, in case the sudden motion alerted anything in the Fortress’ defense.

He really didn’t see anything else–

Sergio was abruptly shaken from his line of thought when a solid weight pushed him face first into the door of the Fortress.

“Motherfu–” It was only because of countless hours of being used to being around children that allowed him to not finish the curse, and put his hands in front of his face before he could actually hit the surface. “Huh.”

The door opened as soon as Sergio took his hands away.

Krypto’s eager bark was the only warning he got before being barreled inside by the sheer strength of the alien dog. He fell on his back, not really registering the fact that he wasn’t alone in the main room of the Fortress of Solitude.

“Ah, finally!” Sergio could (unfortunately) recognize that voice. There were few people allowed inside the Fortress of Solitude when Superman was not there, and only one of those people only had that particular bubbly way of talking. “Look what the dog dragged in.”

Sergio stood up and as he turned around, he came face to face with an extremely amused Mister Mxyzptlk.

And after seven days, three hours and twenty-two minutes, Sergio did not have time to deal with whatever the all-powerful being wanted to throw at him.

Because there was only one reason Mister Mxyzptlk would be in the Fortress of Solitude, and that was to fuck around with Superman, and apparently now that Superman wasn’t around, the being would have to settle for the next best thing.

Well, that was not going to happen.

Before he could say anything, Krypto barked again.

And there was a very suspicious lump that looked like shit (‘see! Sergio did end up cleaning Kryptonian dog shit!’) right under where Mister Mxyzptlk was floating around, apparently too amused to be offended by the dog.

Sergio is too old for this shit.

And Isack won't kill Max, if only so Sergio will get the chance to kill him first for running away and leaving him to deal with actually cleaning Kryptonian dog shit.

Really, why did Max have to go away to deal with his feelings? Sergio has been repressing them for years, and he's totally fine (shut up, Pato).

Whatever, at least the dog tilts its head like how Max did when he didn't understand what Sergio was talking about and-

Holy shit.

Chapter Text

Max had woken up in a panic.

He felt as if he had been thrown a bucket of cold water over him, making him feel thrown off balance, completely taken back and panicking.

Max looked around, and taking advantage of his sharpened senses, he tried to look for Sergio. Something about the stale air around him made him realize that the older man was no longer near him, and he needed to find him. Soon .

It seemed that the kids were all on patrol, someone (Yuki, most probably) betting on a certain amount of crimes stopped, or things discovered; and all of the kids agreeing without question.

He counted himself lucky, because he was able to basically fly away from the cave without anybody noticing.

Well, Fernando might’ve noticed.

But Max would’ve been more afraid if Fernando had noticed and then done something about it. Max knew that Fernando was not someone to underestimate, and he thanked Rao for the little mercy of the lack of intervention from the older man.

As he was flying, he remembered that Sergio had mentioned the Arctic, and a bulb went off in his mind.

Of course! Sergio would obviously fly to the Arctic. In the Arctic was the Fortress of Solitude, and if anyone was smart enough to put the pieces together about what happened to him, it was Sergio.

Max did an excited loop in the air, and continued his path through the skies, keeping one of his ears focused on the sound of the batwing’s engine, and the other on searching for Sergio’s heartbeat. At some point, Max was bound to find the older man.

And when Max finally spotted the batwing, along with hearing the older man’s steady heartbeat, he couldn’t help himself, and started to circle around the batwing, trying his hardest to get the older man’s attention.

And it worked.

Sergio did a comical double take, when Max did a dangerous stunt, basically giving the illusion of falling, and suddenly appearing right in front of the main looking glass. Max would’ve laughed, if it wasn’t for the fact that the older man almost crashed his place in an attempt to dodge Max.

After Max made sure that Sergio wouldn’t crash the batwing (and after hearing Pato’s message, which will totally use against the younger man later), he started to keep pace with the plane, and played around with any birds that dared to get too close to Sergio.

Not too long after, Sergio made a stop in Canada, and Max, never one to waste an opportunity to spend time in close proximity with the older man, didn’t hesitate to jump into the batwing when Sergio gestured to it.

There was enough space for Max to lay on the side of Sergio’s leg, but there was also enough space for Max to comfortably lay his head on the older man’s leg.

Obviously, Max chose to lay his head on the older man’s leg, and take a quick nap surrounded by the comfort of Sergio’s familiar smell, mixed with the sound of the engine and the wildlife in the sky and on the ground.

Something in Max was immediately on guard the moment Sergio landed the batwing on the Arctic. The older man landed close to the Fortress of Solitude, and Max immediately got out of the batwing and made a run towards the entrance door.

Max couldn’t help himself.

He was so close.

Even if Sergio wouldn’t kiss him, Max knew that the older man was more than capable of solving the problem, and of turning around whatever curse or spell or freaky enchantment Mr. Mxy had put on him. All he had to do was to take Sergio inside.

He looked at the older man’s direction, and if he could, he would’ve smiled at the raised eyebrow and clearly questioning stare.

Soon enough, the older man joined him at the front of the gate, and for a couple of seconds, Sergio didn’t do anything. He stood still, as if suddenly frozen. Max cocked his head, and patiently waited for the shorter man to look at him.

Max started to wag his tail, the intensity of the eyes on him never failing to make him feel like a bag of fireworks exploding. Max saw how Sergio suddenly closed his eyes, and if Max could, he would’ve rolled his eyes. The man next to him was clearly trying to remember something, or thinking about an overcomplicated plan.

Max really had no patience anymore.

He pushed Sergio to make him lean his hands against the door.

“Motherfu–” Max was amused by the fact that Sergio stopped himself before finishing his cursing. And then he was even more amused by the surprised sound he let out  when he took his hands away and the door opened in front of them.

Max couldn’t help himself, and barked, before barreling inside, taking Sergio with him. They got inside, and Max rejoiced over the opportunity of being on top of the older man, distracted enough to not notice the particular green and abstract menace inside his Fortress.

