Similis

It was wearyingly late, or unreasonably early, depending on which way you looked at it, and Wolverine would rather not have been looking at anything except a few pleasant dreams, except so far his dreams had been anything but pleasant.



Gotta get some proper rest… Logan told himself that firmly, and thumped his pillow with the flat of his hand before settling back down onto the bed.



"Blasted hot weather!" He surprised himself by saying that aloud, but it was no less true for all that. Logan had gone to bed hot, restless, and even more tetchy than normal, which was saying something. Deliberately forcing his body to relax, the mutant lay back on the bed and closed his eyes firmly. He could do this. He was going to get some sleep if it killed him…







"Oh no! I lost control again!" Blinking, Wolverine bit back on the urge to retch: bodies surrounded him, each one of them sliced apart or poked full of holes. His own skin dripped with warm blood, claws fully extended, tinted red to the tips.



"They're all dead!"



It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened … and Wolverine was far from stupid. "All my fault!" He groaned aloud as the dream shattered, and left him awake and shaking.



In response firm arms slipped around his chest, and a well-muscled torso pressed against his back. Jerking upright Wolverine found that he was no longer alone in the room, or in the bed.



"Who…?" For a second Wolverine worried that he was still dreaming, and that this was yet another new and even more ghastly twist to the old nightmare. However, as the gentle hands continued moving soothingly over his arms and shoulders, gradually his panic began to recede.



"M'okay…" He growled, as his visitor let him go, and settled on the mattress beside him. Sympathetic eyes watched him closely from under the unruly mop of dark curls.



One of the kids… But Clark or Haze? Wolverine inhaled deeply, waiting for his sensitive olfactory nerves to gradually tease out the tiny differences between the scents of the two 'twins'. Then he noticed the more obvious clues: the youth wasn't saying anything, and the body language was too self-assured to belong to Clark.



"Haze," Wolverine stated, too tired to wonder why he wasn't more upset by sharing his bed with an uninvited guest and a male one at that.



A fresh damp cloth drifted over his face and down along his chest, cleansing him of the clinging sweat and bringing some relief from the heat.



"Better. Thanks." He sighed deeply; trying to breath away some of the inner tension that coiled almost perpetually like a hot wire in his belly. "Why're you here anyway?"







Haze motioned that he had heard Wolverine making noises and come down to investigate.



"Oh great, knowing me, I probably woke the whole freakin' house!"



Haze's steady gestures reassured him that they were the only two people awake in the mansion at that moment, and that Haze had only heard because he had been standing out on the balcony as the sounds of Wolverine's nightmare had drifted out through the French windows, which the mutant had left open.



"Well, I guess that's one thing to be thankful for." Wolverine leant back against his pillows and looked more critically at his visitor. To his immense relief there didn't seem to be any signs of damage on the kid. The room appeared intact as well. That was certainly a first.



"Gettin' up close to me was a damn fool move, Haze, I could'a skewered you." He reminded the silent youth. "Why didn't you at least send Clark in? He's claw-proof."



Smiling, Haze reached out and patted the back of Wolverine's hand with the tips of his fingers. Shaking his head, he smiled again.



"Ya did whatever ya did back in the car?"



Haze nodded that he had.



"Well then I guess that you were safe enough, and at least you were smart enough to put yourself behind me. Claws or not, I don't wake up too sociable sometimes." By now Wolverine's brain was running at full speed, and there was next to no chance of his getting back to sleep again. "So what're you doing up at this hour, Wings? I thought you'd be in dream land along with the rest of them by now?"



The series of signs and gestures puzzled Wolverine for a moment. "Don't really do the whole sleep thing huh?" He thought that over. "You were asleep in the hospital though?"



The next set of signs was clearer.



"Oh, right, you were sick, not sleeping." Logan played idly with the edge of the sheet, "So you don't? Sleep that is? Ever?"



Haze signed delicately. However precisely what he was saying remained unclear to the mutant.



"Can't figure out exactly what you mean by that, kiddo." Wolverine's natural restlessness was increasing. "Never mind, it don't matter. I can ask you again tomorrow – today – later, when Clark's up and around." He stretched, watching the silent lad. "So what do you usually do all night, while everyone else is catching z's?"



There was a soft shrug, and a quick flicker of hands.



"Take it easy, do something quiet, keep an eye on everyone, and wait around until they wake up again, huh?"



That seemed to be it.



"Since we're both awake, you wanna come outside for a while and take a short walk with me? Might help unfrazzle my head…"



Haze nodded and got up.







Wolverine was relieved to notice that the youth was at least wearing what looked like swim shorts, if little else. "Uhm, you planning on jumping?" He asked, watching as Haze wandered out onto the balcony.



Shaking his head, Haze opened his arms and gestured for Wolverine to join him.



"So why this way? Why ain't we using the stairs like regular folk?"



Haze signed that the mansion's alarms were on downstairs, and that if they set them off Bruce would…



"Go apeshit?" Wolverine grinned, anticipating the end of the message and re-interpreting it in his own inimitable style.



Haze smiled and nodded.



"Okay, then flash me some feathers fly-boy! And get me down easy, huh?" Wolverine whispered, as they emerged out onto the balcony.



Privately, Wolverine was impressed with the ease with which the angel manifested his wings, lifted him and launched them both into the air. Plus he had to admit that the landing was a whole lot better than the one that Clark had managed. Then again, if what Clark had been saying was right, then Haze had had a hell of a lot more practice.







They walked around the outer sections beyond the more manicured grounds for a while to avoid tripping the alarms, but the novelty of Wayne Manor at night soon wore off.



The formal gardens might have been pleasant, but were full of motion sensors and too obviously artificial anyway, while the true untouched wilderness beyond was not the sort of place that Wolverine would feel comfortable taking Haze, not without a better idea of what was out there. It was the sort of unkempt dark forest where an unlucky wanderer might uncomfortably chance upon a pothole, well-hidden bear trap, or something even worse.



Wolverine definitely did not want to find out the hard way that his suspicions were correct. Judging from surface appearances, Bruce Wayne was a Security junkie …



"Must be somewhere else safe we haven't been yet?" Wolverine muttered. Patting him on the shoulder, Haze signed 'up'?



"Fly around?" Wolverine was skeptical. "It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, but it ain't exactly my scene." He said, hoping not to offend the kid.



Haze gave him an insistent nod.



