Getting the e-mail back from Dick had been surprising, considering he only checked his mail when he could scrounge some PC time. In the depths of Europe sometimes one of Clark's e-mails had waited for over a month before being picked up. But in the States, it was easier and Clark had grinned at the reply enthusiastically, agreeing to meet up in Metropolis when their Circus made it there in the near future. He rather happily informed Lex that Dick was looking forward to seeing them both and he would be interested in meeting Bruce Wayne, fellow billionaire.

Setting up of the two was going to be fairly painless, although Bruce apparently knew that the simple meeting up for dinner they planned was probably more that it was pretending to be and Lex had not looked in the least repentant as he practically nailed his friend to the promise of being there.

Clark had to admit that he could see the attraction in matchmaking. He felt a certain buzz of excitement about whether Bruce and Dick would get along, a vicarious satisfaction that had him smiling even as they arrived at the restaurant. That and seeing Dick again, of course.

Lex was counting on Bruce arriving late to dinner, and had told him to come a little bit after when he and Clark had planned to arrive there just so they could settle Dick down and make him comfortable.

All in all, the whole trip to Metropolis had been good for them both. Clark had gotten to see the Penthouse again, though later there was a promise of... really seeing the penthouse in a 'grains of the glossy dining room table' sort of way. Clark found that to be a very attractive and distracting prospect. The whole time away from Smallville was liberating in a lot of ways and they'd been having fun. And the prospect of a lot more on the horizon without the niggling thought that parents might get to hear about what was going on.

"You think he's here yet?" Clark glanced around. "What time did you ask him to be here in the end?"

"Which one?" It was fun to watch Lex acting so... commanding, so calm and cool. Like upon setting foot in Metropolis, Lex slipped the city on and fit perfectly into it. He scanned the spacious dining room, and then nodded to the young man whose eyes he'd caught. "There's Dick."

Clark turned and grinned, his smile genuine and nearly dazzling. "I meant Dick," he said even as he made his way over. "Dick! Looking good!"

"Hey!" Dick half-stood up, but he seemed too aware of his surroundings to do more than wave back to them and that one call.

They were intercepted halfway towards Dick by a maitre'd, and Lex firmly explained that they were meeting with their party, and there was a sudden burst of, "Oh, yes, Mr. Luthor!" apologies.

Clark was oblivious. Well, strictly, he knew that he had broken protocol but he also knew it was something that Lex could handle easily. He was more interested in seeing his friend. "You've gotten taller, Dick, I swear it," Clark said even as he committed another cardinal sin and seated himself at the table. "Man, it's good to see you again."

Dick leaned over to hug him, grinning to himself. "You... have gotten broader. Your shoulders had better stop going outwards, man or you're going to be walking through doors sideways!"

"Muscles. Farm work, remember?" Clark returned the hug. He stopped short of mentioning shit-shovelling in the fancy restaurant. Lex's tolerance might only stretch too far. "I'll probably be in trouble now. I've upset the maitre'd," he said still smiling.

"This is a pretty weird place," Dick decided as he settled back down into his chair. "Your brother owns the place...?" Since Lex was talking to the maitre'd rather casually, it was easy to see where he might have come up with the idea.

"At least partially I think," Clark smiled again. "Not so silent partner. He likes to have places that will offer his clients what he wants. How are you? You been okay?"

Dick made half a flexing motion of his arms. "Doing great. I'm technically finished with high school, and maybe after the next summer season I'll break off and start college somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm doing that too," Clark admitted. "Probably going to MetU though. Got anywhere in mind?"

"Not really. I haven't even really started looking. It kind of makes sense for you to stay close to home. I can go pretty much anywhere without ties..."

"Yeah, depending on what you want to do. I guess when your parents travel all over it's kind of impossible to choose somewhere 'close to home'." Clark nodded. He smiled again. "It really is great to see you, Dick. Sorry we missed the Gotham stop last time you were in the States."

"Hey, stuff happens," Dick grinned. "I understand. You probably had school -- I'm just glad you met up with me this time..."

"Sorry about that," Lex apologized as he finally approached them and pulled out a chair for himself. It wasn't a real apology, more of a well-said excuse.

"Hope I didn't shock him too much," Clark said to Lex. "We were just catching up a little. I just apologized for us not making it to the Gotham stop."

"I can't remember why we didn't, but..." Lex extended his hand to Dick with a grin. "It's good to see you again. How have you been?"

"Better than 'hanging in there' -- really good in fact."

"Mom and I were sick," Clark reminded. "Dick's looking at going to college soon. I'm surrounded by intelligent people. Going to college early."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Lex warned them both. "Not to date myself or sound too damn old."

Clark laughed. "Lex went to college really early," he explained. "Genius brother."

He looked across at Lex and smiled in a way that made it obvious he was proud of that fact, possibly a little more than a hero-worshipping younger brother might be.

It thankfully went right over Dick's head. "I'm not surprised. Oliver was pretty much the same sort of guy. Damn you rich people." Dick winked, and Lex didn't look even a twinge offended by the barb.

"I think you'll do fine in college, though. Clearly."

"Better than me at least," Clark replied. "Farmboy in Metropolis. Could be a movie."

Dick made a slight choking noise, and Lex's mouth twitched as if he were trying not to laugh.

"Uh, Clark..."

"Not that type of movie." Clark suddenly blushed as he realized what he had inadvertently said. "And that just proves my point!"

"Actually, it's already been made into movie," Lex declared. He leaned back, and gestured to the waiter who was hanging back politely. Half of the payment for service was to be left alone during dinner.

"I think you could definitely star in it," Dick snickered.

"You're kidding me." Clark looked at them both with wide eyes, playing the innocent. "Lex? You are kidding right? And if you're not, how do you know about it?"

"I have a friend with an interest in videos," Lex evaded smoothly, still crookedly smiling to himself as he leaned a little in his chair when the waiter came over. "I want a bottle of your best red wine, and... Soda for my friends here."

"I'll take a Pibb? Cherry coke...? Whatever you have," Dick piped up.

"Same," Clark chipped in and the waiter discretely vanished to fetch their drinks.

"I did mention we had invited Bruce?" Clark said to Dick. "You haven't met him before have you?"

"Bruce, guy with the cabin and the copy of 'Farmboy in Metropolis' in his cabinet, Bruce?" Dick shook his head. "Never had the opportunity."

Clark shook his head. "How did I miss that? Anyway, I think you'll like him."

The waiter returned with their drinks and the menus and disappeared just as discretely

Dick just snickered. "No, Clark. You don't ever want to see it. I haven't ever seen corn the same way since."

Lex's eyebrows went up a little, and he reached for the glass of wine that had been poured for him, swirling it discretely. "Whenever he shows up."

"You two are doing this on purpose aren't you?" Clark said clearing his throat and trying not to be too embarrassed.

"Oh, no, of course not," Lex denied smoothly, hardly casting a glance over the menu. "Both of you should order what you want."

"Is this going to be another menu in a foreign language?" Clark asked smiling as he opened it. "Oh, only parts of it. Not that this helps too much. Help me out here, Dick?"

"Clark, what you're actually ordering is in English. It's just the fancy name that's in other languages."

"Many of them," Lex agreed. "For the person who wants to have Italian when all their friends want French."

"Call a steak a steak, I say." Clark replied deliberately playing the hick to tease and settle Dick into the atmosphere of the restaurant. Everyone looked more at home in this place than he did after all. "Hmm... I think I'm going to have the spiced prawns as a starter and the fillet steak with the... looks like cream and brandy sauce for main. Can't go wrong with a good steak."

"No, you can't. And what do you want, Dick?" Lex asked, in a Lex attempt to be helpful, and only a little intimidating.

"I, uh... I think I want the same thing Clark's getting. Can't go wrong with a steak, after all."

"You won't find a bad steak in this restaurant." A soft voice spoke up behind Lex as Bruce did his uncanny thing of appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "Apologies for being late, Lex. As expected, the meeting overran."

"I expected this," Lex drawled as he closed the menu, and turned to look at the sleek dark-haired man that both Clark and Dick could already see. "Sit down. I hope you don't mind, but I assumed you'd want red wine."

"Red is good. House special, I assume." Bruce sat down, his dark eyes acknowledging Clark and then settling on Dick, studying him intently. "Good to see you Clark, and this must be...?"

"Forgive me. Bruce Wayne, this is Dick Grayson. Dick, this is Bruce," Lex introduced for them.

Dick half raised out of his chair, reaching to offer Bruce his hand. "Nice to, uhm, meet you..."

"A pleasure to meet you, Dick." Bruce shook his hand, "Please, call me Bruce. I'm sure that a friend of Clark and Lex is a friend of mine by default."

The words were all perfect sincere charm, but Clark was sure he didn't imagine the glimmer of genuine interest there. At least, Clark hoped he didn't imagine that glimmer. Because if he had, wow, he was going to be feeling very stupid very soon...

"Okay." Dick smiled as he sat back into his chair. "Bruce."

"Great." Lex handed Bruce his menu. "I'll make sure the waiter brings by another glass for you."

There was a slight readjustment in the dynamic at the table with the addition of Bruce, and Dick seemed to have shifted from his teasing of Clark to being on his best behavior.

Clark glanced at his friend and smiled. "Been skiing since Switzerland, Dick?" he asked and then commented to Bruce "You ought to have seen him ski, Bruce, he even did that run that they make you sign a paper in case you get injured or something. "

"The one near my cabin?" Bruce asked with interest.

"That's the one," Dick admitted, wavering between polite and shy. It was just taking a little time for him to relax again that was all. It was quite a novelty to see him that way considering he was usually the confident outgoing type. At least he always had been in comparison to Clark.

Lex knew the signs very well. "I couldn't even get Clark out onto that slope..."

"Bearing in mind that week was the first time I'd put on a pair of skis," Clark pointed out. "And you wanted me to go on a slope that had 'we will not sue' waivers? I wasn't that good at picking it up."

"It is a challenging course," Bruce replied. "You have to have exceptional coordination to run it cleanly. I seem to recall, Lex, you didn't go out on that grade of run on your first week of skiing."

"Second," Lex countered. "And it wasn't exactly a clean run. But Dick did a great job on it. We watched with binoculars."

"Only because Oliver insisted..."

"It was pretty cool, especially that jump bit," Clark added, sipping his soda. "Not sure if I could have done that, I'm not so crazy about heights. Never have been."

Bruce smiled. "Fortunately I quite like them myself." He seemed to be amused by something.

"I'm an acrobat," Dick told him, taking a bigger sip of his soda than Clark.

"So I understand," Bruce replied. "You must train hard to be one of the headliners with your parents?"

"Yes. It's the three of us." Dick grinned a little. "Since I'm out tonight, they made sure to be on the other side of town for some alone time."

"I expect Mom and Dad are pretty much the same with me out of the house," Clark chipped in. "You and Bruce ordering?" he asked feeling pleased things were starting to get more comfortable.

"I make it a policy to have the chef's recommendation," Bruce replied. "I've rarely been disappointed."

"I've wanted some good chicken fettuccini with alfredo all week," Lex mulled. "So I'll get that." He leaned a little, and once more signaled the waiter.

The orders were taken, and Clark looked at Dick with the faintest of smirks as Bruce and Lex were talking to the waiter. He wanted to ask what he thought of Bruce, but that was a bit premature.

Never mind that everything seemed to be going so well! Particularly since Dick smirked back a little.

Lex turned back around, toying with his wine glass and looking like he was starting to relax. "So how long are you going to be in Metropolis, Dick?"

"Just a week -- four big shows, and then we move on to the next city."

"Lex has promised that we get to see you in action at least one night." Clark said enthusiastically, "See you in all your glory, Dick."

Lex went a little quiet, trying to keep from chuckling too much. Dick finally looked like he might just blush a little. "Okay, okay, turnabout is fair play 'n all..."

Bruce was smiling and Clark just groaned. "You two are doing this deliberately aren't you?"

"Bruce, do I seem like I'm doing anything in particular on purpose right now?"

"Absolutely not," Bruce said with perfect poise though he was trying not to laugh. "Although put like that, it sounds to be rather interesting."

Clark sat back. "Is it just me? We've already had the Farmboy in Metropolis incident..."

"Been raiding my video collection Clark?" Bruce asked very, very close to laughing out loud, his dark eyes transformed by the touch of warmth and humor.

"I told him you had it!" Dick grinned. "See, your brother and I were very serious about that!"

"Ah, well, of course when I purchased it, I thought it was going to be a fascinating documentary contrasting the differences in social structures of rural and urban communities," Bruce said dryly.

"Sex in the back of a truck versus sex in the back of a sport car." Lex took a sip of wine when he deadpanned that.

Even Clark snorted at that.

"Quite so." Bruce agreed. "Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be as witty and erudite a piece of filming as I expected. Although the thing with the corn was quite possibly computer generated. I'm still not convinced about that one, Lex."

"That's just because I refused to..." Lex cleared his throat. "Topic change, anyone?"

"It's sort of fun to see you squirm," Dick snickered. "Since you're usually so unflustered..."

Clark grinned. "Yeah, considering how you guys have managed to make me drop myself in it several times already this evening. What I meant was that Lex and I have tickets to the show. Are you coming Bruce?"

Bruce considered as their starters were brought over. "I believe I could arrange to be here. I haven't been to a genuine circus for a long time."

"I'm glad you agreed," Lex drawled, "since we somehow managed to end up with three tickets. Ringside."

"Best way to see it without actually being in the show," Dick grinned.

"I deduce a plot," Bruce replied. "Perhaps a Luthor plot?" He glanced across at Lex raising an eyebrow even as Clark busied himself eating.

"It could be. Not very subtle for a Luthor Plot, though. Now, this could definitely be a Kent Plot..."

"Wow, all of you guys plot?" Dick shook his head a little. "How about you, Bruce? Are you a plotter, too?"

"Hmm, I taught Lex all he knows," Bruce replied and then smiled and added. "But not all I know."

Clark nearly lost a prawn in his attempt not to laugh at Lex's expression.