“Ah, finally!” Max practically jumped to the stratosphere at that bubbly voice. For a moment, he had forgotten the reason why he was allowed to be on top of the older man without reprimand. Mr. Mxy was already floating, and too smug to Max’s liking. “Look what the dog dragged in.”

Max saw how Sergio stood up, but at that point, he was too focused on trying to scare the all-powerful being floating around.

Max decided that he had been behaving too well. It was time that he did something that a pissed dog would do. Taking a shit as closely as possible to Mr. Mxyzptlk was the best option. He floated along with the colourful being, and with a scary precision, he managed to just barely miss Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Curse that all-powerful being and his speed. If it was Lando, with or without the normal amount of coffee that made him a tad bit faster, he would’ve managed to aim properly.

Max, in his frustration, barked.

And unfortunately, that brought Sergio’s attention to him. Or well, to Krypto. And the shit on the ground.

Sergio, for a brief moment, looked at Max with that patented ‘tired dad’ look. But then, it was as if that particular bark and Mr. Mxyzptlk floating around was enough to make him connect the dots.

And Max was unfortunate enough to know exactly what each facial expression of Sergio’s meant. The furrowed eyebrows and the squinted eyes were enough to have Max shaking.

Sergio knew.

Sergio finally knew that Max was Krypto.

Chapter Text

It was very difficult, at least for Sergio, to try and figure out what was wrong with Krypto.

The dog acted perfectly normal, for an alien dog whose owner was Superman, but Sergio couldn’t get it out of his head how people around would keep on pointing out that the dog keeping Sergio company wasn’t Krypto.

It was difficult, it really was, mainly because Sergio had a bit of a ‘tunnel vision’ problem. His main focus was to find Superman, find Max, and anything else was just going to fade into the background for the foreseeable future.

So, in his mind, ignoring whatever was going on with Krypto was easier to ignore in favour of thinking that having the dog around was a good sign, a sign that Max hadn’t gone through something terrible and all would be well.

At that moment, seeing Krypto act so clearly pissed at Mister Mxyzptlk, everything slotted into place. All the odd behaviour, all the sneaky glances people shared with each other after a certain bizarre action, the way Krypto basically lost his mind around Charles.

Max had an encounter with Mister Mxyzptlk, and whatever had happened in between flying away and arriving at the Fortress of Solitude, it had to do with Superman’s disappearance.

Superman had to deal with the all-powerful being that is Mister Mxyzptlk with his defenses lowered, and it ended up with him being turned into Krypto.

Sergio let out a very heavy sigh.

“I take it you are the heartbreaker.” Mister Mxyzptlk gave Sergio a really big smile, and Sergio reached over to his utility belt out of reflex. Again, if Mister Mxyzptlk wanted to mess around with Superman, there was only so much one could do, and Sergio just wanted Max back. “Oh, don’t be afraid.”

Sergio raised his eyebrow. It wouldn’t be noticeable under the cow, but Mister Mxyzptlk had a way to just know things. Sergio was sure that the intergalactic being got what he wanted to convey with his body language and (hidden) facial expression.

“Not chatty, are we?” Mister Mxyzptlk started to slowly float closer to Sergio, and Krypto, like the overprotective dog (or transformed Max? was it a consciousness swap? two minds in a shared body? he would analyze that later), got closer to Sergio and started to growl at the curious being floating around. “Oh, down dog. I won’t do anything to your beloved.”

Sergio knew that it was better to ignore Mister Mxyzptlk.

It wasn’t like the Riddler, that with the figure of speak (‘No, Pato, I refuse to say he speaks in riddles’, Esteban had emphasized once, because, according to him, it was giving the Riddler too much credit) and constant guessing around the meaning of his words, things could be easily misinterpreted.

But Mister Mxyzptlk was very well known around the Meta circles as someone that could easily manipulate their way around the strongest of minds, would just throw around details of their private life and unearth some deeply buried insecurities.

Again, he had a knack for just knowing things.

Sergio knew that. So, either Mister Mxyzptlk knew his biggest weakness, or he knew Max’s biggest weakness. Both were undesirable situations.

But then again, Sergio had dealt with worse.

“I have to admit, I’m disappointed.” The intergalactic being stopped floating, and with his feet on the ground, he started to walk around, doing wide circles around Max and Sergio. “I was hoping Max would’ve obeyed and given you to me, so we could have a bit of a spar before I was forced back to my own place.”

At that, Sergio had to resist the urge to answer.

He wouldn’t give the satisfaction of a reaction to Mister Mxyzptlk.

Mister Mxyzptlk sighed, clearly not amused.

“You are so different from Kal-El.” He stopped in front of the Fortress’ door, and Sergio found himself tensing at the thought of the being just disappearing without telling him how to get Max back. “This is no fun.”

With that, it happened.

A ‘pop!’ and Mister Mxyzptlk was gone.

Sergio could’ve actually screamed with frustration.

He knew better than that, of course, but it didn’t make the situation any better. Sergio knew that Max was inside Krypto. Or was transformed into Krypto. Or any variation of that. But the least that stupidly colourful being could do was tell him how to reverse it.

Sergio remained rooted in his spot, trying very hard to not lose it.

Because he hasn’t slept in a bit more than two weeks, Max’s been missing for half of that time, he’s had to take care of a dog, he’s had to admit to his non-feelings to his children and he’s had to pretend that he’s not worrying himself to exhaustion.

All because Max couldn’t talk to him and decided to sulk in his Fortress in the middle of the Arctic only to be shoved into Krypto’s shoes out of Mister Mxyzptlk’s weird obsession with him.

Sergio turned to look at Max/Krypto.

The dog was looking at his paws like he was trying to avoid the unavoidable. If Max was truly inside of Krypto, then he knew what was coming next.

“You are so done when this is over, Max.” The dog looked up, and gave the most lethal set of ‘sad puppy’ eyes Sergio had the misfortune of encountering. He usually doesn’t cave as easily, having raised children that know his weaknesses and use them against him, but. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. But we will have to talk, Max.”