"I suppose we could. But you ain't gonna drop me again, are you?"



The small shake of the head suggested that Haze was not thinking of doing that this time out.



"Only I don't think Clark would be too happy about havin' to turn out of bed to fetch me this time." Wolverine grinned. "Specially not in his pj's…"



Haze grinned and signed that even Clark did not wear pj's in this weather.



"Whoa! Before you give me too much information!" Wolverine smiled. "Okay, let's go then…"



Haze indicated that Wolverine should stand close, and reaching around the stocky mutant, the angel swung Logan up into his arms and bounded up into the sky with him.







Up high, the air was cool, and Wolverine finally felt comfortable. He looked over to where a wing cut smoothly through the late night air, the dark feathers reduced to just another slice of night sky by the lack of light, and wondered why he should feel at ease with this virtual stranger, when even being among his fellow X-Men made him uncomfortable at times?



Banking gracefully, Haze settled in for a landing on a rock partway out into the bay. Letting his passenger down first, he dropped lightly onto the lower section.



Wolverine wandered down along the top of the rock until he reached a level portion, and then he sat down.



"Kinda nice out here." He approved, getting himself comfortable. The salt-roughened stone felt pleasant against his back. Pillowing his head on his arms he stared up into the sky, cloudless now and plentifully sprinkled with stars. The soft sounds of bare feet pattering on stone caused him to cast a casual eye at his companion.



Squatting on a jutting section at the base, Haze stared into the dark water. Lifting his wings, he stretched luxuriously, before sitting so that he could dangle his feet into the cool ocean.



"Not bothered about what might be down there?" Wolverine wondered. Haze shrugged, dipping his feet ankle-deep into the lapping tide without concern. His hands blurred.



"Can't understand you." Wolverine reminded him.



Haze nodded and then pointed at the water and then shook his head.



"You're saying that there ain't nothing out there?" Wolverine guessed.



Haze spread his arms out wide and shook his head slightly. Looking intently at Wolverine he held his hands out again, this time very close together.



"Oh!" Wolverine caught on. "Nothing big enough to be after us?"



Haze's teeth flashed white in obvious approval.



"Well, maybe I'm learning…" Wolverine admitted. The air moving over the bay was warm but the spray dampening his skin helped to take the edge off the heat. Gradually, Wolverine found himself relaxing. He glanced at the angel, questions rising in his tired mind.



Noticing the movement, Haze gave him a faint encouraging smile.



"So, you must'a been out here before, huh?" Wolverine guessed. Haze's hands flickered, the most basic signs familiar enough that the other man could make a reasonable guess at the message. "You came out here while you and Jonathan were staying with Bruce?" That seemed to be right. Logan yawned.



Haze climbed to his feet and tilted his head, hands asking if Wolverine wanted to go back to the house yet?



Wolverine shook his head, even though he was already heavy with sleep. "Nah, I'm for staying here at least a while longer, assumin' you don't mind?" He told the angel. "Can't sleep back at the house. It's too hot."



Nodding Haze gestured at the rocks.



"Not the ideal pillow, but at least it's cool." Wolverine yawned again.



Settling beside Wolverine, Haze patted his lap.



"What?"



Haze indicated that Wolverine could rest his head on Haze's lap. At that moment it didn't seem like a bad idea. Somehow the rocks around Haze didn't feel as hard as the rest of them. Wolverine idly turned that idea over in his head as he stretched out beside the unearthly youth. A soothing hand rested lightly on his shoulder, and after a few moments his thoughts began to blur.





* * * * *





This time there were no nightmares to disturb him, and when Wolverine woke again, the sun was well up and he was laying on one of the padded lounger's on the shaded side of the patio.



How the hell did I get here? Getting to his feet, Wolverine decided that he had accumulated quite a few questions, and that perhaps today would be a good day to start trying for some answers? Like, what time it was and had he missed breakfast yet?







Lunch was over, and the dining room was filled with sun. At the far side of the table, Haze was browsing through one of Bruce's old books. Lex had just finished his newspaper, and Wolverine was bored enough to remember that he had wanted to ask the angel something.



"I got a question, Haze, if ya don't mind?"



Looking up from the book, Haze gestured that he would try.



"Okay, then, and don't take this the wrong way, but how come we all trust you?" Wolverine watched and waited to see what would happen. "It occurred to me this morning when I let you carry me out to that rock. I ain't normally a very trusting person, and yet I didn't hesitate to let you get right up close to me. Hell I even went ta sleep next ta ya, and I don't do that with hardly anyone."



Looking uneasy, Haze made the sign for wings.



"Something to do with you being an angel?" Wolverine guessed.



'Everything.' Haze's sweeping gesture was quite unmistakeable.



"Everything to do with you being an angel?" Lex interpreted. "So is this trust thing something angels induce in people?"



Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to introduce this particular topic with someone as paranoid as the Luthor boy in the room, however, Wolverine reflected that it did have the advantage of saving him from having to do all of the asking.



"Is that it?" Wolverine asked, only a bit more politely. "Is it artificially induced?"



"Are you messing with our minds somehow, Haze? Or our emotions?" Lex was obviously deeply uncomfortable with that idea, and consequently a great deal less diplomatic.







Wolverine could certainly sympathise, but he didn't want to start out by antagonising Haze. "If he is, I don't know how Haze could be doing it." He put in. "I'd of sniffed out any trace of pheromones or chemical tampering, and my guess is that even if we were being fooled, Charlie would'a picked up on any mental strong-arm stuff. He'd know if someone was doing that ta me, even if he can't actually read either Haze or Clark."



Haze signed that he was not doing anything.



"You're saying that you're not consciously doing anything to me? To the rest of us?" Lex wondered. "How about subconsciously? Could that be it?"



'No.' Haze gave a definite flat denial.



"So it's just pure coincidence that each of us has trusted you in a way that we haven't ever done with anyone else?" Lex continued.



'No.'



"That doesn't make sense, Haze. You say that something is being done, but not by you. I don't buy that." Lex looked at Wolverine for confirmation. "I'm not happy about the idea of being manipulated." He said curtly, looking to Wolverine.

"I'm guessing here, but I don't normally relax that much with anyone," The younger Luthor explained, "And I've felt like I could completely trust Haze from the first moment I saw him. Was it the same for you?"