"So Luthor plotting is more of a Kent and Wayne inspired thing, than actual--"

"The only thing 'Luthor' is that I know how to squirrel things away. Like... pornography when you're living with your guardians. To this day, no one has every realized where I hide things."

"The false bottom of the chair in your room." Clark said with an unrepentant grin. "For the pornography at least."

X-ray vision had some perks after all.

"Except for your curious little brother?" Dick laughed while Lex snorted into his glass and picked up his fork again. "What else did he have stashed places?"

"Warrior Angel comics." Clark decided that embarrassing Lex too much was not a good thing. "And car magazines. Lots of car magazines with circles around particular cars..."

Bruce chuckled. "I did that, too."

"Cars from the fifties," Lex chimed in. "You know, with the god-awful over chromed wings on them...?"

"Hey, those are neat!" Dick defended.

"See Lex, they are classic. Classic cars cannot fade, they have a purity..."

"Are those the ones that Lex says look like they tried to squeezed a gap too small to take their wide ass?" Clark asked innocently.

Lex started to chuckle, while Dick leaned over to Bruce. "It's okay. They just can't appreciate a car that classic."

"I can appreciate what working on cars with Bruce, and on rusty old trucks with my father has taught me about Bondo."

Bruce smiled taking the teasing in good part. "At least someone at this table appreciates classic cars," he replied as he sipped his wine.

Clark grinned. "Hey, the Kent family does too. Every scrap of metal we have in the barn is 'classic'."

"Only because Jonathan is sentimental about his old rusted out trucks. I keep telling Mom and Dad that they just need to put them out on the lawn, put a couple of dogs under the front porch and we could--"

"Be in a Jeff Foxworthy song?" Dick grinned. "C'mon. You like farm life, or you wouldn't have moved back to 'Smallville'."

"There is a certain satisfaction to it, I can see why Lex did so," Bruce had to agree. "Though I don't think I'm likely to become a farmer just yet. There appears to be a lot of standing around looking solemn while you discuss the weather."

"Tradition," Clark chipped in again. "It's the Smallville equivalent of small talk. You don't ask after family members, you ask after the crops and cattle, you see."

"And the price of hay," Lex added, after swallowing a mouthful of his appetizer. "And fertilizer..."

"I'll have to pass on all of that," Dick shivered. "City life is the life for me..."

"I would tend to agree," Bruce replied "City-born and bred, and you don't get much more city than Gotham."

"What about Metropolis?" Clark asked. "What's the difference? A city is a city isn't it?"

"Far from it. London isn't the same as Paris, is it, Clark?"

"Well, they are in different countries," Clark said. "Gotham isn't that far away."

"But it might as well be a world away," Lex shrugged casually. "I guess we have to take a trip there."

"Gotham is a darker atmosphere," Bruce replied. "I personally like it."

"Huh. While Metropolis is more--"

"It never sleeps, and the sun never really seems to set," Lex answered for Dick. "There's less of a feeling of old culture, and more of a feeling of crisp newness. Even our slums seem new."

"And Lex has Metropolis sewn up, and Bruce has Gotham." Clark added.

"Nearly," Bruce replied sipping his wine. "Lex and I have a few mutual interests."

"What, skiing and farm-boy porn?" Dick half blurted, half-grinned.

Clark nearly choked on his soda at that comment but Bruce only raised an eyebrow and smiled, some of that strange aura of loss, leaving him in that moment.

"A man should have many interests," Bruce answered with his quirked half smile, "And try and combine them if possible."

"I don't know... Sex while skiing sounds pretty hard..."

"Sex in the snow is pretty hard without having to involve overlong sticks attached to one's feet," Lex drawled, setting down his fork.

"There is a way around anything if you are sufficiently... flexible," Bruce replied giving Lex a certain look that made Clark flush hot with that old childhood friend of an emotion, jealousy.

It was worse because there really wasn't any call for it. After all, he had Lex and Bruce was... Eyeing Dick.

Not Lex's dick, which was great. "Clark, you look a little warm..." Lex noted.

"The prawns were spicy. Really nice, but spicy," he excused himself.

Bruce looked at him with a mild amusement and Clark was abruptly convinced he knew exactly what he had been thinking about.

Damn him.

"Man. You must not be used to spicy food," Dick tsked, as he finished off his last prawn.

"When I was in India... " Bruce began. "I stayed at a Shrine and they ate very little. Just some sort of vegetable curry and rice. They were all eating it down with their fingers and they offered me a bowl. I had a portable eating implement with me and they tried to stop me using it. And then gave up and stood around to laugh. This innocuous vegetable curry actually corroded the metal in seconds. Now that's spicy."

Dick gave a low whistle. "And they wanted you to put your hands into it?"

"I think the real issue is that they wanted him to eat it," Lex drawled. "And here comes the main course..."

The main course was delicious, and Bruce regaled them with a variety of barely believable stories from his trips around the world, half of which Clark would have doubted if he hadn't encountered Smallville's abundance of weirdness.

"There's a tribe called the Dogon -- I visited them. They have knowledge and have always had knowledge that Sirius, the Dogstar was in fact a double star prior to that being confirmed by conventional methods. And even what the orbits were. They claimed to have been visited by aliens from a water based planet there called the Nommo, or Nummo." He said blandly.

"So, where was this tribe?" Dick asked. He'd been rapt to all of Bruce's stories, while Lex had been teasing and already half-familiar with them.

"The Homburi Mountains near Timbuktu." Bruce replied easily. "Fascinating people. Quite a sense of astronomy and observation."

Clark was just a little uncomfortable with the hints about aliens and remained quiet, eating his admittedly excellent steak.

"If I remember correctly, they were also fairly resistant to contact with the outside world. They took his bicycle," Lex grinned at Dick, twirling his fork delicately through his pasta.

"Still. That's pretty damn cool..."

"It was a good bicycle too." Bruce replied with a smile. "I made it into a gift in the end. It seemed the appropriate thing to do, especially as they had already taken it and their priests were riding it around the base of the cliffs. And the Dogon have been know to make sacrifices of blood and I was relatively keen it wasn't mine. A sacrifice of bicycle was just fine by me."

"Sacrifices to their aliens?" Dick winked that.

"Something tells me that aliens probably don't need blood sacrifices." Lex took a sip of his wine, then poured more into his glass, gesturing to Bruce if he wanted any more.

Clark smiled a little hesitantly at that not sure how to react to all this joking about aliens.

"Thank you, Lex." Bruce accepted a refill. "I suspect not, though there might be an extraterrestrial desire for all terrain bikes. I make it a point to keep one handy at the mansion just in case."

Lex snorted as he set the bottle of wine down. "Don't let the tabloids quote you on that one..."

"It's good for them to find a little eccentricity now and then," Bruce replied with a slight shrug. "After all, it stops them covering all the charities and good works we billionaires are involved in. And good news rarely sells papers."

Clark grimaced noticeably at that, the thought of their recent experience with Perry White still fresh in his mind. It was just a week past, after all. Hardly any time at all...

"I know," Lex agreed. "Even though they seemed happy enough to cover my recovery, I think it was so they could paint a picture of a near death experience. Bleeding leading and all that."

"Ah, the old 'even wealth does not make you immune to the fickle finger of fate' angle as well," Bruce replied nodding in a manner that exuded cynicism and resignation to the way things were.

Clark looked at Dick. "I didn't get to tell you about that. Maybe you heard about it in the news?"

Dick looked thoughtful. "Something about your heart? I figured that if you weren't okay, Lex, Clark would've told me..."

"I'm perfectly fit, thanks to Bruce."

Bruce shrugged. "We got creative," he said as he continued eating.

"Bruce is being modest." Clark spoke up, feeling that their friend should know at least how serious it had been. And what Bruce had managed to do for them. "It was really bad, Dick, they thought... well, they told Lex to put his affairs in order and that kind of thing. But Bruce managed to come up with a specialist treatment. It worked, and Lex is fine now."

And it was second nature to pass off all the credit to Bruce. He deserved it after all, in Clark's opinion. Without him, there would have been no treatment.

Plus, it wasn't like he could say that his alien spinal fluid had done it, and why yes, he WOULD like an all terrain mountain bike. It would've been more than silly.

"So, the media was happy to talk about that since it's the sort of gory thing they like."

"Wow," Dick breathed. "That's just really... neat. You guys live amazing lives."

"So says the guy who risks life and limb on a daily basis on a trapeze." Clark deflected the admiration back to Dick "I don't know how you can do that, Dick. Heights... heights are bad things."

"It's like flying," Dick grinned. "It's an amazing feeling to swing through the air and know that there's absolutely nothing beneath you..."

"Except for the ground," Lex shuddered only half feigning his reaction.

"I told you, you should have let me train you in gymnastics," Bruce said to Lex with a bright glance. "Dick is absolutely right, there's nothing like it. It's not like falling, it's because you want to be there at that point and for a moment you feel you control gravity itself."

"Yes, it's just like that. You do gymnastics, too?" Dick beamed. Lex didn't even bother responding. He just looked sideways at Clark, and grinned.

"My exercise of choice. Lex does fencing; I prefer to hurl myself through the air. I've even been known to try the trapeze, but only on an exercise basis." Bruce answered brushing off his expertise casually.

Clark was smiling, too. He was having the sensation that the other pair at the table were starting to realize the other had most of the qualities they respected and admired. Score one for him and Lex on the matchmaking front. Their Mom would be proud.

"Still, not many people do trapeze just for exercise. You have to be pretty good not to break a neck." Dick was grinning when he said that. "So you have your own gym?"

"Some perks to being a billionaire, and that includes a very large gym at the mansion," Bruce answered agreeably.

"Lex says it's more like an assault course." Clark finished his steak. "Mom nearly had kittens the day she came out and found us watching Bruce walking along the roof of the barn. You would have thought he was taking a stroll down the street."

"What, you were missing your balance beam?" Dick grinned.

"Actually, he was," Lex told him. Clark was finished with his meal, but the rest of them were only halfway there. Lex glanced to Clark, trying to ask with his eyes if Clark wanted more.

Clark gave an imperceptible shake of the head. He'd only finished first because he hadn't been talking as much. He was fading into the background again, a habit he'd perfected over the last few months to stop the questions and attention being focused on him.

"Can you believe it? No balance beam, no rings... nothing. Lex allowed me to climb trees instead." Bruce gave a faintly nostalgic smile. "That was one thing I always remember about the farm and coming to stay, was how you and Clark would lie down in the shade under a tree and I'd climb it. And generally throw things at you both if memory serves."

"We had our own personal squirrel in the summer time," Lex agreed slyly. "See, Clark and I had both realized at a very young age that heights were awful."

"Really bad." Clark agreed quietly. "Because of an accident we had. Fell through a rotting stairwell."

"Wow. I guess that sort of would traumatize you to heights," Dick decided as he easily sliced through another piece of steak.

"Well, I don't really have an excuse. I've hated heights since helicopter rides with my father."

"It's true," Bruce confirmed. "If he came to Excelsior by helicopter he'd need a day to settle down."

Clark blinked a little. He hadn't realized the heights thing had been so bad before the incident at the Castle.

"Really? You don't seem like a... panicky sort of guy," Dick half-suggested. After all, Bruce wasn't panicky, so if he wasn't, how could Lex be? Or at least, that was the implication.

"No. But if I had to look out of a plane window, I would have been attached to my inhaler. I'm not half as bad now, but I think I'll leave daring feats of height to you and Bruce."

"Me, too," Clark added even as Bruce smiled.

"Sometime Dick, you'll have to visit me in Gotham, and you can appreciate the things these philistines appear to hate." Bruce extended the invitation as if it were natural and casual for him to do so.

Lex couldn't wipe his slight, sly smile off of his face.

"That would be great," Dick decided. "I'd really appreciate that...."

Score one for the Kent matchmakers. Clark smiled and met Lex's eyes for a moment. They didn't need to say anything; they each knew what the other was thinking.

"It would be a pleasure," Bruce was saying, "I've been known to race some of the classic cars as well, professionally."

"So I take it that the engines aren't classic...?"

Car talk took them through into dessert. Lex and Bruce had friendly disagreements about which engine was superior. Even Clark managed to venture an opinion every now and then from his position of quietness on the sidelines. Dick on the other hand showed why he had piqued the interest of so many important men even at such a young age. He asked intelligent questions, he was interested, exuberant and dynamic in an effortless way, now he was at his ease, which Clark almost envied. But then in his own mind, this had been the purpose of this evening: to try and make Dick and Bruce happy if they could. And for whatever reasons, Lex had chosen him over people like Bruce and Dick. Loved him more than he could have either of them. So there wasn't much call for jealousy, not as long as he kept that in mind.

Dessert was almost finished with when Lex's cell phone went off, and he hastily answered it. A few furrows of his brow as he talked, and then he started to stand up. "Bruce, Dick. You're going to have to excuse Clark and me. There's a little issue with the penthouse's security system that they need us for."

Clark took his cue from Lex, looking genuinely concerned until he realized what his brother was doing.

Bruce seemed just as aware as he nodded. "Of course, Lex, I'm sure that Dick and I will survive the lack of your company, however pleasant."

Clark looked over at Dick and smiled a little apologetically. He still wanted to talk with Dick, but alone and tonight had not been that night. Hopefully they could fit that time in before Dick had to leave...

"You'll be sure to be at the show?" Dick half-asked, half demanded.

"Of course," Lex grinned. "We'll see you tomorrow. Bruce, I've already picked up the tab. Feel free to enjoy the rest of your evening."

"Thank you, Lex. Next dinner is on me," Bruce replied with a knowing smile.

"See you then!" Clark said with genuine enthusiasm and smiled at Bruce even as he turned to follow Lex's lead out of there.

Lex was smiling to himself as he pulled his jacket back on, leaving the place without having to say a word. He'd already had his words with the headwaiter. "I'm sorry about this, Clark. Did you have a good dinner...?"