Krypto/Max looked like he was seriously considering flying away from the Fortress.

“Don’t even think about it.” Sergio put as much of The Bat as he could behind his voice, and he got the desired effect: Max stood frozen in his spot. Even if Krypto could get Sergio sweating on a good day, Max was as vulnerable to the voice of The Bat as any Gothamite.

“Now, I’ll start saying out loud some possible solutions to the problem, and I want you to bark as soon as one of them comes close enough.” Sergio felt comfortable enough to take off his cowl, knowing that Mister Mxyzptlk wouldn’t bother to appear again unless Max was back to himself. “I seriously do hope you can understand me.”

To his amusement, Krypto nodded. He let out an undignified snort, because even Sergio could admit that Krypto and Max were not really that different from each other. As eager to please as a dog and a Meta could be.

“Let’s start with something simple.” He started to pace around, and his eye caught the reflection of the Fortress’ main control panel. He frowned, and made way to the panel, trying to figure out what it was trying to tell him. It was in Kryptonese, but there were a few words from the alphabet that Sergio could identify. His own name, for example. “I’m guessing he used this to send you to me, didn’t he?”

Krypto’s bark of affirmation sent a pang of anxiety through his chest.

Things were falling into place, and Sergio didn’t like it one bit. ‘I won’t do anything to your beloved’. ‘I take it you are the heartbreaker’. It all painted a pretty clear picture, and Sergio was not sure if he could deal with it on his own. Max had grown too predictable, and someone as smart and knowing as Mister Mxyzptlk would’ve easily caught on to what had happened to make Superman search for solitude.

“I can’t believe Mister Mxyzptlk really thought he could make me fall in love with you if he shoved you in my face as Krypto.” Sergio closed his eyes, and pressed the bridge of his nose, the impending headache creeping away in favour of the knot forming in his throat.

Max started to whine.

“Don’t do that.” Sergio winced at hearing his own voice. It was rough, and it had that hardened edge to it that he usually didn’t let trough. Max was familiar with that particular tone, one used to reprimand.

The last time Max had heard that tone was when Sergio lashed out at him for not being careful when fighting against Luthor.

The knot pressing against his throat was almost impossible to undo, making it hard to talk. He needed to push through, to solve the problem before things got worse, and he couldn’t–

“I’m starting to think Mister Mxyzptlk was reading some sort of romance.” Sergio pushed through, opened his eyes, and put both of his hands on the panel, relying on the cool surface to regain some of his balance. He needed a clear head to try and guess what he needed to do in order to solve the problem. “Why would he think…?”

Max barked.

Sergio blinked.

He turned around, and saw that Krypto was no longer near the entrance of the Fortress, but he was right at Sergio’s feet. It was an image too familiar for him now, and he remembered how Pato had laughed at his own astonishment when Krypto first settled at his feet.

He felt stupid, in hindsight.

“What do you want me to do, Max?” Everything was starting to catch up to him. The lack of sleep, the worry, the anxiety that he managed to ruin Max, to ruin the only good thing (aside from his family) that he had built all on his own. The knot in his throat was starting to tighten, and seeing how earnest those puppy eyes looked, was almost enough to get him to sob. He didn’t, because the sting of tears was surprising enough to make him forget for a bit.

Max started to whine again.

Whether it was in response to Sergio’s distress or his own, he couldn’t be sure. But it was something that he couldn’t ignore, at least not without actually crying. It felt cruel, to ignore Max, when all he had wanted during the week he was missing was to find him, to talk to him, to confront him and to fix whatever had gone wrong between them.

Sergio knelt down to Krypto’s level, and without really thinking about it, put his arms around the dog, finding some comfort in the warmth and familiarity of the weight against him. It was almost like getting Titus with him when his body was too heavy to bear, but different in the way that Sergio knew that Max was close, yet far away.

Krypto kept whining, and Sergio was about to get worried, when suddenly, from between his arms, the dog’s snout peeked through and was close enough to Sergio to lick his chin.

As a reflex, Sergio flinched away, never liking the rough texture of any animal’s tongue against his face , but Krypto was being to insistent and still trying to lick his face–

“Oh, you can’t be serious.” Sergio stood up, and put his head in both of his hands. He really needed to have a deep conversation with Max as soon as possible, because things wouldn’t have been as bad if the Metahuman had just stayed and talked to him. “Next time Mister Mxyzptlk shows up, I’m not getting you out of it. You carry around the paper and pen.”

He sighed, apologizing to Pato in his mind for the lesser time he would have in this Earth, and got down on his knees again, staring with growing weariness at the dog in front of him. Thankfully, Max got what Sergio was thinking, and stopped trying to lick at his chin.

Sergio glared at Max. “Again, bark if what I’m saying is right. Do I have to give you a kiss to revert whatever Mister Mxyzptlk did to you?”

Max barked.

“Do you have any idea of where Mister Mxyzptlk got this particular… solution to the problem?” Sergio didn’t want to give a kiss to Max. If he was the real Max, in his own body, he wouldn’t have a problem. But he was never raised to give that type of affection to his pets, and dogs had humid snouts. Krypto could’ve been grown in a lab, but he was still a dog.

When Max just stared up at him, blinking with no apparent recognition, Sergio closed his eyes and sighed. (He could almost hear Pato’s resigned tone in his head: ‘Again? how many times do I have to repeat myself, B?’ It was better if Pato never found out how many times he had sighed in the span of less than an hour.)

“Okay.”

Sergio closed his eyes, readying himself, and decided to get it over with. He opened his eyes, and gently grabbed the sides of the head, forming slow and calming circles with his thumbs. One last look into those blue eyes (and really, he should’ve known earlier, Krypto doesn’t have blue eyes) and Sergio closed his eyes, dropping a small, chaste kiss on the top of the dog’s nose.

