Chapter Text
Oliver leans against the wall of the medbay, concerned. Superman had been hit by Silver Kryptonite at the end of the battle, and went down hard. He has yet to wake up, and is so still in the bed in the Watchtower medbay, the slow rise and fall of his chest the only indication of life. Thick bandages wrap around his side where he was hit. They removed all of the Silver Kryptonite- at least, they hoped they did - and now they're all gathered around Kal's sick bed, waiting for him to wake up. He should have familiar, friendly faces around, and they're some of the only familiar faces the guy knows.
Ollie exchanges an anxious glance with Hal, who's stationed himself in the chair next to Supes, opposite of Diana. Between those two, they should be ready if anything goes wrong. Not that it should, but it’s a good precaution. Though at this point, Oliver would take something going wrong if only it meant that Kal would wake up.
"Here," Barry pops up by Ollie's shoulder, "granola bar?"
"Sure," Ollie takes the granola bar. It was a long, hard battle. Food is welcome. Barry then zips over to Batman and offers him one.
"Now is not the time for this, Flash." Bruce grumbles from where he's looming at the foot of Superman's bed.
"Bats, you're going to give him a heart attack doing that." Hal chides.
"You do look like a sleep paralysis demon. That's not a good bedside manner." Barry agrees.
Batman huffs but moves to lurk in the corner, which isn’t much better but it’s something. Diana shakes her head ruefully. An uneasy silence falls as they wait for something to happen.
Superman's breathing picks up. Diana says, "He's waking up!"
Superman jolts upright out of the bed and almost topples over. Green Lantern steadies him.
"I'm late to pick up my kids from school!" He says.
"Your kids? You mean Superboy?" Oliver says, amused.
"Kon isn't my kid." Superman says, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "He's my brother. I need to pick up Chris and Jon."
"Chris? Jon?" Batman says blankly.
"My sons?" Superman says, with an expression that says he thinks Batman is an idiot for asking.
"Alright, so he's hallucinating that he has kids." Hal says.
"They're not a hallucination! They're little. Is Kon picking them up?"
"Sure, Kon is picking them up -"
"Good, they love it when Kon picks him up. He's the cool brother."
"I thought you said Superboy wasn't your kid?" Batman said.
"He's my brother and also my kid's brother and uncle at the same time. Family doesn't fall into a bunch of neat labels. It's big and messy."
"I - sure? What does that have to do with any of this?"
"You were being judgy about non-nuclear unconventional familial relationships." Superman crosses his arms and frowns severely at Batman.
"Well, he can't be that bad off if he's talking like that," Ollie whispers to Barry. Barry smacks his arm.
"I was merely trying to test how much you're hallucinating." Batman huffed.
"Also his name is Kon." Superman glares at Batman.
"I knew that." Batman says gruffly.
"Do you? Because I've never heard you call him Kon." Superman challenges, leaning forward as though he’s about to get out of the bed.
"Kal, you need to stay here. You got hit by Silver Kryptonite in the battle, you need to recover." Wonder Woman says, gently placing a hand on Superman's chest to prevent him from getting up.
"I feel fine though," Superman frowns. On anyone else, Ollie would have called it a pout.
"And that's good. But we need to keep you here just a little longer to make sure you're alright and not experiencing any side effects. Okay?"
"Fine," he sighed. "I don't really remember much of what happened anyway so you're probably right."
Diana and Barry exchanged worried glances. “What’s the last thing you clearly remember?”
Kal squints. “Kissing my wife goodbye this morning and promising I’d do my best to make this short and get back to her in one piece.”
“WHAT.”
“Uhhhh, what did you just say?”
“Your wife.” Batman states flatly.
“Yes, she is so wonderful." Superman says dreamily. "She's so clever and fierce and passionate and funny and is just the best. I love her so much."
"You're married?!?" The Flash squawks.
“Of course not, who would he be married to?” Hal asks.
“This is why I didn’t invite you to the wedding.” Superman grumbles.
“Do you remember anything beyond that?” Batman growls.
“Not really, it’s hazy.” Kal says, then frowns. “Wait,”
“What? What is it?” Hal asks, exchanging a worried glance with Oliver.
"Did I excuse myself from work?" Superman asks Diana, sounding very alarmed.
"Uh, no?" Diana says, confused.
"Oh, no," Superman groans. "My boss is going to be so mad."
"Wait, you have a job??" Barry says.
"I think he means this job," Batman says. “What other job would Kal be talking about?”
Superman looked at all of them as though they were the ones high out of their minds and hallucinating. "Have none of you guys ever picked up on the fact that I actually have a life? I mean I know you all only see Superman as I present him to the world, but you really haven't figured out that I actually do things other than be Superman?"
"I mean, I figured you roamed around the Earth interacting with people cause no one can only do superheroing and sulking in a hideaway and not lose it. But I didn't think you had an actual job." Green Lantern says.
Batman shuffles infinitesimally.
Hal turns towards him in incredulous delight. "Wait. Spooky, don't tell me that you actually thought that all Kal did was be Superman and chill in the Fortress."
"Well-"
"You really did? Just because you're that poorly adjusted doesn't mean everyone else is."
“Enough,” Diana says. “You can bicker later. Kal-El, how are you feeling? What are you seeing?”
“I feel fine. I see all five of you here in the medbay fussing. I’m fine, really. Can I please go home?” Kal complains.
Wonder Woman turns towards the rest of the room. "Kal-El seems stable. We should call Superboy and Supergirl to pick him up, they will know better if he is remembering events accurately."