"I did, thank you, Lex," Clark replied. One day he'd find a way to take Lex out to dinner. Or... something. Clark wasn't sure sometimes how he could offer Lex the same sort of appreciation his brother could afford to lavish on him. He was pleased, really pleased that Bruce and Dick seemed to hit it off so well, but he really did start to feel the quietness and withdrawal that had plagued him over the summer settle over him again. It wasn't that he was jealous of them as such. Just that he wished he could be so vibrant and engaging; he'd seen how it affected both of them and whatever Dick had, he was pretty sure he didn't.

It did make him wonder why Lex even bothered with him. And he knew that was his insecurity talking, and okay, he was pretty sure that Lex wasn't going to throw him over for someone else, but maybe he wanted him to be different somehow. More that way.

"What's the emergency?" If there even was one.

Lex waited until they were outside of the building before answering that one. "There isn't one. Just part of the ploy to give them some alone time."

"I thought as much, but sometimes you never know," Clark replied with a smile. "I think we did good."

"No, Clark. You 'did good'." Lex's expression was mellowing out, to a generally pleased one. "It was your idea."

"Yeah, but you made it happen." Clark looked at the skyline of Metropolis a moment, suddenly aware that the last time he had been out in Metropolis this late had been the night Lex had come after him. "It was a good evening."

"It's not over yet," Lex decided, slipping his hands into his pockets as he looked up at the sky for a moment. The stars were faint from the heavy glow of the city and it's brilliance of neon lights.

The sun never did seem to set in Metropolis. "What else do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Clark admitted. "You have anything in mind?"

"Hundreds of things." Lex looked sideward at Clark as they neared his car, in the restaurant's well-lit back parking lot. "Name anything you want to do, Clark. This is your vacation as much as it's mine."

Clark looked out at the city of Metropolis and considered. Bright lights, big city and he had all that he wanted of it right here beside him. "Can we go back to the Penthouse?" he asked a little afraid that he was being a little too small-town for his more sophisticated brother.

"Yes." Lex seemed happy to tell Clark that, and added while they walked to his car. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"I think I have all I want of Metropolis right here," Clark murmured. "It's a little bit much for me sometimes."

"You and me, both, Clark," Lex comforted him, somewhat. "Do you know what I usually do when I stay here overnight on business?"

Clark shook his head. "No? What do you do?"

"Unless there's a particular performance I want to see, I go home." Lex unlocked his car door. "The only parties I go to are the ones I need to attend for work's sake."

"I thought you liked parties?" Clark asked as they got into the car. He was a little relieved that he wasn't the only one that preferred a good night in rather than a night on the town.

"I used to. Some of them are worth my while, but most of them..." Lex gave a slow shrug of his shoulders. "Too many yes men, not enough people that I need to work." Lex closed his car door, looking sideways at Clark. "Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I think so." Clark looked back. "But right now I can't think of anything I would rather do than be with you and have you continue my education in corruption."

Lex smiled, and looked forwards as he revved up the engine. "Clark, have I told you about my dining room table?"

Clark grinned, "I believe the subject has come up once or twice. You think we should inspect the furniture a little more closely?"

"I think we should. In fact, I was going to tell you about the sturdy legs. The manufacturer promises that an elephant could stand on it. We should test that strength..."

"But Lex, where are we going to find an elephant at this time of night?" Clark asked with his best confused innocent tone.

"We'll just have to simulate one," Lex decided as he pulled out of the parking lot. "You're pretty strong, and.... frankly, Clark, I'm horny. You do god-awful things with prawns when you eat them. And steak."

"You were watching me?" Clark was surprised. He hadn't realized that he had been the object of anyone's attention. "What did I do?"

"You sucked on your prawns before you ate them," Lex told him, and reached to turn the radio down to background noise. "Sucked on them like they were fingers. And you looked like you were tonguing your fork when you ate that steak. I'm hard as a rock, Clark."

"It wasn't deliberate." Clark protested amused. "Although I've been thinking about you practically all day. So you're getting off lightly."

"What were you thinking about?" Teasing, playful sexual talk, and Lex was comfortable doing it with Clark. Loved doing it with Clark, even if he wasn't willing to risk doing it over the phone with him. Not yet.

"What exactly you were thinking about with the table?" Clark replied. "What I could do for you that would be really special..."

"You being you is 'really special'," Lex told him. "But did you come up with anything...? Because I don't want to discount your creativity..."

Clark shook his head. "Nothing concrete, just snippets of ideas. More feelings you know? Like... wanting you to feel valued and cared for. Or that I trust you totally. Stuff like that. "

He smiled and considered, "I need to learn how to do a proper massage I think. That would be good."

"We could do that tonight," Lex half-suggested. "After all, the dining room table isn't going anywhere..."

"You'd like that?" Clark asked curiously. "Your own personal body servant?"

"Think anyone would protest to that possibility?" Lex made smooth turns as he sped his car through traffic and towards Luthor Towers. "I'd like a good, sensual massage that wouldn't leave me feeling guilty."

"Why would it make you feel guilty?" Clark asked frowning a little.

"Have you ever had a sensual massage, Clark?"

"No. I mean, when would I have had one, Lex?" Clark said with a laugh.

"See, now we have a plan for the evening, Clark," Lex almost purred. "You, me, my bed, some massage oil..."

"I can only assume you've got some somewhere." Clark replied. He smiled at the thought of it. "I like the idea of it. You look so good when you're really relaxed."

"So do you." Lex drummed on his steering wheel a little, looking up at the right light. "This is much better than going to some club."

Clark just nodded and was silent a moment, before coming out with something that had been bothering him. "Lex, am I too... small-town for you? Sometimes?"

"Clark, you're perfect. What makes you ask that?" He revved up the engine with the green, and zoomed forwards again.

"Just watching you, Bruce, and Dick," Clark replied. "Dick is... great to be around, you can see it. Both you and Bruce responded to it, you enjoyed it. I did, too, but I'm not like that. I guess the contrast was obvious."

"They're my friends. But the contrast should also show you something, Clark," Lex insisted.

"It showed me I was good at making mistakes and.... just didn't have the experience to join in on the conversation," Clark replied. "I guess I just felt a little out of place you know? Not jealous, just ... lacking."

"You aren't lacking. You're just lacking in things you can talk about publicly. It's not many people who've done what you do." Lex didn't seem angry at the topic of conversation, or even argumentative. Just firm. "What I think it should show you is that you're not like that, but I love you."

"You sure?" Clark asked. "I don't want to embarrass you."

Statements like that just didn't come out of the clear blue sky, no. Lex looked sideways at his brother for a moment, a brief moment, before he pulled into the Luthor Towers parking lot. "Clark. Stop being so self-conscious of yourself. You're no embarrassment to me."

"As long as you're sure." Clark knew when to drop a subject, particularly if Lex was starting to look that way at him. "Massage oil awaits. Can I run us up the stairs? Or will it freak out the security?"

"I think security would take affront to it," Lex grinned as he coasted into the very same parking spot that he'd left. "We can take the elevator instead."

"You sure? Two seconds and we could be up there, and at least one of us naked." Clark offered with a smile.

Lex popped open his car door, and pulled the keys from the ignition. "You know. I feel up to a walk up the stairs instead of the elevator, Clark. What do you think?"

"A walk or a ...walk?" Clark queried.

"A 'walk'," Lex told him as he waited for Clark to close his car door so he could lock up.

Clark did so and smiled. "Well then, open the door, give me the keys?" he asked.

Lex headed over for the stairwell door to unlock it with his pass code. "You can take them from my hand, Clark."

"Okay." Clark waited until they were inside, beyond the security camera and then literally grabbed Lex and ran. Two seconds and they were indeed in the Penthouse and at least one of them was naked.

Lex wasn't surprised that it was him that was naked, and not Clark. There was a certain rush to being speed stripped, particularly when he wasn't sure when the speed stripping had occurred. His living room, or the stairwell, or the hallway, or...?

Could have been anywhere, but here and now in the Penthouse, he had been laid effortlessly on the large bed with towels even underneath him, and a warm hand resting on the small of his back.

"Much better."

Lex shifted, crossing his arms up under his chin in a motion of ease, and it conveniently pushed back against Clark's hand. "This is definitely worth breaking out my stash of massage oils..."

"Where are they?" Clark asked. He took off his own top as he waited for the answer, replacing the hand so he didn't lose contact for long.

"Bathroom cabinet, top shelf." Lex stretched his legs out, knowing he was making a lewd picture for Clark.

There was a slight breeze over his skin and then Clark sitting next to him. "Lex, are you trying to give me hints here?" he asked as he poured a little of the oil into his hands and warmed it.

Lex's eyes were closed, but he shifted his head a little, feigning innocence. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you don't know, I don't suppose you are." Clark shifted and dribbled the oil onto Lex's back.

It was warm, but not too warm, and Lex could imagine the consistency of the drizzle. He could smell the oil, too, the warm herbal scents. "You never know..."

Clark coated his hands and then smoothed them onto Lex's skin, starting at the base of his spine and smoothing upwards and out like some exotic flower blossoming. He went very quiet as he focused his vision. He'd never tried to pull it in so finely before so he could see where muscles were knotted, where blood rushed free or lingered. He might not be an expert but... but he had an advantage he fully intended to use.

Lex gave a languid shift of his body, and a low, purring groan. "I egotistically thought I'd have to teach you how to do this, Clark..."

"I think I can feel my way through this... but I'm open to pointers," Clark murmured as he smoothed his thumbs in circles, pressing deeper as he could see layers relax. A lot of it seemed to be patience and attention to details, to the feel of the muscle under his fingers, to the look of it.

"That's all I ever do," Lex told him. "Feel the muscles, find the tense spots. I can feel what you're doing just... great, Clark." He shifted again, stretching his arms out loosely at his sides so Clark could better get to his shoulders.

"There's a lot of crunchy muscle up here. You've been stressed Lex," Clark said exhibiting great patience and a surprising degree of sensitivity as he work around the neck and shoulders. His goal was to try and show Lex that he really cared, that he wasn't just reacting to things that had happened. That what he was feeling was real.

"Reading my morning mail makes me stressed, Clark," Lex replied rather playfully.

"A relexed... relaxed Lex is a good thing." Clark stumbled over the words but his fingers and hands were in constant motion pushing deep and covering every inch of skin with detailed attention.

"Yes... slower," Lex urged, gently. He shifted again, spreading his legs a little as if settling better on the mattress. But it gave Clark an interesting view, too. Lex's ass spread just a little, his cock and balls tucked back from the way he'd laid down.

Soon enough he would make it there, but only after he had covered every part of him. He worked on that, moving down the back then down to the feet and learning that a good massage there could apparently feel incredible, even as he worked up the legs back towards the ass. That would be the point where he would enter new territory for him, but Lex seemed to be inviting it so his warm hands moved smoothly over his ass, circling inwards.

By then, Lex felt like he barely had a bone left in his body. It was the best type of boneless to be inflicted with, warmed relaxed bonelessness that smelled like warming herbs. "Uhh, yes, Clark. Everything's felt so good. You have great hands..."

"I've just paid attention to where you needed it," Clark replied and getting a little oil and heating it with his eyes just a little. When he tilted his hand and let it dribble down into Lex's crack, it felt hot in a good way.

Lex squirmed his hips, and gave another slow moan. "Do you know... how good this feels?" Of course Clark didn't, but he could see how it was affecting Lex. Lex lifted his hips, spreading his legs more, and his cock snapped up against his stomach after all that time of being held down.

"You look like you're enjoying it." His fingers massaged down into that crack, between smooth cheeks and feeling a way towards puckered skin.

"Enjoying it doesn't begin to explain what it feels like." Lex turned his head to bury his face into his arms for the moment.

"Good," Clark murmured, gentle and firm in his exploration. Over skin, into the deep secret places and very gently slipping one oil coated finger into Lex. Teasing and trying more.

For his efforts, he gained a low, pleased groan. "Mm. After teasing me like this, you'd better be planning on doing more..."

"There's more to do?" Clark murmured. "This is a massage... a thorough massage."

"And because it's you, I don't feel bad telling you that you've made me harder than a piece of titan-- oh, Christ..." He shifted, moving onto his knees a little when Clark's finger just brushed the right spot.

"You like this spot here?" Clark touched again smiling.

"Yes..." Lex shifted, pressing his ass up to Clark's finger. Then Clark could feel the muscle squeeze around his finger. He slid in another finger, gently moving them so he brushed that spot over and over.

"This... is a proper sensual massage," Lex sighed as he shifted his knees to a more comfortable position that let him sway and rock as suited him. "I could come just from that."

"Do you want to?" Clark murmured quite happy just to let it happen, to stroke and massage him inside.

"I'd say... it depends on what you want to do," Lex drawled, somewhat haltingly.

Clark leaned forward and kissed the back of Lex's neck. "Anything you want Lex. Body servant, remember?"

The sigh Lex gave was oddly wistful. "You remembered what I said about control issues," he decided, voice mellow as he shifted his ass back to Clark's fingers. "God, Clark. I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. I want you in me."

"You sure?" Clark murmured. He'd expected that at some point but he wanted it to be right. "How would you like it? Really and truly... what are you imagining and wanting now?" He had no problem with the 'control issues'; none at all. Nothing could be taken from someone who wanted to give everything.

"I'm imagining being right where I am," Lex insisted, twisting to look back at Clark. "And you being naked, having sex with me."

"And how do you want that?" Clark withdrew his fingers and a split second later was naked, skin brushing skin as he moved forwards

"Slow." Lex swallowed, head turned to still watch Clark. "Long and teasing. That's the best. Even when I ask you to stop teasing, if you do... It's great. Anything you could do, Clark, will be great."

Clark leaned over and kissed him again. "I can do that," he replied, confident he could.

"I trust you," Lex stressed. "Whatever you want to do, it's fine, Clark..." Just in case his request was weird or something.

"I want to make it good for you," Clark said very softly, so soft it was barely audible as he shifted over Lex, hands teasing again and slipping the kryptonite band on for later. "Slow is good. You'll feel good, Lex, I promise."

Lex let his ass sway against Clark's hands. "I believe you, Clark...."