He felt the need to purse his lips at the humid sensation.

He was prevented from doing so by strong winds, suddenly pushing him away, and Sergio managed to open his eyes just as a blinding light was emitted, just from where Krypto/Max was standing. He covered his eyes with his forearm, from the wind and light, and soon enough, it all stopped.

When he uncovered his eyes, he felt himself relax at the sight of Max, sporting his Superman suit, standing in the same place Krypto was standing before. He also felt a twinge of amusement at the sight of the dog, as disoriented as his master, standing right next to him.

Before he could really think much of what he was doing, Sergio marched up to Max, and with the Metahuman still in a confused daze, it was easier than usual to surprise the younger man with a punch in the gut. It was a good thing that Max was still out of it, because it meant that his body could actually react to a physical punch for once.

“How dare you.” It wasn’t even a question. Sergio knew that if Max had just bothered to talk to him, like the supposed well-adjusted adult that he was, they wouldn’t have had to be in this mess. It didn’t matter that Sergio himself should’ve gone after Max as soon as he took flight, but there were priorities. “You know better than this, Kal-El.”

The look that Max gave him was one of genuine hurt. Good.

(Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he can hear all of his kids and Fernando screaming at once. He was also supposed to be a well-adjusted adult, older and more experienced than Max, yet there he was, taking out all of his pent-up emotions on a mostly innocent man.)

“Why did you do it?” If Sergio was going to blow up at Max, the least he could have was an affirmation that he wasn’t doing it without a reason.

The man that was looking at him was not expressing a single bit of the hurt that had bloomed over his face at Sergio’s words and punch. His face was smooth, lacking any and all sort of emotion. Kal-El had taken the place, the all-mighty prince that Max used to take cover when he needed to show strength. Good.

“It was a rash decision.” Kal-El stood tall, taller than Sergio was used to. It was one thing to see Max, to see Superman, and to see the brick wall in front of him. “I did it because I couldn’t– You punched me and I–”

And suddenly, it was as if Max had blown up his own walls and the Man of Steel, the indestructible man, crumbled in front of him.

Sergio would’ve taken a step forward, if it wasn’t for Krypto barreling towards Max, sensing that his loyal companion was in distress. And Sergio, for the first time since the whole situation started, found himself truly grateful for Krypto.

At that moment, he wasn’t sure that Max would accept whatever comfort Sergio was willing to give. (Not that there was much. He was raised by Fernando, and his standard of comfort started at a cup of tea and ended at an awkward hug and stumbling words.)

It took a moment for Max to calm down, and it took a moment longer for Sergio to get his own emotions under control. He had been wrong, and he hoped that it wasn’t too late to try and fix something that seemed broken at a distance.

“It isn’t what you think, Max.” Sergio tried his best to let his body language practically scream that he wasn’t a threat, that he wasn’t really angry or upset with Max. Because Max was looking as fragile as Sergio had ever seen him, and that was without any Kryptonite around. “Explain your thoughts to me, and I promise I will explain mine.”

There it was.

Sergio couldn’t offer Max more, not yet. They were both at different edges of an already overextended emotional blade, and they needed to talk before things could get worse–

The familiar ping of someone trying to reach him from the other side of the comm startled Sergio out of his own thoughts. Without really thinking, he reached to tap in response, knowing perfectly well that the only reason anyone would reach out was in case of emergency. And for anyone in his family to consider anything an emergency, it had to be bad.

“Fuck!” Esteban’s rough voice came out with the usual static of the Fortress of Solitude, but even with that, Sergio could sift out the anguish from any other sound. “Old man, this shit is bad. We need you here. I don’t care if the fucking alien is still missing. Be here. Now.”

Sergio saw in the corner of his eye, how Max flinched. It was a full body thing, and Sergio would’ve been sorry if it wasn’t because he could feel the tendrils of panic rising up his throat. For Esteban to directly ask for help it had to be– “Brief me, now.”

He immediately made way towards the doors of the Fortress, not even bothering to look at what Max was doing. He had more important things to deal with.

“The fucking laughing gas–” Sergio pretended that hearing Esteban’s breathy ‘fuck’ didn’t make his heart clench with worry. “Charles had a sample, and Pato’s lead with the drug dealers? It was the fucking Joker smuggling for Scarecrow. Apparently, our dearest psychopaths bonded over psychedelics in Arkham and once the Joker broke out, they’ve been– FUCK.”

Sergio had to resist the urge to scream at his comm. It wouldn’t do anything, and if Esteban was in a compromised position, it would only compromise the younger man further if Sergio could be heard losing his shit on the other side of the line.

The bad thing about the static of the Fortress of Solitude, was that it could make most noise difficult to parse out, and Sergio, in his own panic, wasn’t able to hear what was going on. His heart felt like it was hammering out of his chest, because that was Esteban, and he had just gotten him back, and things were getting better, and he couldn’t–

“Shit.” That loud curse was enough to stop Sergio from spiraling down. He needed to move. He looked around, and to his surprise, Max was standing right next to him, arms stretched out and palms open, as if readying himself to catch Sergio. “They blended the lethal version of the laughing gas with the fucking fear-toxin. They’ve been infusing it in some roofies and– holy fuck, that’s bad– and LSD, and, and–”

Sergio couldn’t do it anymore. “Este? Este? Focus on my voice. Remember what we talked about? The fear-toxin cannot affect you. You wear the Bat on your chest, you are stronger than whatever reaction the gas will get out of you.”

Max seemed to understand what was going on, and gave Sergio the biggest, purely concerned, eyes he had received in a while.

“Don’t!” Sergio could feel tears prickle at the corner of his eyes, Esteban’s voice as small and as scared as it had been when he was younger, when his nightmares were about dark alleys and leaving mothers; he didn’t know what to do at hearing that terrified, small voice. “Please don’t! I promise I won’t fight with you again! Please! Just don’t leave me!”