"Yep. That's pretty much it." Wolverine began to get a nagging suspicion that maybe Lex wasn't that far off the mark this time. Like Lex he was not a naturally trusting person. He had also had enough people jumping inside his head to know that he positively hated it. Except that he couldn't sense any indications of Haze in his thoughts. Or did that just mean that Haze was so skilled that the kid could meddle without anyone suspecting? If so, that was damn terrifying!



Or maybe we're both just overreacting? Although Wolverine still wanted to give the angel the benefit of the doubt, he was equally determined not to be anyone's tool either, and looking at Haze he wondered again why he wasn't reacting the way he normally did to people? "So how's it done, Haze?"



'Angel.' Haze signed, beginning to look a little disgruntled.



"Just because you're an angel, is that what you're saying?" Lex was not giving an inch either.



'Yes.'



The bald billionaire frowned. "Do you mean that we've been conditioned to respond to you like that?"



'Yes. Angel.' The hint of strawberry flush appearing on Haze's face made him appear even more uncannily like Clark. He made the wings sign again for added emphasis.







"Whoah! Then there IS something happening to us?" Wolverine was just as keen as Lex to get answers, especially now that it seemed that they might actually have something real to be concerned about.



'No.'



"Haze, are you telling us that this is something that was in us to start with?" Lex was becoming exasperated with the lack of sense. "That you aren't manipulating us, that the same thing would have happened if we had met ANY angel, not just you?"



'Yes.'



"Shit!" Wolverine sat back on his chair and thought that out. That was certainly something he hadn't been expecting. "Who put it there, and why? And when, for chrissakes?"



Grim-faced, Haze signed slowly and with great deliberation. The sound of soft footsteps across the carpet perfectly punctuated his last few gestures.



"In case you didn't understand all of that, Haze says that it was coded into each of you before you were born, and into your ancestors before they were born." Clark stated firmly. "Every living thing is keyed to respond positively to an angel." He came in and took his seat beside Haze. His arms drifted around Haze's shoulders and he gathered his 'twin' to him.



"Sorry, I was busy training with Bruce. If I'd known what they were doing, I would have gotten here sooner." He said softly.



Haze gave an unhappy shrug and with only a quick parting glance to Clark he vanished, winking out of existence like a snuffed candle.







There was a sudden awkward silence. The three people still left in the room sat and stared at each other.



"So are you both satisfied now?" Clark was the first to speak. "Feeling happy with yourselves? You got what you were after and you only had to accuse Haze of practising mind-control or some other sort of weird stuff on you, to get it…"



"Clark," Lex began.



"Shut up Lex." There was no trace of gentleness in Clark's face or voice now. "Or you'll find yourself looking up from the bottom of one of your own test tubes. Give me a reason and I promise I'll find some way to fit you in one."



Startled, Lex closed his mouth.



"I won't let anyone treat Haze like that." Clark continued.



"You don't understand, kid." Wolverine started to say.



"Save your breath," Clark told him coldly. "I don't want to hear it."



The two men stared at Clark. The normally mild-tempered farm boy was shaking with tightly controlled fury. Behind the youthful exterior were definite signs of the impressive adult that Clark would someday become.



"You make me sick! Lex has to have his precious answers and you have to find something to beat up on other people for!" Clark hissed furiously. "The only part I don't understand is how either of you could do this to someone else? I know that you've both had your share of being called freaks just because of your biology, so why would you think Haze would like it any better than you did?"



"Well said, Master Clark." Alfred was walking in the door with a tray. "I believe that Master Bruce is out in the garden sir, by the pool. I would suggest you join him."



"I'm on my way, Alfred." Clark gave them both a positively lethal stare. "But before I go I'm telling you this - if just one more mean word comes out of either of your mouths while Haze or I are around, I am personally going to drag you both out into the middle of the nearest ocean, and drop you there." He stalked out of the room, but being Clark he still managed to politely close the door behind him as he left.







"Oops." Wolverine rubbed his hands over his face. "I think that has to count as a major fuck-up."



"Yes." Lex gave a sigh. "Not the first one in my life either." He looked decidedly sheepish.



"Nice to know I'm not the only one who makes a career out of screwing up with people." Wolverine let out a heavy groan and scrubbed at his face.



"Yes, it is pleasant to meet a kindred spirit, isn't it?" Lex turned his head and glanced at his hirsute companion, "Welcome to the CMM club. I'm one of the founder members."



"The CMM club?"



"Short for the 'Clark is Mad at Me … Because I Said Or Did Something Stupid' Club."



"Ah, THAT club." Wolverine reached for an apple. Popping a single claw he peeled the fruit with practised movements before passing one half to Lex. "The kid sure has got a way of handing out guilt trips, don't he?"



"Cornered the market on them." The young billionaire agreed.



"You must know him pretty well by now, Lex, how long do you reckon we should hide out in here?"



"Are we hiding?" Lex gave him a sideways glance.



"Don't know about you, but I'm definitely hiding." Wolverine chewed thoughtfully on a slice of apple. "I was in the gym with them yesterday when Haze bench-pressed nearly twice his own weight."



"Yes, he's even stronger than he looks." Lex agreed.



"Clark bench-pressed all the weights on the rack." Wolverine continued.



"All of them?" At that Lex began to look worried. His scent changed, reflecting his anxiety.



"And the rack."



"Oh."



The scent deepened to 'very definitely worried, and possibly panicked'. Taking a long sniff, Wolverine gauged the depths of Lex's concern and decided that it was totally warranted. "Yeah, and we sat here today and pissed them both off royally." He told his bald acquaintance. "So how dumb are we?"



"Very, by the sounds of it." Lex agreed. "Still, if we apologise to Haze then Clark should calm down fairly quickly. Neither of them tends to hold onto a grudge."



"Well, at least there's some good news." Wolverine said thoughtfully.



Lex considered that for a moment. "Of course Luthor's don’t usually apologise." He admitted.



"I don't make a habit of it either," Wolverine confessed, "But somethin's tellin' me that this is the perfect time ta start."



"First time for everything?" Lex supposed.



"Yep."



"Instinct?" An eyebrow raised in polite enquiry.



"Whatever it is, I'm goin' with it." Wolverine told him.



Lex pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "Sounds like a good idea to me." He said firmly. "Well, as they say, there's no time like the present."



Wolverine didn't need prompting. "Hold on, Lex, I'll come with you."



"Safety in numbers?" Lex grinned.