Clark took his time, more for his own nerves than to prepare Lex, who seemed ready. He eventually moved and slid himself down Lex's crack teasingly

Lex made a slow, low pleased noise, and worked back against Clark, rubbing Clark as much as Clark was doing to him. "If I were a virgin, Clark, your size would definitely scare me. You feel like you're so thick..." He'd remarked about that, too, the first time he'd sucked Clark off.

"Just as well you're not." Clark moved there, using the area as a means to lubricate himself thoroughly. He added some more warm oil to be on the safe side, working it in by their movement together, before he nudged a little at Lex's entrance. Just a little.

Lex's ass was tight. That little nudge hardly gained Clark a thing, just the feeling of resistance and Lex finally, finally holding himself still.

Even that tightness would only be a whisper of resistance to his strength, a tissue that he might rip if he wasn't careful. He paused a moment and opened the kryptonite band a little, the full richness of sensations flooding him. But it was better. When he pushed, he was hard and strong but not dangerous. He was patient and careful, the concentration he needed cutting back on his hair trigger reflex to orgasm.

His brother arched back against him when Clark pushed forwards and pressed his advantage of strength and a position of control. "Just like that, Clark," Lex coaxed, eyes closed tightly so he could savor the feeling of Clark plowing into him.

He kept the pace steady. Moving and then holding still a moment, then pushing, then stopping. He kept this up until he was in deep and then he started to move, just a little but slowly and languidly as if he was trying to melt the two of them together in a smooth liquid motion.

"Yes, oh, fuck yes, you feel perfect, uhn..." Lex's voice was panting, almost pleading as he swayed back against Clark just as slowly as Clark was fucking him. There wasn't any tension in his body, not that Clark could feel, except for the occasional squeeze around him.

Lex wanted slow and teasing, Lex was going to get that. Clark tweaked the band again so he lost a little of the sensitivity that made him want to just thrust wildly and settled for the slow burn, rather than the lightning. His movements were careful, exact and deliberately shifted angles with every motion.

For every motion and shift, he pulled a noise out of Lex, or an addition to the seemingly continuous writhing that he was doing. Kneading his hands into the bedding, shifting his ass, moving his head.

Every now and then Clark would stop and mold his body to Lex's and kiss him with gentle brushes of his lips over the back of his neck and scalp. It was less a tease than an exercise in creating bliss. He felt like they were growing closer together, if that were at all possible, and that was as close to heaven he could imagine.

"Nothing," Lex murmured while Clark kissed over his scalp, "has ever felt this good. Feels... like worship." He shifted an arm back to touch Clark's side, and arched himself back, pressing hard against Clark's hipbones.

"It is," Clark said softly and meant it. He felt like he finally understood the word 'adoration'; it was something you had to do, to experience, before it could be understood. There was nothing in it that made him any less for wanting to give everything he could to Lex, quite the opposite. He felt like more than he had ever been even as he moved with long slow strokes inside him. At this level of the band, he could do this forever, and he intended to do exactly what Lex had asked. Take him to the point where he demanded more, and then hold him back just enough.

After all, Lex hadn't even started to beg yet; but his muscles were starting to quiver, hitting an exertion point.

Clark's answer garnered another groan, and Lex circled his ass against Clark's groin, grinding himself onto his dick. "Yes... feels so good. Please, Clark..."

"Not yet Lex," Clark murmured in his ear, keeping up that implacable movement that seemed to take forever to slide back and forth. He shifted and then gripped him gently but like steel around the shoulders so he could move little else save his hips. And then he changed his angle to hit the prostate with each deliberate thrust.

By the fourth time he stroked over it, Lex was shaking, going tense, straining to move. "Oh, oh, Christ, fuck, Clark, I, you're..." He gasped, and did go still for a moment, spasming and clenching around Clark's cock as he spilled onto the towel beneath his hips.

"I'm not letting you off that easily, Lex," Clark murmured. "I can keep doing this until you're ready again..."

Lex made a few mumbled words, incoherent even to Clark's hearing, as he panted. "Prayer to... uhn, Dionysus?"

Clark chuckled holding where he was a moment, his memory triggered to recall one of Lex's slightly inebriated quotations on that theme. It seemed surreal and apt in that moment and he whispered it, punctuating each phrase with a kiss or a stroke as if truly trying to invoke the ancient god. "Come, blessed Dionysus, various-named, bull-faced, begot from thunder, Bakkhos famed. Bassaros God, of universal might, whom swords and blood and sacred rage delight: in heaven rejoicing, mad, loud-sounding God, furious inspirer, bearer of the rod..."

A very fine rod at that.

All the while, he had Lex beneath him moaning and crying out. Loud cries, as he found himself turning hard almost too-soon, too over stimulated with the pleasure Clark was giving him with those touches. Clark's very fine rod wasn't being fair to the temporarily speechless businessman.

He did pause and give him a moment, watching inside Lex's body with his eyes. He paused long enough for the rawness of need to fade into the hungry ache that filled him. He kissed Lex's shoulders, tasting the massage oil, he kissed his back, he slid a hand under Lex's body to gentle his cock, and soothe its behavior. And then and only then, he turned the band far enough to really feel and groaned as the stimulation hit him at once, and his patience trembled on the verge of complete evaporation.

It was for the best that he slipped, finally. Lex gave a softer noise, head hanging down between his shoulder blades as he started to try to move back and forth between Clark's hand and Clark's cock. All the while whispering a garble of words from 'fuck me' to 'harder' and 'please'.

With the band taking him just shy of normal, hovering on the edge of a discomfort that was well and truly masked by the incredible sensations of Lex moving and squeezing and.... Oh god, he just had to move and thrust, and plunge in deeper and deeper without any thought aside from that movement and the burning ecstasy he had built inside of him and was drawing from his lover in matching strokes of the hand around his resurrected erection.

They could burn up together, from the way that Clark moved, from the way that Lex's motions turned to stuttered jerks of moving. Hard in Clark's hand, but twitching and spurting a few weaker pulses that made Lex growl out a cry again, purposefully squeezing around Clark. "Fuck, YES!"

That was more than enough to set Clark to climax with a vocal cry, and almost intoxicated shout of, "Lex!" as he let loose finally in a blaze of ecstasy that drained him.

He could barely see for the burst of sensation and he half sprawled over Lex's back, panting.

Lex was half-gasping, but it petered off with time. "Uhn... That... qualifies as the best massage. Uhm..."

Clark eventually rolled off to the side too exhausted to even reach for his wrist to turn the band off. It wasn't entirely an unpleasant feeling to be made weak by bone-melting sex. "Talented... amateur."

His brother gave a groan when Clark pulled out, but didn't move from his boneless sprawl atop soiled towels. "Best," he agreed fuzzily.

Clark smiled. "I did good then? That was how you like it?" He'd taken the instructions and run with it, hoping it was at least in the right direction.

"Mm." Lex was smiling to himself as he turned his head to look over at Clark. "That was just how I like it. Better than I've ever had it, too."

"I think you're just flattering me." Clark shifted over to get close to Lex. "I'm not experienced even though it felt really good to me."

"Experience doesn't mean it's good," Lex murmured with slowly gathering coherence. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, and moved an arm to slip to over Clark's back to get him closer. "And inexperience doesn't mean it's bad. That was so good..."

"I wondered if I had gone too far... you know with pushing you to the second time." Clark turned in so he could wrap his arms around him, and belatedly shielded the band completely. The exhaustion faded in a moment.

"No. That was really..." Lex's mouth curled into a crooked smile as he shifted to kiss at Clark's lips. "Astonishing. I trust you, Clark."

"Just because you trust me doesn't mean it was what you want," Clark murmured.

"True. But it does mean that I believe you won't take things too far. I trusted that you listened to what I said I wanted. You certainly came through with what I wanted..."

"Mmm I certainly tried. I love giving you what you want," Clark replied giving him a kiss.

The kiss morphed into something deeper as Lex pressed it further before he closed his eyes and settled against Clark. "Good. And, I don't want to hear any more of this 'I'm too country bumpkin' stuff."

"No Farmboy in Metropolis?" Clark teased just a little.

"Maybe a little. You should be proud of your farming roots the same way that young man was..." Lex tipped Clark's head back, kissing under his chin. "Don't mind me if I nod off."

"Mmm, I think I can cope with that," Clark replied, stretching a little. There was a blur of movements and the bed was cleared up, and they were actually inside the covers, without them pulled across just yet. "Sleep, Lex."

Lex lay there for a moment, blinking at the amusing novelty of that before he just went with it. After all, Clark's super speed had saved them from trouble with their parents hundred of times. It was easy to shift closer to his brother/lover, let his body relax, and just... drift.

A night like that was worth a hundred good Metropolis parties.

Dr Helen Bryce looked out of the taxi window, surreptitiously checking her reflection in the glass. She smiled; currently she was sporting the phenotype of a rather attractive blonde she had bumped into when she had been wearing the genetic facade of that nice South American porter she had sampled some time back. It had amused her to use that easy sexual charm the man had possessed to lure the blonde into a situation where she could suck her dry.

There was a slight blurring around the line of the jaw; her ability to hold this shape was fading. She would have to find another 'donor' to rip the genetic cohesion out of if she wanted to continue with her travels incognito. Shouldn't be too hard, not in Metropolis. She smiled, the facial expression strange to her in the glass, like the ghost of the woman whose face she had stolen.

She was strong enough now. She had been learning, been collecting from all over the world. Samples here and there, manipulating her own genetics with her consciousness. It had taken a while and some rather unpleasant painful experiences to get a handle on the ability but someone had said that genetic power was the next frontier and they didn't know how right they were. She regarded the pains she felt to be the equivalent of her bursting through the barriers that held her back.

Now she could become genetically anyone she had sampled, like loading a program onto the hard disk of her biological computer. In a few weeks she would have aging conquered and incorporated into her base form, which she reverted to when she ran out of genetic 'power' as it were. But more to the point, she had learned how to incorporate abilities of those she had targeted. And she had abilities aplenty.

Some of Clark's -- she'd managed to knit in plenty of his into her base form as she had the most tissue samples from him. She had gone for his strength and speed, though the vision properties eluded her for some irritating reason. She really should have spent more time dissecting the structure of his eye, but his screaming distracted her, which was a shame. Still, she had abilities he did not primarily from samples of a surprisingly large number of affected people from a profitable visit to Belle Reve Institution. Tina Greer's lab samples had given her the key to transform her ability into physical shape shifting, which had proven the ideal means to elude Lex and Bruce Wayne's people. It had taken a lot of energy of course, which was the downside of this ability. At the moment if she wanted to use the electricity based powers of... what was his name? Jeremy, then she had to 'upload' his entire genetic program, and it temporarily overwrote the skills of speed, strength and healing she had managed to make her own. It was irritating. She had a plethora of powers and abilities and she could only use most of them a bit at a time, and in isolation while burning up precious genetic energy and her own cohesion. But that would change because of Lex. He was the main reason she had come back to Metropolis with a view of going to Smallville and tracking down him and his alien spawn travesty of a 'brother'.

She didn't want him for his mind anymore; she was far beyond that. Way beyond that. She didn't even need him to procreate any more. If she wanted to, she could initiate parthogenesis at will. What she needed was his body. She needed the fact that he had in abundance that rarest of things in these metahumans -- the stabilizing factor, those lovely bits of genetic glue that kept things from unraveling. Perhaps it was due to his healing abilities, that they had healed the damage that the alterations could make or it was just a fluke, but she needed it. With it she could stop her own deterioration and this constant nagging need to steal cohesiveness from others even now to maintain her own form, and even more, to bind in all the 'powers' she had managed to steal in her globetrotting. At the moment, it took a lot of her energy to use them, but once they were all bound in.... Well then, what force on earth could stop her? She had the strength to stand up to the alien, and the added advantage of brains as well.

Of course it might mean draining Lex completely. That would be regrettable, as it would have been nice to toy with him as well as Clark. She had plans for the alien. Of course, she'd have to kill him eventually, but she had hoped to have him for at least the week. For scientific purposes. Entertainment, well... with her ability to shape shift, it would be fun to do what she had started properly. That would really fuck the bastard over, literally.

She was smiling as they drove down the main street and she noticed the advertisements for the 'World Famous Circus!'. There were a lot of the gaudy posters all over the place and she paid attention. Circuses were good hunting grounds for unusual genetics. Perhaps she could use them as a stock up point. They usually had superior genetics, and if she was going to take a different form she did at least like it to be good looking. A moment of vanity perhaps, but there was no need to clutter herself with the dregs of society. She could take whomever she wanted. A suitable distraction... some sort of disaster and then she could glut herself on energy, enough to make acquiring Lex and Clark easy.

The taxi pulled up at the Belmont Hotel and as she paid and got out, she felt her appearance slip. There and then on the street in an involuntary collapse of her assumed phenotype she reverted back to her normal appearance. One moment a blond, the next a dark haired beauty, a fact that had at least one man, who looked like he had seen better days, and with the hip flask of a drunk in his hand doing a double take.

Damn! It got shorter each time, more energy to achieve less as her genetic constituents fought for dominance. Hoping she hadn't been seen by too many people and assuming the drunk would never be taken seriously, she darted into the hotel to check in, pretending great interest in the flyers on the reception desk as she was given a room. She picked up one about the circus as she took the elevator up to her room and read it again. When her eyes flicked over the 'Amazing Flying Grayson's' she started laughing.

Perfect. Just perfect.

She knew exactly how to get the energy she needed, how to get some revenge, and more importantly how to get Lex and the alien exactly where she wanted them, instead of chasing over Kansas for them both. Oh, this was going to be fun!

Smiling to herself, Helen Bryce entered her room and then immediately picked up the phone. Tonight was going to be as much of a death-defying extravaganza at the Circus as the posters promised. In fact she could practically guarantee that those attending the show would be... blown away.

Clark and Lex had been wearing an almost identical look of smug satisfaction all day, that hadn't faded even when they had made it to the Circus for the opening show at the Metropolis Coliseum which had been decked out as if it were a massive Circus tent complete with the sawdust ring.