“We’re flying in.” Sergio looked at Max, and he didn’t even try to wipe away the tear that escaped his eye. The taller man simply nodded, not hesitating to wrap his arms around Sergio, and lifting him up and out of the Fortress of Solitude. As Max seemed to hesitate, clearly debating over using his hearing to locate Esteban or just flying over Gotham, Sergio made that choice for him. “And do whatever you need to locate Esteban. Just do it fast.”

Sergio saw Max closing his eyes, and suddenly opening them, his eyes focusing on something far, far away, and now, without hesitating, Max took flight.

It was a strange feeling, traveling faster than he had ever done. The feeling of being pushed by the air around him and into Max’s chest, hiding his face to be protected by the impenetrable barrier of muscle and skin. It was very different from the Zeta tube, and from any of his vehicles, but it gave him an excuse to let himself have a moment.

Esteban’s voice had been harrowing. It was nothing he hadn’t prepared himself to hear before, and Sergio had heard his children in difficult situations before. Even Esteban. But the wound was too fresh, the resurrection and the whole process to try and mend their relationship had been painful, and Sergio had no idea of what he would do with himself if–

Thankfully, Max stopped somewhere in Gotham he didn’t recognize at first, before he could let his mind wander. He needed to focus.

Sergio jumped out of Superman’s arms as soon as he realized there was solid ground beneath his feet. Soon enough, he was analyzing his surroundings and realizing where he was.

The abandoned pier.

“Put it on.” Sergio passed Superman a mask from his utility belt, not wasting a second to put his own on. Even if it was a lethal combination that he was not aware of, the gas mask would still be better than nothing. “Where do you hear him? Is anyone else here?”

Sergio was looking around, trying his best to catalogue every single image, sound and possible angle of attack. Still, he could sense Superman right behind him, and he pretended that the hand on his waist was only in case the younger man needed to whisk him away.

“There’s some movement on your far left, I hear Robin and Black Bat. Alone” Superman had a breathy tone to his voice, in the low tone Sergio had taught him to use instead of whispering. “There’s a group on the far right-west, I reckon Batman, Red Robin and Batgirl are with someone. I can’t tell who. Red Hood is underground. Scarecrow is with him.”

He was glad for the fact that Superman knew what Sergio needed. There were urgent things to deal with, but at that moment the most important thing was to get to Esteban.

“I need you to debrief with Robin and Black Bat. I’m sure on the far right-west they’re setting up the distraction or bait.” Sergio knew his children, and they were strategists. Even if he didn’t have Oracle in his ear, he could almost piece the plan they had put together to contain the spread of the new gas. “Red Hood volunteered to take Scarecrow. Is he moving?”

“No.” Superman let go of his waist and Sergio had to take a deep breath to mask his stuttering heart. “He’s alive. Scarecrow is taunting him. The gas is getting to him. Take the sewer entrance south of the pier, turn left, three straights, two rights, and then with caution.”

Sergio gave a curt nod, and turned around. Before he could take a step, he turned back to the younger man and glared straight into those blue eyes. “Follow them closely.”

It was a good thing that Superman had the foresight to leave them in the centre of the pier, and Sergio could easily run before he could see the younger man’s reaction.

He reached the south of the pier quickly, and any thoughts that weren’t related to what was in front of him went away. The sewer entrance was blown open (he could picture Isack’s annoyed ‘tsk’ at the loud use of force), Sergio easily following the path without Superman’s instructions, the scorch marks telling a story about Scarecrow getting a new weapon.

He hated it when the Rogues paired up.

The only good thing about Scarecrow and the Joker formulating a plan, was that both of them tended to be easily derailed by their own obsession over The Batman. At least he got to the scene of the crime at the right time.

Sergio wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened to Esteban.

As soon as he arrived at the zone of caution, he was hit with the pungent smell of the lethal gas. He was familiar with fear-toxin and the laughing gas, he was as immune to those substances as someone ever gets, but the new concoction the two Rogues had prepared had a very particular smell.

Between the corrosive sweetness of fake cherry and the shocking bitterness of the sweat-like odor that was mixing in the air, Sergio was almost overwhelmed.

Not enough to not be able to distinguish the figure that had its back turned against Sergio.

“Look at the little red bat.” Jonathan Crane was that familiar large black mask, which covered his whole face, to the point that even Sergio could see it from a distance. The black cape draped over his slender figure almost made him appear harmless. Esteban’s whimpering frame was evidence that Crane was anything but harmless. “Where is Batman, huh? He has finally given up on you. He’s not here. He’s left you behind. Isn’t that such a scary thing?”

He kept his footsteps light as he creeped behind Scarecrow, knowing better than to charge when he was not within the proper range of attack. He also couldn’t risk Esteban looking up from his fetal position and giving everything up before he had the chance to end it.

“When the Joker told me about his suspicions, I wasn’t entirely… convinced, let’s say.” Crane was too busy in his own delight, and Serigo was glad that for once, the Gotham sewers were so thick with mud and waste sound was muffled. “But now? I’m glad I listened. Frightening a bat isn’t as easy as it looks, but you? You’re lovely.”

Esteban’s flinch and sob didn’t go unnoticed by Scarecrow, who simply laughed in glee.

Sergio was finally close enough.

A quick jab of the handy tranquilizer at the back of Jonathan Crane’s neck, and the man dropped like a sack of flour. A clean job, something that would’ve made his younger self beam with pride.

In that moment, all he could think of was how Esteban was so lost in whatever hallucination Scarecrow had inflicted, that he hadn’t noticed the Rogue had been neutralized.

“I know!” Esteban curled up further in his fetal position, making a show of covering his head and his ribs with his elbows, and Sergio’s hands started to shake. He could vividly remember an autopsy report with details of shattered ribs and a caved-in skull. “I know! He’s given up on me! Stop! I’m trying, I promise I am! I know I’m not good! I know!”