"Maybe." Wolverine grinned back at him. "Actually I'm kinda hopin' that Clark will chew you out first, which will give me a few extra minutes to practise lookin' real sorry…"



"Bastard." Lex said, without heat.



"Don't know, as it happens. Ya could be right."







When Clark emerged into the sunshine, he found Bruce standing by the pool, looking worried. "Bruce? Where's Haze?" By the feel of it Haze was somewhere fairly close, but it occurred to Clark that there were very few places in this part of the garden where someone of their size could be without also being highly visible. So where was Haze?



Leaning slightly forward, Bruce gestured over at the massive swimming pool. Clark leaned over and looked down into the water in dismay, and then, realising where Bruce was actually pointing, he adjusted his sights upward. "Haze?"



"He just walked over and sat there." Bruce said helplessly. "I don't know what to do."



The Batman was stumped … Clark began to worry. "Uhm…" He stared at the rippling water and the firmly seated Haze.



Bruce looked at him. "I was going to dive in, and swim over there to see if he was okay." He admitted looking meaningfully at the water. He gave a shudder. "But now I'm not sure that I should."



"Yeah, I kinda see what you mean." Trying to reach Haze's mind, Clark discovered that the angel was definitely off-line at least for the present.



Okay, so I'll have to go over there and talk to him from up close… Figuring that since he was invulnerable it should be safe enough, Clark dipped his fingers in and found that the edge of the water felt just like it always had. "Is it going to be solid where Haze is, or is it still watery…" He wondered aloud.



"And if it turns out that it is actually somehow solid over there, what could entering that area do to a person, considering how much water we each have in our bodies?" Bruce continued the thought. "Yes, it is a bit of a worrier…"



"Solid?" Lex wandered out into the garden. "What's worrying?" He stared at the sight of an unhappy Haze sitting hunch-shouldered and cross-legged in the dead centre of the huge pool. "Oh, my…"



"Phew." Wolverine wandered up behind Lex, and peered around his shoulder. "That's something you don't see every day… Even back home at Freaks'r'Us."



"Is he really," Lex swallowed. "Sitting on top of the water?"



"Looks like it." Bruce said carefully.



"But his clothes are dry." Lex whispered.



"Yes. That was one of the factors that put me off just diving in and surfacing over there." Bruce agreed.







"I've got an idea." Clark said, taking off his shoes and socks. Very carefully he used his flight power, just enough that his feet were a hair's-breadth off the water, and gingerly moved himself out across the surface. "Haze?" He breathed; hoping that whatever Haze was doing would not suddenly turn off and dump his already-unhappy 'twin' into the cool water.



"Haze?" As Clark knelt cautiously he was very conscious that his own floating power was not exactly tried and tested, and that moving actively was one thing however staying up and in place was quite a lot harder. "Haze, Bruce is worried about you. I was too. I couldn't reach you either. You okay, bud?"



At the question, Haze looked up and Clark could see the tears in his eyes. Two large drops ran down the other youth's face and plopped noisily into the water below. Not all the liquid around here had to be solid then?



"Oh, Haze!" Clark's own emotions bubbled in sympathy and he flung his arms around his 'twin', drawing him in close.



"Don't let any of that crap they were talking get to you." Clark was never quite sure if it was making actual contact with Haze, or his own emotional surge that did it, but he immediately felt himself start to sink. Cold water lapped around his ankles, but before he could take any preventative action, Haze's hand wrapped around his, he was pulled up, and the surface beneath his knees became solid enough to support him, if a little squashy.



"Wow." Clark looked down into the sunlit water and blinked. He let out the breath he had instinctively snatched. "Yuk. My feet feel weird." He announced. Curious, he inspected the ends of his jeans and found that they were dry. His feet, while cool, were not actually wet either, despite having been dunked. He sat back and thought it over.



"Kewl," He decided. "Wonder if you could use this for Really Dry Cleaning…?" Poking a finger at the surface he had another thought. "Feels like Jello. Wonder what it tastes like?"







Haze looked across at Clark in surprise and the edges of his mouth turned up just a little. Clark started to grin too, and before long they were both sitting, bent double with laughter. He stretched his mind out to Haze and opened a conversational thread, feeling it accepted. 'Haze. How solid can you make this?' Clark asked his 'twin' curiously.



Haze shrugged. 'How solid do you want it?'



'Solid enough that we can pick it up with our hands and manipulate it, but for it to go back to being just normal water again after that?' Clark suggested.



'Oo-kay.' Haze turned and looked him right in the eyes. 'Why? '



'Cos we're going to have a little fun with those guys…'



'We are?' The angel was puzzled.



'Oh yes.' Clark told him firmly.



'And are they going to like it?'



'Probably not at first, but who cares?'



'Bruce is there.' Haze was less sure about getting Bruce involved.



'He was about to get in and swim anyway, so he shouldn't mind getting wet a bit sooner. If you're that worried, can't you send him a sort of hint?' Clark suggested. 'Like that memory thing you used to do with me when we first met? '



'Maybe?' The contact between the two of them diminished as Haze concentrated on Bruce. Clark hoped that Haze wasn’t going to forget about doing whatever it was he was doing to the water…



On the far side of the pool, Bruce tilted his head to one side as if he were listening. After a few seconds, he winked. "Thanks Alfred, coffee, just what I needed." He announced conversationally, ignoring the raised eyebrow from Alfred, who was well aware that the coffee had been poured several minutes previously.



Predictably, neither Lex nor Wolverine took any notice of the short exchange.







Standing up, Clark reached down and pulled Haze up too. Experimentally, he rubbed one foot along the shining surface and found that it now moved only very slightly. He glanced over to where Lex and Wolverine were standing. Oh yes…!



'Scoop it like mud.' Haze whispered in Clark's mind. 'And then fling it firmly.'



Clark needed little further prompting. Leaning forward he dug his fingers into the smooth surface and dragged a palmful loose while still holding firmly onto Haze with the other hand. Haze did the same. The texture was a little sloppy, but held together fairly well. Grinning, the pair let two large globs fly.



Across the pool, Lex and Wolverine were suddenly splattered.



"Hey!" Dripping water, Lex simply stood and stared.



"Aw, c'mon, Lex, get with it!" Wolverine laughed, and diving toward the pool snatched out a handful and threw it at the dark-haired pair.