First there had been a delivery of a single red rose to Lex with 'Thank you,' in Bruce's handwriting, and for Clark a rather incoherent text message from Dick of 'Holy fucking cow! What a night!'

At least that was what Clark had finally deciphered it to mean and he was more than eager to take up Dick's invitation in the rest of the text message to have a look at the 'neat stuff' that went on in the circus before the show started. If only because he wanted the gossip of what had happened the night before.

His temporary absence left Bruce and Lex on their own. Both were a little early and trying not to give too much away although Bruce had a definite gleam in his dark eyes that Lex recognized. He'd seen it often enough, after all, when they'd been younger. That subtle shift in Bruce's expression that all but shouted 'I got laid!' to those who knew him. It was hard not to smile a little himself and respond with an equal smirking look.

After all, he'd gotten laid, too. By a perfect, wonderful lover that had been so careful and so probably accidentally perfect. And coming twice, well... He could only imagine what had happened to Bruce to make him so smug.

"So. Were things all right after Clark and I went to see to that emergency?"

"Dick and I had... a very pleasant evening," Bruce replied, glancing across at him as people filed into the seats behind them. "He's good company. I do hope the emergency wasn't too... problematic?"

"It was... minor." Lex shrugged his shoulders somewhat, smiling back at Bruce. There was one seat to Lex's left, saved for Clark, so they had a small buffer from anxious ears, at least to the side. "Clark and I went home for an early night after that."

"You do surprise me." Bruce twitched a smile, "Dick and I followed suit."

"Wise. After all, what's in the Metropolis Clubbing scene, but silly distractions?" Lex caught that twitch of a smile, and wasn't going to let it slide. "So, have you met his parents?"

"Briefly, when I brought him back to the Circus. Earlier today." Bruce couldn't quite repress a smirk at that. "They gave me the sort of look that Alfred has given us in the past."

"Which one?" Lex could, off the top of his head, think of three or four looks that Alfred had given them over time. The 'Please don't move while I'm passing through' look, the 'I didn't sleep and it's your fault' look, and the one Alfred shared with the Kents, the 'I'm going to pretend that that just wasn't so obvious' look.

"The one that said they knew exactly what we had been doing and were more amused than anything," Bruce replied. "Although I doubt they knew exactly what we had been doing. Or ever will."

"One's parents or guardians tend not to want explicit details. Ever." Lex leaned back in his seat, and looked out over the people filtering in on the other side of the ring. "I'm glad that you had an unexpectedly good time."

"Somehow I don't think it was too unexpected, was it, Lex?" Bruce half smiled at his friend.

"Oh, well..." Lex cleared his throat, knowing he was caught, but... well. Sometimes playful denial could be fun. "Why would you say that?"

"It was a little unsubtle," Bruce replied. "But appreciated nonetheless."

Lex scoffed. "Unsubtle? Tell me how. I want to know exactly when you caught on to the plan."

"Clark was constantly looking between Dick and myself and usually he can't take his eyes off of you." Bruce looked on the verge of laughing. "Your brother needs some schooling in hiding his emotions."

Lex cleared his throat a little. "Actually, you got the right message from the wrong signals. Clark was thinking of something else, but I've already handled that."

"Really?" Bruce settled back. "What was that?"

Lex leaned forwards a little, into Bruce. How to phrase it, how to phrase it... "A little jealousy, I suppose, mixed with some inadequacy issues. I can understand where he got them, I just... don't think any of it's justified."

"He's not as recovered as he would have you think, Lex, " Bruce murmured back. "I recognize... that sort of behavior. As do you from dealing with me for so many years."

"I know. I don't think of that as justified, either," Lex teased somewhat. "So it was really a good night to go home early."

"And one I hope to repeat in the future," Bruce replied. "At the danger of giving you a perfectly good straight line, there's something about Dick..."

He didn't get any further than that, as Lex's cell began ringing.

"I'm setting it to vibrate after this." Lex reached inside his jacket and pulled the phone out, flipping it open.

"Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor, it's Perry White." The reporter's voice sounded a little shaky. "I have some important information for you."

"I'm listening." Lex leaned a little away from the people behind them, and thought about trying to walk out so he could hear better, though the place was filling up with people clogging up the walkways.

"Dr. Helen Bryce is in Metropolis, Mr. Luthor."

"According to whom, Mr. White, and how did you find this out...?" Was he still looking for her body?

"According to me, Mr. Luthor. Damnedest thing. I was on my way up to the Daily Planet, passing this hotel, and this woman stepped out of a taxi. Only she was blond when she stepped out, and as she walked closer... well, she shifted. To Helen Bryce." There was a pause. "I swear I haven't touched a drop since we spoke in Smallville, my hip flask is only full of soda.... and anyway, I did some investigating to check. It's her all right. She's been in and out all day. Signed in under the name of Lillian Clark."

His mother's first name, and Clark's first name, Martha's maiden name. Not too smart of her, if she wanted to play low profile... "Thank you, Mr. White. I'll look into it immediately. What was the hotel name?"

"The Belmont, Mr. Luthor." The man cleared his throat. "I figured it was the least I could do, considering."

"Considering." Lex looked out over the ring, and then started to sit up straight. "Thank you for the information, Mr. White."

"Watch yourself, Mr. Luthor, she must have something in mind. She wasn't being particularly discrete," Perry replied. "And that usually means she wanted to attract attention. I'll let you know if I find out any more."

It was strange for a reporter that he didn't even like very much to be doing him a favor. It seemed that Clark's altruistic instincts had been on the money after all. "Thank you. I'll make sure the matter is taken care of soon, though. Your help has been appreciated." Then he hung up, because it just wasn't the place to discuss that. Lex folded his phone away, and shot Bruce a worried glance.

"Problems?" Bruce asked leaning closer so they could speak. "Perry White calling you after what happened with you and Clark?"

"Helen's in town. You and I are going to have to do something about this after the show."

Bruce stiffened a moment and his eyes glittered. "As it happens, I have a contact in town who might be assistance. If you'll excuse me a moment, I'll arrange for him to meet us and we'll go hunting later. You going to tell Clark?"

"I..." Should wait for the show to come and go, before putting Clark's nerves up like that. But he loved Clark, and if he wanted Clark to tell him everything that went on... "I suppose I have to. I'll keep your seat for you."

"Thank you. I won't be long. The show will be starting soon." Bruce replied, getting up and getting out his phone. "Back in a minute." He left Lex, even as the familiar form of Clark carefully pushed through the crowd's people towards him.

"Hey, Lex!" Clark was grinning from ear to ear, as relaxed and happy as he had seen him in a long time. "Where's Bruce going?"

"Out to make a call. Sit down. I have some unexpected news to share," Lex said as he reached for Clark's wrist and pulled at him.

Clark sat, an expression of worry flitting over his features. "What is it? Something's happened?"

"We've found Helen's trail again."

"You have?" Clark looked a little uncomfortable. "Where? How?"

"An informant called." Lex shifted, crossing his legs idly. "He'd seen her outside of a hotel, locally."

"In.... Metropolis?" Clark was abruptly aware of how his voice rose as an irrational fear clenched around his throat. The thought that she was near, close, was making him want to run like hell, and it showed. He was angry with himself for having that reaction and fought it back with a moment of silence before he could form rational questions. "When?"

"Today."

"Today." Clark repeated the word and glanced down at his hands, trying to will them not to shake. He was meant to be okay, he was meant to be recovering and all Lex had to do was mention her name and he was right back to square one. "What... what are we going to do?"

Lex shifted, patted Clark's arm slow and gentle. "Enjoy the show. Not get involved. Let my people and Bruce's people take care of it."

"But she might be dangerous." Clark couldn't hide the relief in his voice at not having to rush into action there and then. "You... you saw what she was like. She's probably gotten worse."

He really, really wanted Lex to do more than pat him, but this was not the time or place.

"Clark. She isn't your responsibility," Lex said simply. "Let me take care of this."

"I... okay." He still looked unsettled even as Bruce returned and sat with them.

"All set up," he said quietly to Lex, even as the lights began to signal the start of the show.

"Great." Lex settled back a little, but kept his arm on Clark's arm, rubbing. It was more contact than was really excusable as brothers, but Lex couldn't bring himself to care. Besides, it wasn't exactly visible as the lights dimmed around the Big Top and focused on the center ring and the show began.

If Clark had expected the archetypal circus so often depicted in films and books he was to be very abruptly disillusioned -- or more aptly caught up in a very different set of illusions. This Circus was one of the world's finest and it had that reputation not because it was traditional, but because it broke and challenged boundaries. It was not hard to be swept into the magic and awe of the carefully constructed show that alternated from the astounding, to the raw and exhilarating, to the heart stoppingly graceful.

It managed to put some of the disturbing thoughts about Helen out of his mind, and he relaxed, enjoying the spectacle. After a while, he took glances at Lex and Bruce every now and then to see if they were enjoying themselves or if they had just agreed to this for his sake.

There was a certain ageless appeal to Circuses. The feats of skill which were flashy, but unquestionably skilled, the acts of daring and the spectacles that were nothing but show, but what a show! There was an archer that Bruce and Lex joked could've put Oliver to shame, as he, standing atop a moving horse, shot brightly colored arrows through the hoops a dancing girl was throwing into the air. There weren't any clowns, any clown cars or any of that, but there were more than enough shows of color, fire and glitter for the young children to enjoy.

There was a certain part of Clark, the young tousle-haired Clark that used to curl up to sleep on his brother's lap, that responded to that simple wonder, smoothing out some of the worried expression he had acquired over the past few months. It was still a part of him, that inherent innocence that not even Helen and all the traumas to date had managed to erase.

All of them applauded and cheered enthusiastically when the Amazing Flying Grayson's took the center ring, Clark nearly boggling at Dick in his costume. Now that was something that left nothing to the imagination. Not that any of the three of them had any trouble imagining Dick naked. But there was a possibility that some of the other audience members might've wanted to have that trouble.

They certainly wouldn't, not in that Speedo, and not with Dick's legs and torso just covered in light blue glitter.

Clark risked a look at Bruce and nearly laughed. The older man seemed mesmerized, and he gently nudged Lex to point out the rather surprising sight of their implacable family friend looking... smitten. That was the word, a good word too, as it conjured up the impression that Bruce had indeed been hit around the head with a half brick, which was what he looked like.

Lex glanced at Clark, then followed his gaze, and then started to grin to himself, nodding even as he jerked his head at Clark to get him to look at the stage again. They'd done a good thing in introducing Bruce and Dick to each other that much was clear. They probably had more in common than their athleticism, but...

Dick executed a showy back flip before he started for his ladder.

Clark laughed to himself and watched Dick and his family show why they were headliners. It was true; Dick was fearless in the air, moving with a surety Clark had never felt with his own body for all its strength. There was one dazzling sequence where he was tossed in somersaults, dives, pivots and midair changes in a display that had Clark half thinking he had some super-ability after all. The applause he got at the end of that was tumultuous and he stood the next sequence out as his mother and father did one of their trademark triple catches.

In the hushed silence of the crowd awaiting the finale catch Clark's heard a strangely chilling laugh, and his hearing focused in.

"... Tick tock, Clark... tick tock. You should be able to hear me, I can read it in you."

He froze looking around behind them widely, not seeing but hearing...

"Oh, I see you can, you alien freak. Tick tock, too late. Time for the show to finish with a bang!"

He didn't have time to do anything as the first set of explosions went off and Dick's parents tumbled to the floor as the main supports shattered and the trapeze snapped clean apart.

There was a moment of shocked staring, a hush of silence that lasted for moments, before the some of supports of the set inside the Metropolis Coliseum collapsed entirely. Then the smarter people started to make a run for it.

"Shit..."

It would have been easier for them to escape if a massive electrical arc hadn't leapt up out of nowhere, bursting all the lights and sending them tumbling down on the center ring and surrounding seats. Clark got as far as swearing and then practically hurling himself over Lex and Bruce as one of the big arrays dropped right on them, shattering over Clark's back.

Around them there were more explosions, fire licking up the draping mock tent canvas... people screaming and disappearing into the smoke and then their bodies providing stumbling blocks for others trying to flee.

Lex and Bruce were trapped, mostly safe, beneath Clark and the light array. Safe being a relative term, wounded as opposed to dead. Lex started immediately to try to move, letting out a grunt. "Clark..."

"Wait, wait... Let me push up," Clark replied as glass slithered under his clothes and over them all. "You two okay? It was her! It was her, Lex!"

"Her?" Lex couldn't keep his voice from straining as he reached for Bruce, and the moment that Clark had pushed the array off of them all, stood, pulling his friend up. It didn't matter that Clark had just done an impossible thing. There was too much smoke, too much panic for it to be noticed.

Bruce stood, orienting himself and taking in details. "We get everyone out. " He turned his attention to the ring and the curiously shriveled looking forms of Dick's parents. Sucked dry.

Through the smoke and flames the place was littered with these corpses and Clark's eyes widened in horror. "It's... it's like Jodie," he choked out. "Where's Dick? I don't see him... Where is he?!"

"Maybe he's run off..." Lex stumbled forwards a moment, then started to look for people who were alive and trying to get out. Help. They had to help, and then... then deal with what was going on.

Behind the smoke, Helen 'feasted'. How delicious that they were here to witness this. She hadn't expected them to be here on this night of all nights. If she had known, then perhaps she would have prepared her confrontation for here and now. It had been fun enough to taunt Clark like that... still, that meant she could lure them with the bait she had procured and tackle both of them while gorged on genetic power.

She rather relished the thought of using some of her strength to the fullest. She patted the unconscious young man next to her. "We're going to have some fun Circus Boy, and I like to have a midnight snack every now and then." She laughed to herself and then paused. The alien had stood and looked around. Well maybe he had accessed the potential for super senses after all and had them under control. She wanted that for herself.

"Lex, I hear her! She's laughing," Clark said urgently, even as he lifted another light array.

"Clark, are you sure?" Lex moved nearer, trying to look through the smoke. Then he twisted to look for Bruce. "I think we all need to get out of here. This structure isn't sound."