“Diana, you cannot possibly believe that he’s actually fine –”
“They are his family, they know him well, they will better be able to determine whether he is remembering things correctly.”
"Kon and Kara are coming?" Superman asks cheerfully. "I love them!"
"Tell them he's high as a kite." Hal says wryly.
There is an audible sigh of relief when Supergirl and Superboy enter the medbay. Kal’s rambling is entertaining but also deeply weird.
"How are you feeling, Kal?" Supergirl asks.
Superman waves cheerfully. "Kara! Hi! I feel great! Everything’s really still and calm. I am hungry though. Could I have some Pep?"
Kara chuckles. "We'll get you some at home."
"Though I don't know how you like that stuff. It's so bland." Superboy complains.
"That's why you add fruit! It's like coffee!" Kal says indignantly.
"Pep? Superman likes that weird Kellogg’s cereal?" Ollie overhears Hal whisper to Barry.
Superman tries to get up and loses his balance. Supergirl and Superboy catch him and loop his arms over their shoulders. Superman makes an odd rumbling purring sound and nuzzles Superboy's hair, then Supergirl's hair. Superboy gently knocks his forehead into Superman's cheek and rumbles back, though his sounds more chirpy. Supergirl just laughs. Ollie can’t recall ever seeing any of the Supers this relaxed.
"Alright, Kal, let's get you home and we can snuggle on the couch with Lo and Chris and Jon, maybe watch a movie or something. That sound good?"
Superman nods enthusiastically, and Superboy chuckles. "I think that's a yes."
They maneuver him towards the door and the Justice League parts to let them through.
Superman waves jauntily. "Bye everyone!"
"Bye," Ollie waves back weakly. A though occurs to him, and he turned towards Hal. "Wait. Supergirl said 'Lo and Jon'. Does Superman actually have a wife and kid?"
Everyone was very curious as to what Superman would say about the incident at the next Justice League meeting. Would he be embarrassed about what he hallucinated and said? Was it the truth and he'd be embarrassed to admit it? Or would he act like nothing had happened at all?
The whispering gossip stopped as soon as Superman entered the room. He raised an eyebrow and settled into his usual seat.
"We have a lot to go through today, so let's get started. Hal, do you have an update about the recent situation in the Green Lantern Corps?”
Hal said nothing, leading Superman to look up from his notes to stare at him. “Hello? Justice League meeting in session? Hal?”
Hal blinked. “What?”
“The Lantern Corps update, Hal?”
“Are you married?” Hal blurts out.
“If this is your idea of a proposal, I think it could use some work.” Superman says dryly.
“No – not that I – I meant – you mentioned being married last week –” Hal stammers.
“Oh,” Superman says, realization dawning on his face as he looks around the room to see everyone staring intently at him. “This is about the Silver Kryptonite incident?”
“Well –”
“It is.” Kal pinches his nose and sighs. “I should have known this would happen.”
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” Barry reassures.
“If I don’t you’re all going to be speculating until the end of time, though.” Kal says with amusement. A round of chuckles passes along the table.
“I wasn’t hallucinating at all from the Silver Kryptonite, I was just impaired.”
“So, you were high.” Hal says, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“Pretty much,” Superman smiles.
“So are you married?” Oliver asks.
“I’ve been married for years.” Kal answers.
“You have a kid?” Diana asks.
“Yes, he’s six.”
“You have a secret identity?” Batman asks.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why didn’t you tell us, then? We all shared our identities with each other years ago. Even Bats did. Do you not trust us?” Barry sounds hurt.
“I’m sorry,” Kal runs a hand through his hair. “It’s not that I don’t trust all of you. I do, I trust you with my life. But I keep this a secret from everyone. All of you knowing that I even have a secret identity doubles the number of people who know that fact. I keep it well hidden because I’ve had one established since I arrived on Earth, and I have a whole life that I love outside of being Superman. And I have family and friends and coworkers who would be in so much danger if anyone knew they were connected to Superman. None of my non-superhero friends know that I’m Superman either. So it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that I am so used to not telling anyone that I don’t really know how to.”
“That sounds lonely.” Barry says softly.
"It is, somewhat. Maybe some day I'll tell you who I am outside of Superman. I trust all of you enough to do that, but I’m not ready to do that. Although, I thought you were more observant and might have noticed something."
“I’m sure it’s just that we haven’t had the opportunity. How do you even have a secret identity?” Bruce asks. “You are very distinctive. People must notice Superman in normal clothes is right in front of them.”
“They really do not.”
“People are unobservant then.”
"Maybe they are. Bruce, I have had multiple conversations with you." Superman says in amusement.
“No.” Batman says, disbelieving
“Yes,” Kal smirks.
“A quick conversation? A few words?”
“Bruce, I have been in the same room with you many times and talked occasionally, and you have never noticed. Because despite what you think, I am good at keeping secrets when I need to.”
Ollie snickers. The big bad bat hadn't noticed!
"Don't laugh, Oliver, I've had conversations with many of you.”
“Really?” Ollie blinks. “Wild.”
“Alright, now that you all have had it confirmed I have a life outside of this, let’s actually get started on what we’re supposed to talk about this meeting, shall we?” Kal changes the subject. But even as everyone follows along with the meeting, Ollie can see his fellow Justice League members plotting on how they’re going to try to find Superman’s identity the next time they’re in Metropolis. Ollie has a few plots of his own. Kal undoubtedly knows where everyone’s minds are actually at, if the slightly amused smirk means anything.
This is going to be fun.