Clark neatly dodged one glob, but a second caught him in mid back, soaking his T-shirt. "Ah! That's cold!" He yelped, "Haze, a little help here?"



Haze patted Clark's back and the water dusted off again as if it were dry powder.



"Better!" Clark smiled. "Now how do we stop them using it against us?"



Haze grinned and kicked a football-sized blob at Wolverine, who rolled expertly and watched it sail past him, only to sink harmlessly into the grass as it hit.



"Gotta do better than that, kid!" Wolverine chuckled.







A few minutes more and the score was still neck and neck. Haze sent an idea into Clark's mind.



'Oh yeah!' Clark could see definite possibilities in that one. 'But what about Bruce? We might get him too.' He thought back.



'So?' Haze was totally into the game now, and taking no prisoners. 'It's only water and it won't hurt him, besides I bet Bruce has figured it out by now. He'll go indoors if he's at all bothered, won't he?'



'True.' Clark glanced across the patio to where Bruce was still standing and observing the proceedings with definite interest. 'Maybe he wants to play, but doesn't know whose side to be on?'



'It's obvious whose side he should be on…' Haze sent back, 'The winning side.'



'Ours then…' Clark smirked.



'Oh yeah… Now, they're coming over to see what we're up to, so get ready to lean down onto it and use your flight power to get some extra weight behind it.'



Clark began to push down onto the yielding surface, sensing it changing as he moved. 'Will this hold us both? We aren't going to fall straight through?'



'No, but I can probably only hold it together for one real shove.'



'Okay. Then let's give it some energy…'



Together the two of them pushed down, as if the watery surface were a rubber sheet. 'They'll catch on if we try for a real bounce…' Haze predicted. 'Lex is no dumb bunny, and Logan's instincts are amazingly sharp.'



'Then put plenty of oomph into this one and let it go!' Clark was loving this. It was better than all the funfairs he had ever experienced, all rolled into one.



'Get ready to take us up, I won't wing or they'll guess that something's coming.' Haze told him. 'I'll float and you haul me with you … NOW!'



"Enjoy!" Clark shouted, thoroughly happy. Together they shot up into the air, leaving behind a peak of thoroughly churned water, which now had plenty of momentum and nowhere to go but …







Two yells of amazement and fury echoed across the sunny garden. From the safety and comfort of the nearby French windows, Bruce lounged against the wall and watched as nearly half of his swimming pool suddenly went vertical and rapidly distributed itself liberally over Lex, Wolverine, and the surrounding area.



"Alfred?"



"Sir?"



"I think our guests will need a few more towels…" Bruce said thoughtfully, "Oh, and you'll probably need to give the pool a bit of a top-up later. Once we know how much is really missing. On the plus side, I don't think the lawn will need watering tonight."



"Very good, sir." Alfred agreed, silently vanishing off to take care of everything.



* * * * *





"Hi Wolverine." Clark looked up as the dark shadow approached his outstretched feet. Beside him on the rail Haze sat and idly preened a few feathers.



"I suppose you two are real pleased with yourselves?" Wolverine wondered.



Clark grinned, "Yes thanks."



"And you're sitting way over there on the balcony rail, why?"



"So you two can't sneak up and get us back."



"Ah."



Haze signed something. Clark smiled. "Haze asks if you're dried out yet?"



Wolverine raised one eyebrow. "Pretty much." He said conversationally.



Haze looked up. Clark tilted his head. "Then he's got what?" He gave Wolverine a wry grin. "Water, eh? So you thought you'd come over here and get a bit of own-back, huh?"



"Shit." Wolverine carefully brought out the cup of water he had been hiding behind his back. "How'd ya know?"



"Haze sensed it."



"Smelt it?" Wolverine guessed. "I would'a come from downwind if I'd of known he could do that."



"Haze doesn't have a sense of smell… And no, that's not a cue for a stupid joke…" Clark warned.



"Never thought it was." Wolverine wandered over the patio and raised the cup to his lips. Without changing expression, he quickly threw it and the paper cup directly at Clark.



"Hey!" Startled, Clark pitched backwards off the balcony.



"Think he'll remember he can fly?" Wolverine looked sideways at Haze.







There was a distinct thud from somewhere below.



Casually Wolverine looked down over the railing, squinting at the Clark-sized dust cloud rising from among the rocks below. "Oops. Guess not. Good job about the invulnerability, huh?"



Haze looked skywards and sighed.



"Wouldn't have got you with that one, would I?" Wolverine guessed, chewing idly on the stub of an unlit cigar and waiting for the return of the other teen. "Why didn't he just duck?"



Haze shrugged, seeming distracted.



"Haze?" Wolverine noticed the strange look on the angel's face. "You okay?" When Haze didn't respond, Wolverine sniffed, detecting anxiety radiating from the angel. No way was it a trick, no one was that good an actor.



Starting to feel worried now, Wolverine stepped closer. "Haze?" He waved a hand in front of the angel's face. "What the heck?"



A solid arm had latched onto his wrist, preventing him from moving.



"That really wasn't very nice." Clark said softly.



"I ain't a nice guy." Wolverine admitted. "And the people that you're gonna run up against ain't gonna be playin' by the nice rules either…"



"What people?"



"Kid, you're a born hero. It's written all over ya. Sooner or later, you'll get into the do-gooding business. Makes sense to help you get prepared for whatever you're gonna meet up with…"



"Maybe." Clark was openly dubious. "So what did you do to Haze?"



"Nothin'. He just spaced out. I was trying to see what was wrong with him when you grabbed me."



A matching hand closed over Clark's and the youth immediately released his captive. "Haze? What is it, why are you so worried?"



Haze stared at him. Clark went white. "How?"



The sounds of explosions going off rolled across the lawn.



"We have to get to him." Clark decided. Haze nodded and before Wolverine could ask, the pair of them were streaking off through the heated air.



"Like I said, born heroes…" Wolverine started to relight his cigar. "Aw, who am I kidding?" Dropping the spent match he turned and loped back across the grass toward the house. "Sides, might turn out to be a good scrap…"







The windows on the ground floor of the old house were gone, blown out by a series of carefully placed explosions. The downstairs rooms swarmed with white-suited intruders.



"Alfred!" Bruce hissed, as he caught hold of the elderly man and drew him out into the hallway.



"Are you alright m'boy?" Alfred asked sharply, his normally meek manner replaced by a more business-like attitude.



"Fine." Bruce assured him.