The main strut of the tent within the coliseum was starting to buckle. Clark looked at it, assessing how much time they had and how many people they had to get out. The two didn't add up even remotely unless the flaming canvas set of the circus tent was prevented from collapsing just long enough.

"Lex, get them out, everyone out. I'll hold the strut," he said firmly in his 'this is an emergency and I don't care how stupid it is' tone of voice.

Bruce had long since disappeared into the smoke, helping people out of the tent area and getting separated from them both.

Which left Lex to nod and break away from Clark, not in search of Bruce, but in search of other people who were trying to get out, willing to push directions on them.

Clark plunged into the chaos, his actions hidden from view by fire and smoke as he gripped and embraced the failing support trying to stop it from crumpling too soon. He hoped Lex got everyone out.

He hoped that Helen wasn't still there lurking in that smoke... where he couldn't see. Where the next touch he felt might be hers coming up behind him. He shuddered, his skin crawling with the feeling of being vulnerable and exposed as his brother got people to safety, and the strain of holding that amount of metal up as the tethers and guy ropes gave way one by one.

"The main entrance is still open!" There were people Lex couldn't see, he knew, who hadn't made it through a fire exit but were still searching for a way out. Still, he'd done his best to search for people, and hurried them outside as fast as he could. "Keep moving, keep moving! Everyone needs to get outside, NOW!"

He was barely going to get out himself in time from the look of it. The whole thing was in flames, and crowds were running in panic outside. What with knowing that Clark was still inside what was rapidly turning into an inferno, it was a hell of a time for his cell to start ringing.

"Move back, please, in an orderly manner..." Security for the event had regrouped itself, and someone had alerted the fire and rescue squads. It was time, past time, for him to melt into the scenery and look for Bruce, wait for Clark, look for Dick. Even if he did have to answer his phone.

"Luthor here."

"Imagine my surprise to find you were actually here, Lex." Helen's voice practically purred at him. Audible even over the panic around him. "At the Circus, a Luthor... You father is probably doing trapeze flips in his grave."

He went silent for a moment, wishing to all hell that he was home and could come up with a way to trace her. "Probably. You planned this?" he asked coolly.

"Well, circus folk are rather satisfying don't you think?" Helen replied as if she hadn't just caused one of the biggest disasters Metropolis had seen. "But of course you already know that after you cheated on me with Circus Boy. Of course, I think I'll find him tasty in a completely different way... he does have a rather superior genetic code. Not as unique as yourself of course, or that alien filth that you call brother. Does he let you touch him yet, Lex? Does he meet your eyes? After our time together... I'm surprised he could sit next to you." She laughed again.

He turned into the crowd, brushing past people to get someplace private. Was there such a thing as 'Private' in a chaos like that? "What do you want, Helen?"

"Well, isn't it traditional for old friends to meet up? I feel we should catch up over dinner," Helen suggested "Of course, the dinner will be Dick, which I find ironic on so many different levels considering your preferences."

The laugh she gave then was more than a little disturbing. "You and Clark, on top of your STARR labs building as soon as you can make it. But make it soon, Lex. I'd hate to get peckish without you... that would be shame for your Circus Boy slut."

"We'll be there." Lex hung up before she could say anything more, and then started to push through the crowds. "Bruce?! Clark?!" It was hard for his voice to be heard over all of the other people trying to find their lost or missing loved ones, over the sounds of the sirens, and the groan of metal as it started to cave in on itself. "Clark! Bruce!"

The Big Top finally collapsed behind him billowing out flame and the main structure took on the burden of fire. There was a swirl of smoke as Clark appeared next to him, patting out the fire on his clothes.

"You okay? Where's Bruce? Is he okay?" Clark asked, still literally smoldering.

"Clark, you--" Lex wasted a moment in embracing his brother, a tight hug because it didn't matter that Clark smelled like smoke, death and ash. "Haven't found him yet -- god knows where he went."

There was another swirl of smoke behind them and a different voice said, "He was injured helping people escape. He's being taken care of by the paramedics. He called me in to assist you earlier, not specifically for this disaster."

The rather menacing figure loomed at them both, masked and inscrutable and seemingly at home in the shadow of death and chaos. Not a sight usually seen in Metropolis but well known nonetheless.

Helen, Lex decided, pissed off the wrong person at some point. "Thank you..." Lex hesitated, and added, "Batman. Clark, I need to talk with you for a moment..."

"What is it?" Clark asked, impressed despite himself. Batman was... cool. And he really was the epitome of dark coolness. He'd probably never used the term 'cool' in his life because he didn't need to.

He stood there, eyes glittering behind the mask, watching him with an implacable alertness and Clark could just slip into X-ray vision and solve the mystery of the Dark Knight's identity with the merest flex of one of his own abilities but...

It wouldn't be right to do that. Finding out accidentally was one thing but he knew the value of secrets and if this was the way the Batman could do his work, then so be it.

"I got a phone call while I was looking for you and Bruce..." Lex wavered between letting 'Batman' in on it, or... not. "The culprit has a hostage and wants us to meet."

"Helen Bryce has your friend Dick Grayson," Batman added behind them. "I keep my ears close to the ground."

Clark looked torn. "We can't let her have him, Lex, you saw what she did to all those people... to Dick's parents! Not to him too. Not to Dick, I won't let it happen to him, too!"

Only it was plain there was fear there for him from the way he didn't quite meet Lex's eyes for all his resolve. Fighting Helen, or whatever she was wasn't like his usual encounters with meteor mutants. She had hurt him. Hurt him badly so that he would always bear scars deep inside no matter the recovery of his body. Still, it was another test of who he was -- it wouldn't be right to stand by for all his own issues and he knew it.

Lex nodded to Clark's insistence, and moved to grasp his hand at the wrist. "STARR labs, Clark. She's there. We should probably get going -- unless you're interested in coming, too, Batman?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Batman replied in a deep voice. "Do you have any sort of a plan? Or is this a sacrificial party anyone can join?"

Lex snorted, as he started to turn away, pulling Clark with him. STARR Labs wasn't too far, just a quick drive. But as panicked as the city was from the explosion, a quick jog might be better. "I have a plan."

"Which would be?" Batman paced alongside them easily as Clark tried to fight his own trepidation. He'd never been really afraid of much in his life as a threat to him. To Lex, yes, but not to him, and he was of Helen Bryce. The fear was almost palpable for him, and it took his force of will to go forward. If not for Lex, maybe he wouldn't have been able to continue.

There was a long moment of hesitance before Lex answered; that could've been because he picked up his pace a little, a slow run that wouldn't draw too much attention to their little group. Certainly, it drew less attention than Batman's presence at their side. "STARR labs is a tall building..."

"And your entire plan involves pushing Helen Bryce from the top of it?" The Batman replied, an edge of sarcasm in his voice.

"Do you have a better one?" Lex sneered.

"I'm thinking a passerby on the street might have better." Batman, it seemed, did not mince words. "You've got brains, Mr. Luthor, use them. Helen Bryce wants you in that specific place for a reason. If she wanted just to kill you or your brother then she had her chance to ensure that happened moments ago. This would suggest that she wants something from you. The state of the corpses at the scene of the Circus would also indicate her mutation has altered since the last time data was collected from her. You have an unknown trap in progress. I somehow doubt that it will be as easy as walking her near the edge of the building and saying... hey, look over there and pushing her over the side."

"Lex isn't doing that to anyone," Clark said firmly, earning himself a glare.

"I prefer to think on the fly, Mr. Bat." Lex picked up his speed a little, heading straight for the very familiar building of his base of scientific operations. Why the hell did he have to explain what he was plotting? It wasn't how he worked. How he'd ever worked. Steps, ideas, just came to him when they were needed.

"You have one advantage." Batman ignored that statement. "She is not aware of my involvement. I will stay out of sight and tackle her at an appropriate moment. Do not under any circumstances allow her to get her hands on you. Her mutation appears to be fast acting, and we don't know the sort of abilities she has developed, if any."

"Because tackling an unknown is so much brighter than pushing her off the roof." Lex snorted, and glanced to Clark as they neared the entry to the building. If it were Bruce with them, well... They knew, he knew that she had Clark's abilities, but that wasn't something to be said.

"I try to come prepared for most eventualities. If you can handle it your way, then I'll watch and admire," Batman replied. He looked up at the building. "I'll meet you up there."

"Fine." If the man wanted to climb, fine. Lex moved to the glass doors, and sharply gestured for one of his security men to open up. They looked wary, but still alive. It didn't bode well for how Helen had gotten to the top.

Clark was getting progressively more apprehensive, even as their rather unpleasant ally disappeared into the shadows. "I...don't like this Lex, Helen knows my weaknesses... and probably thinks I'm scared stiff of her." He was, but he wasn't going to admit that to his brother. He probably didn't have to; it was probably obvious.

"Which is why I want you to hang back, Clark," Lex murmured as the door opened and they were allowed inside. Lex walked across the tiled floor with firm, fast steps, heading for the elevator. They could take it up to the top, and there was a stairwell that would go directly to the roof after that.

"You are NOT going to do anything stupid, are you, Lex?" Clark caught hold of his shoulder and stopped him a moment. "Promise me you won't."

Lex jabbed the open door button despite that Clark was trying to keep his attention. "I won't do anything stupid, Clark."

"I'm not going to let her have you, Lex," Clark said firmly, "Or Dick, but not you especially. No matter what." He actually sounded like he meant it.

Lex pulled Clark into the elevator after him. "Clark. You're getting yourself wound up. We're going to do our best to deal with this."

"You... you don't know how she changed, Lex, I know you saw it, but you didn't feel it like I did." Clark stressed. "I know we'll do our best, but you still think of her as the person you met all those years ago. She's not... she's not even... a person in that way anymore. And she's dangerous." It was difficult to tell if that was his fear talking or common sense.

"I know that she's dangerous, Clark. Bruce and I have been tracking her activity, or trying to. She's a murderer." And Lex seemed to have no fondness left in him for the woman. After all, she'd always been infatuated with who he could be, genetically, rather than who he was. And there was Clark, perfect wonderful Clark at his side. Lex could see the desperate fear in Clark -- that he would let Lex down, crumble when faced with Helen. Lex knew that wasn't going to happen, no matter how much Clark feared the possibility. She had the power to scare him almost to death, to make him want to run from Metropolis to Europe, probably, but he didn't. He was right there, with Lex, and that was where he would stay.

"Just... don't get hurt okay? I'm not going to let you," Clark said and then fell silent as they made their way to the roof.

Lex watched the numbers tick upwards, counting mentally as they traveled up. At the thirtieth floor, they'd get off and then climb the steps to the roof. Lex was glad that he had all of his keys on him.

"I know, Clark. Just listen to what I ask you to do."

Clark nodded. "Anything," he agreed automatically.

Lex twisted a little to study Clark's expression, and reached for his hand. "This will work out, Clark."

Clark took it gratefully. "Of course it will. All of your plans work. Except the ones that blow up," he responded with a hesitant, wry grin. "Let's finish this, Lex."

If pretending to be calm kept Clark actually calm, Lex was willing, more than willing, to do it. He squeezed Clark's fingers, and when the elevator stopped, stepped out cautiously.

The scene awaiting them had only a hint towards melodrama. The roof of STARR Labs was occasionally used for various experiments and there were a variety of structures up there that were conventionally used for meteorological observations. Currently Dick was rather prominently tied to a weather tower, and was barely conscious of that predicament even as Helen, dressed in simple rather unglamorous black clothes, stood nearby. She even seemed to have some sort of heavy gloves on and she looked impatient as she turned towards them both.

"You never were on time for our dates, Lex. I see our time apart hasn't improved your manners any."

"Hello, Helen." Lex let go of Clark's hand, and moved cautiously towards Helen. "Why don't you tell me what you think you're doing, Helen? You need help, clearly. Let me help you, Helen."

Helen looked very amused at that. "There is a particular irony to that, Lex, because thanks to you and your alien spawn of a foster brother I really don't need much in the way of help from anyone... apart from you. Though I suspect it's not the help you had in mind."

She didn't seem at all perturbed by him approaching.

That was enough to make him stop short of her, and walk parallel to her. There was the backup generator. If he could get her to rush him and have her hit it...

"Helen, this has to stop here. I'll do what I can to get you help, but you have to understand that you aren't making this any easier..."

"Oh, it's going to stop here," Helen replied watching him with a supercilious expression. "Because I'll have exactly what I want: you and then your brother to play with. You really did ruin my fun before, you know? I wasn't anywhere near finished with him. I never actually managed to kill him... well, it came close on occasion, I'll admit, but I have so many fun new things I could do. I'm almost thinking of keeping you alive if I can, just so you can appreciate them, or join in. I could make you, you know. Could make you enjoy it."

It was enough to make Lex's spine shiver. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass, Helen." Christ. What was Clark doing? Couldn't he just bolt for Dick and then get out of there?

Clark was edging around slightly, looking over at Dick, waiting for a moment when Helen took her eyes off of him so he could do just that.

"I don't think you have a choice, Lex." Helen glanced back to his brother and Clark blurred forward dropping into speed, and was horrified to suddenly see a body and a punch come out of nowhere into that fast time that hurled him across the roof.

"Clark, that really was rather bad mannered of you." Helen looked at him as she unclenched her fist, "It's not time for Circus Boy to join the party yet. He seemed a little groggy the last time I checked. Shall I wake him up?"

She smiled at them both and there was a sudden shift of features and Clark was abruptly reminded of the Scarecrow in Reilly's field.

"Jeremy...?"

"Not Jeremy, Clark, still Helen... but Jeremy lent me a nice little trick." She leaned over and crackled electricity into the air and earth edit up and down the tower Dick was tied to. His friend jerked and spasmed in pain from the shocks, barely managing a groan to indicate consciousness.

Lex grimaced immediately. So that was it. She'd absorbed people, and.... what? Shifted shape when she needed them? Or shifted into them. "Helen! Leave the kids alone if it's me that you want."