There wasn’t a chance that any previous antidote for the laughing gas or the fear-toxin would work. All he could do was to try and get the younger man out of his own mind, to will him out of the stupor.

Without even thinking about it, Sergio knelt down next to Esteban, and did the difficult work of prying the hands away from the young man’s face. Thankfully, he still had his hood on, and whilst still fighting to protect his head and his ribs, Sergio managed to get to the little button that dislodged the helmet off without the usual electric shocks.

Esteban’s face was scrunched up, and Sergio was sure that behind his domino mask, his eyes were shut. He quickly ripped it off, the sudden movement making Esteban open his eyes.

“I am here.” Esteban’s eyes were hazy and wide with terror. He did his best to not frighten the young man any further, but he realized he had the cowl on. Hastily, he pulled it off and looked at Esteban again. “Listen to me, you’re not alone. I’m here. I didn’t leave. I could never, ever leave you. I’m here.”

It wasn’t enough, the younger man’s eyes still hazy, but less wide and a bit more clear with caution. Good. He could work with caution.

Sergio used the hold he had on Esteban’s wrists to bring the younger man’s hands to his neck, allowing the hands to put pressure on his pulse point. His heart was steady, calming down after being able to touch his child, to make sure he was alive and breathing. It seemed that the touch was enough to bring Esteban back, the younger man blinking rapidly in emotion.

“B?” Esteban’s voice was no longer that desperate cry, it was something more calm, yet still heavy with emotion. “Shit.”

“Don’t try and move too much.” Sergio helped Esteban rise into a sitting position, making him lean on the wall of the sewer. Not the best place for an injured man, but it was better than Esteban lying down. “Even if you willed away the major effect of concoction, you still were dosed. We don’t know much about any side effects or long-term consequences.”

“Has anyone told you how much you fret?” Esteban was avoiding his gaze, and Sergio knew that they had to talk. But later, they could do it later. When there wasn’t a Joker-sized threat looming in the distance. “Fernando would be proud.”

Sergio winced. As far as teasing jabs, that was a particularly weak one. It spoke volumes of how actually shaken Esteban was. Still, he decided to let the younger man have his way.

“Would you be fine with tying up Crane?” Sergio got out of his utility belt the special cuffs designed for Arkham prisoners. After one too many escapes from the GCPD, he started to restrain the Rogues on his own. “The others are probably dealing just fine with Joker, but–”

“Can you…” Esteban seemed to hesitate. He then shook his head, and gave Sergio his best attempt at a sardonic smile. It didn’t have the edge it usually did, probably due to the effect of the new gas. “Nevermind. Go.”

Sergio also hesitated before standing up. He didn’t want to leave Esteban alone.

“Talk to me through comms.” He stood up, and easily dragged Crane’s body at Esteban’s feet. He put his cowl back on, and gave the younger man one last look. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

Before he could change his mind, he dashed through the sewers to reach the entrance near the pier, and managed to get out of the sewers just as a big explosion was felt.

He was basically thrown off of the pier, just barely managing to catch the edge of the wood of the old pier. He could feel the old, rotten, weak layers of wood of the pier trying their hardest to resist the shock of the explosion, but Sergio gave it at least a couple of minutes before it came down collapsing on top of–

“Fuck.” Esteban’s voice was heard through his comms, and Sergio let himself drop to the water, to swim to the entrance of the sewers. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“It is.” Sergio had reached the entrance, and didn’t waste any time even trying to shake off a bit of the water. He had to get to Esteban before it was too late. “I shouldn’t have let Superman alone with Black Bat and Robin.”

“You left the Alien with those two?” The younger man’s voice was heard both through comms and through the sewers, so Sergio knew he was at most two minutes away. He picked up his pace. “The pier won’t hold for long, won’t it? B, don’t–”

“Too late.” He stood in front of Esteban, who was in the same place where he had left him, except that he was standing up and with his arms crossed. Scarecrow was still at his feet, with his hands tied together with the special cuffs. The younger man was about to protest, but Sergio was faster. “Don’t. You don’t even have to carry Crane. We’re all getting out of here.”

Esteban groaned, but didn’t hesitate to follow Sergio as he threw Scarecrow over his shoulders in a firefighter’s carry.

They weren’t moving particularly fast, Sergio being slowed down by the dead weight of Scarecrow on his shoulders, and Esteban still suffering the side effects of the new gas.

Just as they were reaching the entrance of the sewers, there was another rattle, and the familiar sound of another explosion going off somewhere in the pier. If the thing wasn’t going to last before, it was surely merely minutes away from crumbling down on top of them.

Esteban cursed again, loudly, and Sergio would’ve cursed himself, if it wasn’t for the fact that he felt Scarecrow move against him. He didn’t stop moving, but he was already making emergency plans in case Crane actually woke up and tried anything.

It was a good thing, then, that before anything actually catastrophic could happen, Superman was in front of them, looking slightly frazzled and a bit out of breath. (Sergio felt a bit bad, because Hamda and Isack could be terrible together when they wanted. And after the confession of his not-feelings for Max, he doubted they went easy on Superman.)

“Good.” Sergio used one of his arms to manhandle Esteban to Superman, not even taking a second to have Max explain himself. They were running on borrowed time. “Take him to the safe place they agreed on. Don’t return until everyone is safe. Go. Now.”

For a moment, Sergio could’ve sworn that Superman’s eyes went wide with terror, but before he could completely register what was going on, the blonde man nodded and grabbed Esteban by the waist. A rush of air, an indignant yelp from Esteban, and they were gone.

Sergio hadn’t noticed before, but there was a part of him that relaxed at knowing that (most probably) all of his family was safe and beyond harm’s way. His shoulders slumped a little and he let out a relieved breath. It was one less thing he had to worry about.

Scarecrow, on the other hand, seemed to take it as a chance to finally strike.

Sergio felt a blow to the back of his head. It was a moment before he could gather himself, and he got a punch to the gut and after he was on his hands and knees, a kick to the side. He was caught with his guard down, and now Scarecrow was doing his best to run away.