"You're bleeding." Alfred pointed to the red stains blooming on the crisp white of Bruce's shirt.



"Surface cuts. I lost my fountain pen under the desk, and I was bending down to get it when the windows blew in."



"How fortunate that you dropped the pen."



"Wasn't it? I might have lost something more vital." Bruce tugged at a small section of newly-shorn hair. "Flying glass." He explained.



"Indeed." Alfred managed to convey a world of meaning in that simple word. "What now?" He asked.



"Now?" Bruce frowned. "Now we fight back. Although how I'm going to do that when I can’t acknowledge that I own an armoury, I haven't yet figured out."



"And it would be unwise to compromise your playboy image." Alfred reminded him. "Especially as it has yet to be decided which side young Master Lex will stand on once he matures fully."



"There is that." Bruce agreed. Taking up one of the large battleaxes from a plaque on the wall, he tested it for feel. "Still, I think we'll manage."



"Very good sir." Alfred picked down the matching axe and met Bruce's eyes resolutely. "I take it you were not expecting me to employ a frying pan for this?" He asked.



"Of course not." Bruce muttered. "I just thought…" That you were getting a bit too old for this sort of thing? He bit down on the words.



"Thought what?" Alfred raised a questioning eyebrow. That I was getting too old to be able to defend myself, or you?



The words remained unsaid, however the two looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.







Finally, Bruce patted the elderly man affectionately on the shoulder. "We'll manage." He said.



The door behind them slammed and a blur rushed through the room.



"Clark!" Bruce stared at the youth. "What are you doing?"



"Coming to rescue you!" The youth smiled.



"But," Bruce thought it over. "Okay."



"Okay?" It was Clark's turn to be surprised. Why wasn't Bruce protesting?



"After you take Alfred somewhere safe, come back for me." Bruce ordered.



Clark nodded. That was more like it. "Come on, Alfred." He said happily, and before the butler could so much as blink let alone raise a protest, they were both gone.



"Sorry, Alfred." Bruce whispered to the empty air. "I'm not having anything happen to you. You're not as agile as you used to be …" He discovered how agile HE was when he jumped several inches into the air after a hand touched unexpectedly against his shoulder. "Yeoww!!!"



The youth beside him blinked silently, obviously bewildered at the severity of the reaction.



"Oh … Haze." Bruce could hardly complain that the silent youth had not announced his arrival. "Sorry…" He muttered. "You startled me."



Haze shrugged, and then signed that someone was coming, and that if Bruce would agree to act as bait then they could take care of this between them.



"I guess that makes sense." Bruce nodded. His playboy persona could hardly start taking down armed intruders as he would have if he was in the armour, and there was no logical reason for the Batman to be out and about in broad daylight, especially here: the fewer connections between the Batman and Wayne Mansion the better. Nodding to Haze that he was ready, he deliberately let a chair scrape against the wall, and waited.



Almost at once the door flew open, and a white suited warrior entered the room. Fixing his eyes on Bruce, the man crouched into a fighting stance. The solid oak door slamming into him knocked the wind out of him, and sent him toppling over onto the polished floor.



Grinning, Haze rubbed his hands together and nodded at Bruce, subtly encouraging the crack in the door panel to mend.



"Nicely done." Bruce approved, on both counts. "Good use of available resources."







From upstairs came the sounds of metal on metal.



"Sword fighting?" Bruce glanced at Haze. Together the pair hurried up the curved staircase.



"Hi Bruce!" Lex called along the corridor, parrying a thrust from his opponent with casual ease. "There are two more of them in that bedroom, I tied them up with a bit of curtain cord."



"Nice work." Bruce smirked. "I seem to remember when Lionel was complaining that fencing lessons would be a waste of time and money, but they do seem to have come in handy, don't they?"



Haze bent and picked up a large wooden cosh that had been abandoned on the floor. Testing it for weight, he sent it careening along the corridor, where it smacked into the back of the intruders head with a satisfying thud.



"No fair!" Lex protested. "That one was mine, Haze. Get your own!"



Haze merely gave a silent laugh and poked his tongue out.



"Oh, that's charming …" The bald youth smirked. "Very eloquent."



The resulting gesture said plenty about how Haze felt about that criticism, and what Lex could do with himself.



"Yes, well, I'll think I'll decline." Lex laughed. "It really doesn't appeal at all. Still," He cast a knowing gaze at Bruce. "I expect that you could probably find someone around here willing to accommodate you … providing you phrase it right."



"Oi." Bruce returned the look with compound interest. "Still here?"



"Oh yes, you are aren’t you." Lex wasn't the least bothered. While he would not have considered taking on the Batman, Lex considered Playboy Bruce Wayne to be no competition for a Luthor. "Well, it IS your house." Lex added graciously.



"Yes." Bruce smiled with equal charm. "It is."



Honour satisfied, the pair of them grinned.



"Shall we go and look for some more arse to kick?" Lex suggested.



"Why not?" Bruce stuck a tentative toe into the side of the man lying in the middle of the corridor. "This one doesn't seem to want to play any more. Lets go and find ourselves a fresh one?"



Sighing, Haze shrugged and pointed toward the far end of the building.



"That way?" Bruce raised an eyebrow. "How many of them are there left, Haze?"



The dark haired youth replied with a handful of fingers.



"Five." Lex frowned. "Damn. I was hoping for at least two each, but this way someone will have to go short!"



"You'll live." Bruce chuckled, throwing an arm around Haze's shoulder and letting the youth lead the way.



"Who said that it was going to be me getting the shortfall?" Lex questioned, following despite that. "What kind of host are you anyway?"



Bruce started to answer him but at that moment they reached the end of the corridor.







As the trio turned the corner, Haze grabbed them both and pulled them down just in time to avoid the large object hurtling toward them.



A body hit the wall and slid down onto the carpet.



"That was close!" Lex raised his face from the floor, and glancing down the curving stairs, addressed the remaining combatant. "Nice one, Logan!" He called sarcastically.



"Thanks!" A melon-slice grin appeared on the rugged face. "Nice ta be appreciated."



"I knew that I was being too subtle." Lex muttered. "What I meant by that comment was that it was rather too close for comfort! A bit more warning would be nice next time." He added, raising his voice just a little.



"Yeah, right." Logan shoved the unlit cigar end back between his teeth and squinted up at the trio. "Ya got Wing boy, don't cha? How much more warning do ya need?"