"Who says I just have to have you, Lex? You think I would pass up Clark? And really, Circus Boy here is very tasty. But then, you would know that intimately." Helen reverted back to her own form in a peculiar melting blur to her skin. "You really think I would let him go? And you know what, Lex, I hope you don't think this makes me a shallow person but I really only want you for your body." She stepped forward deliberately, her look predatory and challenging.

Lex stepped backwards deliberately, towards the generator. "I always guessed as much. Genetically, that is?"

"Oh yes. You're rare; you know that? I can see people's DNA now, and yours is quite beautiful. Did you know that in all the mutants I've tasted and absorbed, you're the only one with the stabilizing factor? And to think you used to worry about it turning you the way the others turned to insanity... all that time you were the only one that wouldn't. Sort of ironic really... still, I need that factor. You should see my DNA, Lex, it's like a goddess dancing. All it needs is the right accompaniment! "

Helen didn't say why, and she seemed to be waiting for Clark to make some sort of a move. He on the other hand was watching Lex and hesitating, seeing the expectation and hidden in it, some sort of trap.

In the end she got impatient, and reached out and grabbed Lex's wrist in a blur of speed. "Really, Lex, what were you intending? To throw me into the generator? I am a bit ticklish I suppose... but it would have done little else." She squeezed his wrist slowly and deliberately. "You have no idea who I've become have you? You have no idea how much strength your freak brother has and so I have... want to find out?"

"Not particularly...." Lex twisted, yanking his wrist to try to get away from her with no success. "The Police are coming, Helen. They'll blow this place sky high if they have to..."

"And I'll survive, possibly Clark might. You won't and neither will Dick here," Helen replied looking smug. "Your negotiating skills are slipping dearest."

"STARR Labs has enough Kryptonite in it to kill all of us just from the radiation," Lex emphasized. "Even you."

"And I could be away from here before anything managed to go boom." She squeezed a little more to feel bones splinter and then swung him over at the generator.

For a moment, Lex hoped that Helen would let go of him, and that Clark could catch him and run or... something. Except as his body slammed into the generator with a crunch of noise, it didn't happen. When the first errant arcs of electricity hit him, it still didn't happen, and then Helen pulled him away.

Lex couldn't even manage to stand after that.

"Let go of him!" Clark demanded in as strong a voice as he could muster, worried to rush Helen with her still holding onto Lex. She could move as fast as he could and she could very easily kill Lex in a fraction of a second if she chose too.

"Or you'll do... what?" Helen dragged him up. "Watch him die?"

All he needed was a moment to get in there, for her to lose her attention...

And he got it, the shape of a dark shape somersaulting out of nowhere, hitting her right on the face.

It didn't hurt her of course, but it startled her long enough break her grip and that was all Clark needed to get Lex out of her immediate reach.

"Bad... bad idea..." Lex was breathing hard, half-hanging onto Clark as he tried to get his balance. It felt suspiciously like some bones had crunched themselves into powder, and he wasn't sure what bones it had been. "Get Dick, get out of here!"

"Not leaving you to her." Clark turned back to see the caped figure of the Batman giving the supercharged Helen a surprising run for her money. Every time she struck him away he would roll and come right back at her. Every time she tried to throw him, the cape that looked so ornamental and excessively gothic prove its worth as it flared and caught air, swooping him back in for the attack. Garrottes were treated as irritants and clawed off like a spiderwebs, adapted shurikens flickered silver in the air and bounced off of impenetrable skin. Attacks and punches were made with a precision and skill that seemed to match the careless superspeed, the caped hero a whirlwind of constant distraction.

Clark took the opportunity to squint at Dick and burned through at least some of the ties before Helen tired of swatting Batman around and having him come back at her time and time again and put some real effort into a retaliatory strike causing Clark to sprint to intercept before their ally went over the edge of the building.

Helen gave a feral smile and raised an eyebrow as Clark laid the injured man down and glanced over towards Lex. "Time to stop playing in the minors. Come on, Clarkie... too afraid to stop me? I'm going to get to your brother and I'm going to kill him unless you stop me. You too scared?"

She grinned, flexing her hands suddenly, the merest hint of a green gleam on the tips of the gloves becoming visible and ran straight at Lex. And Clark had no choice but to run to intercept her, the concussive force of their impact producing a shock wave that sent a ripple through the area, rattling the weather tower.

Lex forced himself to sit up, and reached to prod at the costumed man that Clark had laid down beside him. "C'mon... if we can get the... the hostage, we..."

The man spat out blood, gleaming crimson and dark on the ground beside them and pushed himself up. "She has more speed and strength than initial reports.... showed."

That the Batman had broken bones was obvious but that didn't seem to stop him. He gave the impression that nothing would stop him, especially not anything as minor as near fatal injuries.

Helen and Clark were testing the limits of their abilities in a high speed, high impact fight where movements were barely visible to the normal vision. Time had slowed for the pair of them as they strove for dominance. Punches were avoided, ducked, returned with a frequency that could not be believed. There was a point that Clark thought he could get the upper hand, but then the fight turned against him. The first he knew about it was pain, and weakness. Helen double flexed her hand and he had the merest fraction of a second to see the telltale glow of green on tips of the heavy gloves even as he twisted to avoid the worst of it and instead felt a bloom of vibrant agony. Blindingly fast... kryptonite claws raking across him, drawing blood and he was blocking and dodging but not evading everything and he was being ripped to shreds so quickly no one could even see....

Just when he stumbled, and they slipped out of that hyper speed. Lex could hard make his eyes focus, but it wasn't hard to see the blood. His shirt was soaked and dark with it, glistening in the roof lights. Blood. She'd hurt Clark, somehow... Lex started to sit up, gritting back the metallic taste of his own blood.

Clark backed away a moment, panting slightly and feeling the gashes pull together slowly even as Helen wiggled gauntleted fingers at him, sticky with his blood and gleaming with the lurid green of small kryptonite claws. She shifted again and another young man appeared briefly in her body shape and she hurled him with a kinetic power again, before laughing and turning purposefully towards Lex and Batman with deliberate slowness only to be intercepted again, and the fight renewed, bloody and violent.

"Can you stand?" Batman asked seemingly oblivious to the high speed struggle going on behind them.

"Think she broke a few things..." Part of his pelvis. Possibly leg. He couldn't concentrate hard enough to see, but it seemed to be pulling itself together of its own will for once. "Ho.... hold on..."

There was a slightly familiar way about the way Batman took him at his word and actually held him while the battle raged on around them.

Every time Helen fought Clark back towards his brother, he would rally and push her right back, punching her to slam against the structures, destroying them. They ended up in the generator at one point, wreathed in electricity; still fighting with the ferocity of a complete war compacted into an impromptu duel of like abilities. Despite his dogged attitude, Clark was becoming desperately conscious of the fact he was actually losing more blood than he could afford. He was the one that had to concentrate on protecting others rather than himself and that left him open for her to claw and slash at him over sluggishly healing wounds.

Any glimpses in between the times where Helen used fire, cold, and any one of the numerous Smallville mutant abilities before reverting back to speed and strength, revealed him covered in blood but fighting as if their lives depended on it, not know how else to do this. She wasn't giving him time to step back and think of a plan, or a course of action. One slip and she was heading right at Lex, Batman or Dick pulling him in all directions, wearing him down little by little.

Lex finally stood, gritting his teeth and trying not to get caught up in watching their epic-style battle. "Get... Dick. I'll distract her if she sees..."

It seemed that was going to be a difficult prospect with heat vision, electricity and shock waves making even breathing in the same area as this battle rather hazardous. Nevertheless, he saw Batman make it over to Dick just as things went horribly wrong for Clark.

He'd taken some bad hits and the blood loss slowed his coordination enough that he couldn't quite stop the devastating open handed jab into the pit of his stomach even though he saw it coming and felt the tipped claws of the gauntlets pierce in through flesh. The shock of it locked him up, stopping their super swift battle in a moment as he gurgled a weak cry, trying to pull away.

"Shhh now, Clark... where are you running off to? Finally weakened you enough that you won't give me any more surprises. Tougher than I thought." Helen purred at him, jerking her hand upwards. "You really wanted to stop me killing him, didn't you? Hmm?"

Her fingers clenched inside of him and he coughed convulsively, bringing up blood into his mouth in an unexpected hot rush of choking liquid.

"Nothing special about you now, is there? I remember when we first met. It was you who did that to your mother, wasn't it? No car, just you that dislocated her shoulder. You're no stronger than she is now. I bet you wished it had been you instead of her, didn't you? Well, I aim to please." There was a crunch as she used her other hand to grip his right shoulder and twist it with an audible displacement of bone against bone as the joint dislocated. "Of course if I take my hand away you will heal eventually, but let's let you get a bit weaker hmm? Until you snap as easily as your fragile brother..."

Lex lurched forwards, a few steps at first, then let kinetic energy carry him forwards once his legs got going. "Helen!" Anything to distract her, anything to get her to let go of Clark, he grabbed a loose piece of metal and lunged at her with it, aiming for her kidneys.

She wasn't as practiced as Clark in trusting in her abilities, so she did automatically withdraw her hand and turn to face the unknown threat, which was no threat in reality. Even as Clark fell clear, she instinctively turned and swiped at Lex hitting him high into the air and off of the top of the building in her uncontrolled response.

"Just as well I can take what I need from a corpse," she muttered and turned her attention back to Clark...

... who wasn't there any more, but was instead making a concerted stagger to the roof edge.

"LEX!"

And he disappeared over the edge as well.

Flying.

Lex had never flown before. Not like that, weightless but strung up into a body, without a helicopter's sturdy frame or an airplane fuselage to surround him in safety. Free falling, at the currently much cursed speed of gravity, 9.8 m/s2. He had a few fleeting thoughts as he saw the crowd down below as he plummeted to his death. A hope that he didn't fall on anyone, and the knowledge that it wouldn't hurt too badly.

Clark on the other hand wanted to fall faster. Exactly what he was thinking he didn't know, only some vague half-formed plan that harkened back to when they were young and the stairwell in the castle. That Lex had survived if he took the brunt of the fall... could twist underneath him and just somehow make sure he didn't hit.

Only this was much higher, and he wasn't exactly at full strength, he was weak and fuck he hated heights and Lex was a speck below him, facing down. It shouldn't have been possible to increase the rate he fell but he was catching up with the falling form of his brother, his lover and he reached desperately for him.

He managed to grasp hold of his brother's hand, trying to swing him up above him, just before they would have hit the crowd, all the time praying silently that they wouldn't hit, that Lex wouldn't hit the ground and die...

And they didn't hit, even though Clark could hear wind and speed rushing over his face around his screwed up eyes.

"Clark....."

All he had been thinking was that he didn't want to hit, they couldn't hit the ground, that it needed to stay away and suddenly here he was swooping upwards holding onto Lex and.... rather unsteadily wondering what the hell was going on as he grabbed Lex to his blood soaked body. "I've got you... I've got you." Clark repeated sounding dazed as he looked around.

"Fucking... god..." Lex sounded just as dazed as he clung to Clark. It was so cold, and his own hands were slick with blood, but it didn't seem to matter so much that it was Clark's blood. They were alive, and they hadn't smacked down into the crowd. "Clark, you're flying..."

Rather wobbly erratic flying, but flying nonetheless. "I..." Where there any words to describe how it felt? To have this unleashed inside of him was unbelievable, wonderful, terrifying... "I couldn't let you fall, Lex," he said softly holding him close for one long self-indulgent moment. "Never... even if it took a miracle to stop it happening."

Which was what had happened. He'd do anything not to have Lex die, and Lex was alive, if shaky, in his arms. For the moment, Helen, Batman and Dick were all forgotten; until Lex lost a shoe, and started to hold onto Clark a little tighter. "Maybe we should land."

"Got to... Got to stop Helen, help Dick and Batman," Clark replied trying to focus as they wavered erratically. It took all his courage to say that. "I should put you down on the ground and go back."

"That's... a good idea. Put me down anywhere and get them." Because Helen couldn't fly, could she?

Clark tried to will himself to go downwards and it resulted in a heart stopping free-fall that he pulled up short. "O... Okay, so I haven't gotten the hang of down very well yet. Maybe I can just, fly and grab them with you. "

Lex had his eyes shut tight, but the feeling of a second free fall was enough to make his stomach lurch. They'd come close enough to hear noises from the crowd gathered below, a cry alarm at a shape in the darkness.

And above them sounded the chop-chop-chop of helicopter blades and the stabbing brightness of searchlights. "That sounds like a great plan."

"I can do this," Clark murmured aloud, but it sounded like he was trying to bolster his own conviction rather than Lex's. By focusing again, concentrating hard, they began a rather stately weaving ascent back towards the roof.

In Helen's moment of distraction after she'd sent the two brothers to their doom, Dick was nowhere to be seen. Clark's little fire-trick -- neat and unexpected as hell, and Dick decided he was going to have to talk to Clark about a lot of things once shock and anger wore off -- had given the acrobat the leeway he'd needed to slip his ropes and hide himself in the wreckage.

Batman found that his initial mission to free Dick was no longer necessary and instead squared off against the super powered mad woman, ignoring his injuries with all the techniques at his command.

"Shame about that. Well, I can snack off of them living or dead, though fresh killed is best of course," Helen murmured as she turned noticing the dark phoenix like rise of her opponent. "The Batman, Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight. Looking a bit battered aren't you? Excuse the pun."

"There's no excuse for puns," Batman replied steadily, assessing her for the weakness he was hoping she possessed. Everyone had a weakness, even those apparently superstrong. Perhaps a Batarang might make a distraction. She had to die, she was too powerful and she was out of control

"Perhaps you're right... now, what do I do with you? Use you as a tasty tidbit or just kill you?" Helen mused. "Perhaps you'd like fire? Roasted Bat on the menu as a starter. Not my usual choice but if the Roman's could eat Edible Dormice, I can turn myself to other members of the rodent family."

She shifted appearance and hurled fire at the man.

And Dick watched it all from his little niche behind what had been a functioning generator, and grimaced as he watched Batman dodge the flames. Mostly, except for some singing on his cape (wings?). Unconsciously his thoughts echoed that of the man he was watching. She had to have a weakness. There wasn't anything in the would that didn't have some weakness.