It was an amusing sight, in a slightly hysterical way, because without his hands, Jonathan Crane was sumbling his way out of the sewers. Shaking his head, Sergio stood up and was taken back by the way he struggled to remain up, his head reeling, off balance.

“Hey!” Sergio looked up, and he realized his sight was blurry, blackned at the edges. What the fuck? Somehow, Scarecrow must’ve given him something. There’s no way that anything he was feeling was a reaction to getting punched. “What? Shouldn’t you be in Metropolis?”

Sergio could’ve sworn that Scarecrow let out a scream. And that he should’ve been able to recognize Superman in some way. Somehow, he couldn’t be sure of anything. It was all hazy.

He tried to blink the haziness away. But after a while, his blinking started to resemble more like opening and closing his eyes, fighting off sleep.

Not long after, he stumbled and everything went black.

He woke up to the sound of multiple people around him, arguing about something.

It was too soon to be completely aware of the subject of the conversation, but he was starting to be awake enough to recognize the voices of his children, his family.

He could recognize Pato’s irritated tone, Isack’s frustrated whining (‘I’m not whining, father! I’m too old for that!’), Emely chatting with Alice (and Hamda was probably getting her hair done by one of them), Esteban and Yuki with their sharp bickering and… Max…?

He decided to let his body come back to itself. It was one thing to be afraid at first waking up, but the events of what happened before caught up to him, and there was really nothing that would require his immediate attention. After all, he trusted Superman with the task of keeping his children safe when Sergio couldn’t.

“I am not leaving father with the alien!” Isack’s voice suddenly was too loud, and Sergio resisted the urge to open his eyes. He wanted to be able to see how the rest of them would handle it. “It’s his fault father got hurt. He doesn’t deserve a moment alone with him.”

“Isack, I promise that your father gave me a very specific order.” Max’s voice was gentle, but still with an edge to it. At least it wasn’t with that patronizing tone that Isack detested. “You would’ve preferred for me to disobey your father’s orders?”

“I don’t care! I won’t leave you alone with him!”

“Okay, H, no need to scream, we don’t know when Sergio will wake up.” Sergio felt the corners of his mouth twitch. If Esteban complained about Sergio fretting, he must’ve wanted to skip town at Pato’s incessant care. “You know how he is, if he wakes up to a screaming match he’ll be in a funk for the rest of the week.”

“Fine.” Isack’s voice gave the impression to Sergio that the youngest was pouting. “I want to make it clear. I am not leaving the alien with father. If all of you want to go, do it. I won’t.”

“Now, Master Isack, that’s just irresponsible.” Fernando’s voice, as calm and collected as ever, broke through the tense air of the room. “I am sure that your father would be displeased with the way you would neglect your own care and duties, when there is someone willing and capable to take care of him.”

There was a silence, in which Sergio knew that everybody in the room was feeling chastised themselves. Even he himself felt a bit reprimanded, and he had just woken up. Fernando had that effect on everyone in the family. Sergio would’ve bet good money that even Charles could be included in the group of people affected by Fernando’s stern tone.

“If it pleases father when he wakes up, I’ll take Yuki’s slot.” Sergio could hear the amused scoff Yuki let out at the blatant attempt at negotiation. Isack was young, he still had some room for improvement. At least until the puppy eyes stopped working. “I could learn Pato’s bedside manner, as he’s dealing with the aftermath of the pier explosion.”

A loud groan by Pato gave away how he was not particularly enjoying the task of dealing with GCPD as the one wearing the cowl when Sergio was off commission. “Don’t remind me. Y’know Fernando, H is right. He could come with me. I swear I’ll bring him by baby-vigilante dinner time and with no new swear words in his arsenal.”

“If Isack’s going then I’m going!” Emely’s voice left no room for argument, and when no one said anything, Sergio had to assume everything was under control and everyone was leaving his bedside in order to get going with their night activities.

He was relieved that all of them felt confident enough about his health to continue with their routine. At least Sergio wasn’t bad enough to the point that his family was distracted.

“You’re good, Sergio.” Max’s voice was smooth, low, and had a hint of amusement to it. Sergio felt the impulse to open his eyes, but he was not going to give it away. “I’m sure only Hamda and Yuki noticed that you’re awake. I wouldn’t, if I hadn’t listened to your heart.”

Shit. Well, he could feel his heart do a funny thing at that admission.

“Your heart stuttered.” Max’s voice was simple, it had that little tilt in it when he was trying his hardest to not let it shake with emotion. Sergio heard a familiar yelp. He assumed that Max had brought Krypto back from the Fortress. “You scared us, Sergio.”

That was what he needed to finally open his eyes.

Max looked bad.

The Kryptonian had the annoying thing in his favour, that as long as he was under the Earthly sun, he would look youthful and perfect. Apparently, he must’ve barely left Sergio’s side, because his shoulders were slumped with exhaustion, his eyes were rimmed red and his hands looked oddly pale, the fists formed accentuating the paleness.

Sergio tried to talk, but was alarmed at the patchy feeling on his throat.

Max stood up, and with a gust of wind he had come and gone, a glass of perfectly fresh water in his hand. The younger man helped Sergio take careful sips, and when he was satisfied that he wasn’t going to choke, he sat again next to his bed.

Oh, he was in the cave’s med bay.

When he was done drinking water, Sergio focused his whole attention on Max. He needed answers, and Max was the only one he trusted to truly tell him everything. “What happened?”

Max sighed, obviously expecting the question, but nevertheless reluctant to tell.

After a brief silence, in which Sergio only raised an eyebrow and Max (quickly) caved in, the younger man put both of his hands on the edge of the bed, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, Sergio could see some tears.