"Most people say 'sorry' when they nearly take someone's head off, particularly when that person could generally be considered as a friend." Lex pointed out, mildly amused at the determined expression on Wolverine's face.



"I ain't 'most people'." Wolverine reminded him, flexing his claws before putting them away.



"True." Lex nodded. "Neither am I." But there was still such a thing as manners…







Apparently bored at the way that the conversation was turning, Haze sprang up onto the banister rail and strolled along it, until he was able to stare out of the vacant window frame.



"Shame about the stained glass." Lex said suddenly.



"What?" Bruce was watching Haze. "Oh, yes, right."



"Bruce?" The younger billionaire patted his friend fondly. "Earth to Bruce … Come in Bruce?" He smirked. "I know his arse is cute, but really … it's not THAT fascinating." Tilting his head he reconsidered briefly. "Although, maybe …"



"Clark!" Bruce suddenly realised that someone was missing. Two someone's. "Alfred!"



"What?" Broken from his 'trance', Lex blinked.



"Have you two started a mutual admiration society?" Wolverine had climbed the stairs and was standing beside them. "Only you both got the same dumb look on your faces, and you're talking like each other." He stared in the same direction as the two of them. "Haze?" He frowned. "What's the kid doin'?"



That was a good question. The dark haired youth was currently standing on the outer rim of the wide ledge that was all that remained of the large stained-glass picture window that had previously dominated the stairwell.



"Haze!" Bruce called urgently, hoping to attract the youth's attention.



With unnerving suddenness Haze's wings shivered out, and he launched himself purposefully through the ruined frame and out into the garden.



"Outside!" Bruce barked, breaking into a run. The other two followed him, staying close despite numerous obstacles.







Outside in the garden a large truck stood on the gravel path. From inside came the sounds of a scuffle, and occasional blows. The interior glowed with a strong green light despite the brightness of the day.



Landing softly as a snowflake on the roof, Haze closed his eyes and reached out, tasting the tang of the deadly green rock hovering on the air. The interior of the truck was packed with Kryptonite, and somewhere in there he could also sense Clark!



"Alfred!" Flinging the rear doors of the truck open, Bruce drew in a shocked breath.



"Bruce!" Lex grabbed at the nearest part of his host and long-time friend, which thankfully happened to be an arm. "Don't! They'll tear you apart!" To his surprise the arm was a lot more muscular than Lex had expected, but before he had time to fully process that particular fact, someone else had snatched the initiative and most of the attention.



Wolverine pulled their shaking host out of the way. "Let me." He growled, leaping up into the back of the truck, and unleashing his claws. "So…" His voice was low and dangerous. "You think it's fair to gang up on an unarmed man, do ya? Well come on then … I ain't got no gun … Try me?"



Four pairs of eyes widened as the mutant held out his arms invitingly toward them.



A gun went off, followed by a dull thud as a body hit the wooden floor.



"Jesus!" Lex's voice wavered. "That was fast!" He watched his determined mutant friend carve a swathe across the truck.



Thankfully Wolverine's claws were cutting nothing more substantial than empty air, but he was definitely getting his point across. People scattered as the stocky man headed in their direction.







"Nice one, Alf." Logan noted, sinking a booted toe into the belly of the man now lying at Alfred's feet. If this was the sort of thing they taught in Butler-school Wolverine was going to suggest to Xavier that the Institute start hiring. The kids could do with some extra combat training, and the cooking might improve too…



"Indeed sir." Alfred dangled the cast iron frying pan from the end of one wrist and glared at the remaining white-clad men. "I had no intention of allowing them to abduct our young friend, however it took rather longer to get out of the kitchen than I had expected. Thankfully, the fellow with the gun was distracted by your entrance."



"Yeah." Wolverine flexed his claws meaningfully. One of the would-be opposition found that there was another way out of the truck and took it, hastily.



As the side-door slammed shut again, it brought with it a faint hint of fresher air. Immobilised by dozens of green-coated restraints, Clark groaned.



"We gotta get him outta there." Logan decided. "Jeez, what does this place stink of?"



"I could not possibly say, as I do not have a particularly sensitive nose," Alfred nodded. "However I would suggest that we,"



"Don’t come any closer." A single figure walked out from behind the bank of instruments. "Or your pretty little friend here, will not be looking so pleasant." He waved a small box in their direction. "A detonator. If you harm me, it will automatically trigger a cascade explosion. Everything within a forty foot radius will be reduced to fragments."



"What are your plans for him?" Lex was angry, but hid it perfectly, as usual.



"I have been hired to make this young man talk, and I shall." The stranger reached out and tugged a hank of Clark's hair. "Eventually he will tell me everything that my employer wishes to know. And quite possibly a great deal more."



"You bastard!"



"Tut tut, Mr Luthor, you of all people should appreciate the need to remain civilised. This is nothing personal. Merely … business."



"I'm going to make it personal." Lex muttered. "And painful – for everyone on the wrong side."







"What should we do?" Alfred worried.



"Do just what the man says, Alfred." Bruce had crept close enough to the rear of the truck to see that the other man was not bluffing. "Get out of there. Now." There were enough explosives packed around the inside of the truck to ensure that only a few scattered bits would be left if they went off.



"Master Bruce?" Alfred turned to his employer in surprise.



"Like the boss man says, Alfred." Wolverine rumbled low in his throat. "I don't like it much either, but we ain't exactly spoiled fer choices right now." Taking the elderly man gently by the arm, he led him to the rear of the truck, where Lex and Bruce were waiting to help Alfred down. Reluctantly, Logan jumped down beside them on the gravel path and stared up at the kidnapper with narrowed eyes. "We'll meet again Bub, sooner or later,"



"I doubt that." The man in white shrugged. "I can tell that you are a professional, however I am also very good at what I do, and when this assignment is complete, my employer will assist me to vanish again. I could be standing beside you and you would never know."



It was Wolverine's turn to smirk. "I doubt that." He said darkly, echoing the other man's words, if not his tone. "I got your scent memorised, ain't much a person can do to change that…"



"Possibly." The other man looked less certain, but his grip on the deadly box never wavered. Reaching out, he pressed a control on the inside wall of the truck and the engine rumbled to life.



"He's driving it by remote control!" Bruce snarled. "Damn!"



"This is farewell." The white clad man announced, as the doors of the truck started to inch shut.



Something deep inside Bruce began to scream.



"Run!" He ordered. "Get as far away from the truck as you can. Logan, take Alfred!"



"A sensible precaution, Mr Wayne …" Their opponent gloated. "Such a shame I could not have a chance to try my talents on you … however you were not my target – this time."



The wide gap narrowed to a dark line as the double doors sealed smoothly together. There was a sharp hiss and a grey cloud of gas momentarily surrounded the outside of the vehicle.



"Bet that wasn't anything environmentally friendly!" Lex snapped.



"Something toxic probably." Bruce agreed. As the truck began to accelerate away something in the sky caught his attention. "Oh my god, Haze!"







Streaking down out of the sky, a sleek shape sped at the truck. Just as Haze reached the vehicle, there was a brief flash of light, followed by a deafening roar that threw the two men to the ground despite the growing distance from the source.



"What the fuck was that?" Wolverine was suddenly beside them, helping them up.



Staggering to his feet, Bruce stared dumbstruck at the place where the truck had been.



"Christ!" Lex blurted, equally shocked. "Christ," He repeated, then found a couple of extra words. "Oh fuck."



Where the truck had been there was nothing. The grass alongside the drive was as empty as the gravelled roadway.



Together the three of them walked hesitantly forward. As they reached the point where the vehicle had been they were all three suddenly aware of it.



"Ya smell burning?" Wolverine sniffed tentatively, then deeper. "Like," He gagged suddenly, and fell abruptly silent.



"Flesh?" Lex said grimly. No one asked how he knew.



Wolverine nodded, barely retaining control of his stomach.



Bruce stared at the tracks left by the heavy truck. Cut deeply into the surface of the drive, they simply ceased to exist a few inches in front of his feet.



"They're … gone." It was left to Lex to voice what neither of the other men was able to say.







Haze! Bruce couldn't bear to look at the accusing tracks. I should have done something! He didn't know what he could have done, but surely there must have been something? If only he had thought it through more thoroughly.



It's happened again… As he gazed upwards in misery, away from where his latest failure was written large on the ground, he became aware that there was a dot high in the sky … a bigger than bird-sized shape … an Angel-sized shape? Despair turned to hope.



"Haze!" The word had slipped through his lips before he could stop it.



"What?" Lex turned, and noticing where Bruce was staring, also gazed upwards.



"Fuck me." Logan breathed.



Spiralling out of the clouds, the angel cruised down, carrying his precious burden.



"Haze! Are you all right?" Bruce worried.



"Is Clark hurt? What happened?" Lex was a close second.



"What did you do?" Wolverine was the loudest by far.

The angel shrugged, and powered down onto the grass. Clark lay silent in his arms, unnaturally still against his 'twin'. Tightening his arms around the other youth, Haze hurried toward the house, mouth set in a grim line.







"Any change?" Wolverine handed Lex a cup of steaming coffee and settled down into the empty seat.



Lex lifted his head and sighed. "Not yet."



Lying stretched out on the bed, Haze opened one eye only to close it again. His arms remained wrapped firmly around Clark, the other youth's head fitting snugly into the curve of his neck, although he seemed to be happy enough to have Bruce there as his own personal headrest.



The bed's only human occupant was currently drowsing, spooned against the angel's side so tightly that it would have been hard to slip a bookmark in between them.



"If nothin' happens in the next hour, I'm gonna get some shut-eye too." Wolverine said, "And I think you should try getting some rest, Lex. I called Charlie, and he promised to come over if we need him."



"What did you tell him?" For a second Lex looked concerned.



That earned him a raised eyebrow. "The guy can read my mind. What d'ya think I told him?"



"The truth?" Lex sighed.



"Mostly." Wolverine managed a weary grin.



The bald youth sighed again. "Don't mind me, I'm just frayed." He added.



"Come and get some sleep then."



"What?"



"Now don't start that again. I ain't Bruce." Logan didn't bother to explain what he meant by that, but he did smile at his younger companion. "I'm only offering space on my bed, I thought you might appreciate it - since my room still has glass in the windows, rather than spread all over."



"Ah, I'd forgotten about that. Yes, my suite was a little airy when I last saw it." Lex recalled.



"Yep." Wolverine looked understandably smug.







"I shall take over for a spell." Alfred murmured, handing Wolverine a glass of cold water. "You and Young Master Lex should attempt to gain some rest. Dinner will be ready at eight."



"Eight?" Wolverine could scarcely believe that a few hours ago this old man was in a truck knocking would-be kidnappers and sundry assassins unconscious with a frying pan, and now he was rustling up dinner as if nothing had happened. We definitely have to have a butler!



"I realise that it will be somewhat later than usual." Alfred said smoothly, "However, the kitchen was in something of a mess."



"Eight's fine, Alfred!" Wolverine was not about to offend the old codger, not when he had seen firsthand how effective Alfred was with a cast iron frying pan. "Eight's great!"



"It should give us all a few hours to recover." Alfred acknowledged.







Clark's first impression was that the room was moving. His second was that the bedsheets were warmer than usual. As he began to get his thoughts in better order, he realised that he was being cradled against someone, someone warm, the scent was so familiar that he didn't need to look to know.



"Haze." He yawned.



Lazily the arms around him tightened, and then relaxed. Sleepily the other youth sat up, eyes locking onto Clark.



"I'm fine." Clark reassured him. He decided that he felt remarkably good, considering the amount of Kryptonite that he had been exposed to in the truck.



Nodding, Haze kissed him and then let him go.



"Wha?" On the other side of Clark, Bruce sat up with a sudden shock. "Clark!" Instantly he flung his arms around Clark, none of them minding that Haze was sandwiched in the middle of the embrace.



After a few minutes, Clark began to fidget.



"Clark, are you okay?" Bruce was instantly concerned.



The youth met his eyes and flushed. "Uh…"



"You're not hurt?" What were they thinking of? I just assumed that Haze would have healed Clark, I didn’t even check! How stupid am I? Bruce was just about to head off on a personal guilt trip when Clark sat up.



"I…" As the youth moved sat up, the reason for his discomfort became abundantly clear.



A low rumble practically shook the bed.



"Oh…" Bruce smiled. "That…"



As Haze let out a silent howl of laughter, Clark's blush intensified.



"Yeah," Clark admitted shyly as his stomach sounded off again. "Have you got any food? I'm starving…"