“It was a needle Scarecrow had between his nail bed and his finger. The index finger.” Max looked like was trying so hard to avoid breaking down into tears, and Sergio couldn’t help himself. He reached out for the younger man’s hands, and smiled when Max accepted the touch. “You almost didn’t make it. Apparently, the reason why they decided to work together was to try and poison you. You are already immune to the laughing gas and the fear toxin. They wanted something that could work on you. Make you work for them.”

Ah. If Sergio thought about it too much, it would make his head hurt. But in a twisted way, it did make sense. “So they wanted to use Esteban as bait?”

“Yes.” Max tightly gripped Sergio’s hands, looking genuinely afraid. It was a sight that he wasn’t used to, and one that he hoped he wouldn’t get to see often. “The Joker made the connection between Red Hood and Robin. The Robin he murdered. So they decided to lure you out, because some of Scarecrow’s underground connections told him that the ‘real’ Bat wasn’t in town. Apparently your children weren’t as careful with the ‘don’t have two Bats around town at the same time’ thing.”

Sergio sighed. It was expected, he wasn’t necessarily careful with making a proper schedule either, he left his children at their devices.

“Yuki said you were lucky.” Max suddenly stood up, starting to pace around the med bay. “What is it with you and near-death experiences? Yuki and Alfred had to call in Leslie and Lucius and sneak into the Pérez Enterprises lab to have extra computers to process your blood. Dammit Sergio, you should be more careful! Why didn’t you let me take both of you? Nothing bad–”

“No.” Sergio clenched his jaw, feeling irritation and indignation rise up his throat. Max didn’t get it, he could never get it, as long as he was as invincible as it gets. “If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been Esteban. I couldn’t risk it. He was already compromised, and Scarecrow was unconscious. I had more chances of getting out of that sewer alive.”

“But you almost didn’t!” Max stopped his pacing, and stood at the bottom of Sergio’s bed. In his fury, Max looked as regal and imposing as Superman. Sergio felt a bit bothered by the sudden reminder of the sheer power Max held. “What would’ve happened if I wasn’t there, huh? Tell me! You can’t just act like your death wouldn’t mean anything!”

“I would’ve died.” Sergio’s admission seemed to drain all of the fight from Max, like it was a physical punch in the gut, if the way the younger man curled up on himself and used the edge of the bed for support. “The poison would’ve had more than enough time to take hold. And you know how I work, if anything tries to take control of my body, it won’t be successful.”

“Then why?”

“You already know.”

The thing was, Sergio would do anything to keep his family safe. But with Esteban, it was different. Because he had lost a son once, he wasn’t willing to go through it again. He simply couldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to pick up the pieces, no matter how hard he tried.

It was as simple as that.

“You already do your best to take care of your family.” Max was looking at him like he was finally seeing him, like suddenly everything that Sergio was, his thoughts, his feelings, his body, his soul, it was all clear. “But who takes care of you?”

And that shouldn’t have had the effect it had on Sergio.

That question had him blinking back tears and swallowing past a knot on his throat.

Because Max had no right to ask that question as if he actually cared for Sergio. He didn’t have the right to look at Sergio like he was clear glass, a smooth surface, not broken pieces scattered all over the floor, dangerous and sharp. Max didn’t have the right to act as if–

As if–

“Sergio.” Max was back to Sergio’s side. Max was back to holding his hands tightly. Max was still looking at him as if he was worthy of– “I’m scared. Because you deserve to be taken care of. Because after all, the kiss, the punch, you almost dying on me and your children all giving me ‘the talk’ it can only mean one thing. And I can’t if you don’t let me.”

He felt himself freeze with terror.

It simply couldn’t be.

Max couldn’t–

Max couldn’t be in love with him.

And that was it, wasn’t it?

Sergio didn’t deserve someone like Max, so brave, so open and willing and handsome and perfect. An unbreakable man that had been broken under Sergio’s hand multiple times. He simply didn’t deserve it.

“You don’t have to answer me now, Sergio.” Max’s smile wasn’t sad. It wasn’t particularly happy either. But there was a certain hope, a certain eagerness to it.

If Sergio was in a better state of mind, he would’ve pointed out that Max looked like a puppy that was impatiently waiting for his master to give him a treat after doing a charming trick.

Then, he would’ve let out a snort at his own comparison, because it was something that Yuki would whisper to Pato when they thought Sergio wasn’t near hearing range.

Instead, what he did took both himself and Max by surprise.

“Can you kiss me again?”

Segio blinked, aggressively.

When they asked, later, in a not-so distant future, Sergio would skip over the fact that he had panicked when Max leaned in. He would skip over the fact that he let out an embarrassing yelp when Max’s lips were on his own.

He would skip over the fact that after his own brain caught up to the situation, he let out the tears that he had been holding back ever since his fist first made contact with Max.

Sergio would pretend that he was pleased, that he was not taken by surprise over the intensity of the kiss, over how at first he stumbled a bit on his rush to kiss back, biting Max’s lip and clashing their teeth together.

And Max would let him, just how he let Sergio cling to the back of his neck and the front of his shirt. Just how he let Sergio deepen the kiss and manhandle Max until he was on top of him.

After all, Max was not invincible, and his heart had been broken by Sergio once.

But Sergio knew how to put broken pieces back together, and on that hospital bed, after one of those near-death experiences that left Max with sharp edges, Sergio used his knowledge to slowly but surely glue Max’s heart back together.

And Krypto’s excited bark was the thing that made them go back to their senses.

If it wasn’t for Max’s superspeed, Sergio might’ve ended up with many explanations to give to Isack and Fernando. And he did give them, but at that moment, flushed with something warm and fuzzy, Sergio wanted to enjoy Max all to himself, before they had to face reality.

They still had many things to talk about, to fully agree or agree to disagree on, before they could give any explanations.

So for a while, with Isack still giving Max a cautious stare and with Fernando trying to hide the slight upwards quirk of his lips, Sergio said nothing and allowed himself to bask in the memory of the feeling of Max’s lips against his.

And the weight of Max’s hand holding his, underneath the blankets of the hospital bed.