And if she didn't have one, then they were all in a world of trouble.

As he was trying to avoid her lazy attacks, Batman concentrated on the problem. She had used kryptonite tipped gauntlets to battle Clark, but the tips had been very small and....

Why? Why were the claws so small? She would have had access to the kryptonite at the labs she raided. If she wanted to overpower Clark then all she needed to do was produce a chunk of the meteor rock, let it get close and that was it, one subdued superstrong alien. She had done it before so why hadn't she done it this time? What was stopping her from making her life easier aside from a sadistic urge to tear her opponents to pieces. For that matter, why wasn't she using the claws on the gauntlets on him? The gauntlets themselves look like they were of a soft malleable metal...

Lead. She was shielding herself. The strength and speed she had made her own had come from Clark's genetics and he knew from his own research, green kryptonite could hurt, damage and kill him... so by logical deduction, her as well. And she wouldn't want to expose herself to it unless she had to. Hmm.

This line of thinking took place in a split second and he ducked and rolled under the fire and came up inside her guard wrenching with surprising vigor at one of the gauntlets before she could revert back and use her speed to intercept him.

It came loose, the claws unsheathing, but with a sound of anger Helen reverted to her base form and hit him back hard and the needed gauntlet spun off into the rubble.

It didn't matter. She didn't need them to kill a mere human, even if he was a skillful one. She could kill him barehanded, and suck him dry.

Except that Dick, watching the battle had noted the sudden focus that the Batman had displayed on the heavy gloves. That had been a deliberate attempt to get hold of the item and the woman was making no effort to retrieve it despite it being in plain view. Dick figured there was something special about the gauntlets, and grabbed it the moment he could surprised at the weight of it. He inched himself forwards towards the small clear space in the wrecked debris, weighing his options. There were glowing spikes on the tips of the metal fingers -- maybe he could stab the bitch in the back of the head with them.

Helen bent over the crushed masked figure, trying to get up again.

"You're resilient, Batman. I'll give you that. But I'm not one of your villains. I'm not even human anymore. I'm going to be so much more than human, than even that scum alien when I scrape Lex and Clark's remains from the pavement. When I do that I'll have no flaws at all..."

Her hand gripped around his throat like steel. "A small flex of the fingers and I could break your neck. I have to think not to do it. Only Clark stood a possibility of stopping me, and I set up a scenario to weaken him to a point where I could easily control him. I can't use as much of the meteor rock as I did before for obvious reasons. It really is an excruciating pain, I see that now... much worse than these mere broken bones I've given you."

He choked a little and his hand fumbled for the destruct switch on his utility belt. Perhaps even she wouldn't survive it.

"I'll probably just use you to recharge. Clark was tougher than I thought. and he might be alive." She smiled sweetly. "You and the Circus Boy, just like I did his parents. Bon appetit, Batman."

Fuck no. No, she was NOT going to kill one more person, especially not Batman. She'd killed his parents, Lex, so many people at the circus, possibly Clark, but it was going to stop there!

Dick launched himself from a crouch, holding the gauntlet in his hand as he stabbed two of those claws into the back of Helen's neck.

She screamed, releasing her grip hand trying to reach behind her to grab at him, and that distraction was all that Batman needed as he grabbed her other wrist, twisted to release the claws and then forced her own hand in a vicious stab up and under her ribcage to her heart. If Dick's effort hadn't killed her, his certainly had, and that would be the official story. Dick was not going to be saddled with any sort of manslaughter, self-defense charge.

The look in her eyes was of stunned disbelief as she toppled and fell, her flesh corrupting and degenerating immediately around the impact points. Batman held the hand there just in case until he was absolutely sure that she was dead even as the skin and flesh broken down beneath his hand, a gelatinous ooze of organic material... and even then he waited longer to be cautious.

Dick staggered back, breathing hard and straightening out his much-abused costume and showering the area with a dust of blue glitter. "Is she really dead? Tell me the bitch is really... really dead."

"...she's dead..." Batman confirmed trying to drive the weakness out of his voice as he let go of the remnants of the hand he was clutching, shaking the primordial soup of premature decomposition off of his hands. God dammit, he wasn't going to be limping back home to Alfred after this one. He pressed an alarm that would have him come to him, complete with whatever was necessary. He couldn't have lost Lex now, not after everything they had been through together. He couldn't have lost him to a stupid, brave sacrifice. Or Clark, whose efforts, if not his skill he could respect. But, perhaps they had not died. He knew about the stairwell and it was logical to assume Clark at least had something like that in mind when he threw himself after his brother.

"Great." Dick dropped his gauntlet, and walked, a little unsteady but in better shape than the other guy. "You look like you're in pretty shitty shape. Here, lemme help you. I want to get out of here."

Batman closed his eyes a moment and shuddered as he tried to move and failed. If Clark had that sort of power behind his punches as well there was a high possibility that he might have survived if his injuries hadn't weakened him. "Clark and Lex..." he said concentrating on his breathing and driving and controlling the pain.

"Over the side of the building." Dick shifted, pulling Batman to his feet with some trouble. Deadweight was a bitch to carry. "Let's go down the conventional way."

"Go and look." Batman ordered. "Over the side... there's..." His breath hitched with the pain of broken ribs. "...possibility they're alive."

Dick hitched a breath, almost in sympathy, as he dragged Bruce along. "Let's find out when we get down from this place. C'mon. The stairs aren't too much further, and we can take the elevator if it still works..."

Batman stopped, his instincts prickling at a presence behind him. Slowly, very slowly he turned around using Dick as a means of support.

There was something hovering in the air just beyond the ledge, unsteady and drifting inwards towards them with exaggerated care.

And it wasn't the helicopter that they'd just heard zipping overhead. "What...? Can we just go? Do you see something?"

Bruce pointed him in the right direction just as they came into view of the roof lights dropping the last few meters through the air. "Yes, I see something."

"Holy shit..." There was... something, bigger than a man, flying... No, it was two, it was...

"Clark, land. We're over the roof, I don't see her."

The last bit of the descent was a bit rough and Clark's knees buckled as he touched ground. His vision was blurring in and out of focus a little and he squinted at the two figures opposite them, his X-ray vision cutting in and he spoke without thinking.

"Bruce is hurt," he said in a tired voice. "Like you."

Lex was still holding on to his brother, breathing hard. "Yeah... Let's... collapse in the elevator? Where'd she go?"

"We killed her," Dick said a little shakily. "Wow. You can fly, Clark...?"

"Yeah, let's just..." Lex was still holding on to his brother, breathing hard -- and almost didn't catch what Clark had said at least until the meaning had time to penetrate. "Bruce...?"

"Bruce?" Dick turned his head a little to stare at the man he was holding up. It was hard to guess which most required staring: the Flying Kent brothers, or Bruce Wayne in spandex and body armor.

The Batman stiffened at the attention and glared at Clark, his irritation evident even behind the mask.

"Oops." Clark nearly resorted to hiding behind Lex. "Sorry, my sight just slipped and...."

"You didn't think," Bruce finished in his 'normal' voice. Once the suggestion was made, Lex would put the puzzle together for all of his trail hiding over the years. "I wear a mask for a reason, Clark. Several masks of different types. You have just... undone years worth of work."

"It's only the four of us here," Lex half-consoled as he took a step forwards, away from Clark, and stumbled a little. "We should move on before the police risk coming up here."

"We could try the flying thing, " Clark said eager to make amends. "I'm getting the hang of it now. We could go somewhere? " Somewhere he could lie down and sleep, and Lex could rest to heal and Bruce could be patched up.

"You can, Clark. Take... Br--Batman and Dick with you. I need to walk out of here. My security will... react badly if I don't come down." Lex pulled away, stalwartly ready to do things the long, drawn out and hard way while Dick just stared in wonder at Clark, then Bruce, then Clark again.

"Where should we go?" Clark asked his eyes look on the slowly degenerating mass that had been Helen Bryce. He should be pleased, he should be relieved or something. But he wasn't anything except tired. "The Penthouse?"

"The Penthouse is preferable to the hospital. Alfred brought my supplies over. He'll meet us there, " Bruce replied softly knowing Alfred would track him to wherever his location would be, conscious or not. "He's very competent in treating injuries."

"Man...." Dick just exhaled that, happy to just be holding Bruce up and on his feet.

"I'll meet you there after I talk with the police," Lex told them. He stumbled a little, fell, and then forced himself to get up again. Covering their tracks was the least he could do.

Clark was looking at him as if he wanted to argue, but he knew his brother. Knew that he was stubborn and wouldn't take no for an answer. "Lex? You want me to come back after? Pick you up?" he asked as he walked over to Bruce and Dick.

"No. I'll get someone to drive me over to the Penthouse." Since it was just a couple of blocks away, it said a lot about his physical condition. He paused, pulling open the door to the stairs. "I'll see you soon enough." And then he was gone, leaving Clark with Batman and Dick.

Clark looked after him for a long moment and then sighed. "Take hold if you can. Dick, hold on to Bruce, will you?" he said as he reached out to touch them both. He was abruptly wary about meeting his friend's eyes. Though Dick might not assume he was an alien, Helen hadn't been discrete.

"Right." Dick got an arm tight around Bruce's waist, and half-reached to latch onto Clark. "You okay, Bruce?"

"I will be." His voice sounded rough and for a moment the eyes behind the mask glittered. "Get us out of here, Clark."

As carefully as he could manage, Clark did so, his flying still wobbly. That had more to do with blood loss than anything else.

And somehow, miraculously, the clot of them landed on the balcony of Lex's Penthouse.

It was locked, and Lex had lost his keys somewhere in the. It wasn't too soothing when Dick left Bruce to Clark's care for support, and promptly picked the lock open. "Okay, everybody pile in. It's cold out here."

Clark had to move quickly to disable the alarms but he managed to be reasonably gentle with Bruce even as he rushed in. He didn't want to have to be the responsible one, but it looked like his mom's teachings had become ingrained in him as he moved around, turning on the lights, getting one of the rooms ready for Bruce before he returned to see how they were both doing.

"How are you both doing?" he asked as he came back in. "Dick? You ... doing okay?"

"Yeah?" Dick shrugged his shoulders, knotted muscles moving with a lack of coordination. "Nothing's sunk in. I... later. At least the bitch is dead."

"I'm really sorry about what happened," Clark said awkwardly. "About... your parents."

What could he say? That at least he was with people who understood what it meant to be alone? He glanced at Bruce, who was breathing slowly, his body a wreck and fading himself out into unconsciousness through a sheer force of will.

Dick gave another shrug of his shoulders, and looked down to his feet. "Yeah. Well... Sorry doesn't do much, but thanks. For helping to get the bitch. Why don't we get Bruce out of this suit?"

"Yeah." He should have thought of that. Clark was a little thrown by Dick's reaction to his parent's death. He'd know what he had been like the times that his Mom and Dad had been dying. He knew there was a possibility that he might go to pieces if something happened to them. He knew that Dick was independent, and maybe not as sheltered as he was but...

But then Bruce was like that too. Had been like that, Lex had told him. Carried on, making his outside cold and hard from the moment it happened.

Maybe they had more in common than he at first thought.

"Good idea. I've made up a room for him. He's got a few broken bones though," he murmured to cover his surprise.

"Okay. Let's carry him there, and get him undressed." Dick moved to get an arm under the man. "Maybe I can talk him into going to a hospital or something."

Clark lifted him easily even with his damaged shoulder which he suspected was still dislocated. "Best of luck on that. We've never succeeded. I've made a place up for him in one of the other ensuite rooms. "

"Okay. Lead the way." Dick looked... sad, frowning, but none of the tears or shaking that Clark knew would've come from him or Lex. Yeah, they were different people in that respect. Vastly different, because he knew his brother would've lashed out in a fit of rage at something, but not that... lack of reaction.

It was easy enough to carry Bruce that way, and Dick helped to strip the older man carefully of his suit, wincing every once in a while at the state of him.

Bruce didn't look good under that body armor. Bruises and contusions covered everywhere they looked. It became very obvious how powerful Helen's punches had been, and Clark was finding it hard to imagine how he had managed to even be standing. "I don't know how he did it," he murmured.

"Force of will? Or is he... you know. Like you." Dick half-folded the discarded clothing. "So, where's Alfred?"

"He's not like me," Clark said quietly. "I don't know, I guess he should be here soon. We could clean him up some. We could splint his breaks... Lex keeps a reasonable medical supply here and I've done that sort of thing a few times."

"On your brother?" Dick shifted back from the bed, looking for the bathroom so he could get some washcloths to clean Bruce up. Maybe an antiseptic or something, too. "Hey, can I borrow some clothes? My costume's sort of not holding up well."

"Yes, I'll get you something," Clark replied automatically. He couldn't muster the energy to speed so he went out, ransacked Lex's wardrobe, and his own stash of clothes and came back with a selection for Dick, just reacting to what needed to be done rather than giving things close thought. If he did that, he might go to pieces and that was the last thing that Dick or Bruce needed from him.

"Thanks." Dick had found a washcloth, and was putting antiseptic on a cut across Bruce's chest.

"Is he out?" Clark asked as he came closer, scanning him for breaks. "I don't want to do anything if he's conscious."

"Out like a light. I checked his pulse, it's still steady, but he's not awake." Dick shifted back, offering Clark the washcloth in exchange for clothing.

"Okay, I'll do the breaks." Clark was oblivious to his own apparent state, momentarily surprised and irritated by the blood on his hands that he had to rinse off. He fetched their medical kits and very carefully took the Bruce's leg in his hands and shifted it with apparent ease into place and splinted it. The irony was that it had been Helen who had told him how to do bone-setting properly, and here he was using that knowledge to patch up the man that ended her existence.

How was Lex going to explain this? What was his brother going through? He had been hurt as well, and yet he was covering for them all.

It didn't feel real. The fear was hesitant to leave him just in case. He hadn't achieved anything in his fight with Helen, not really. Just bleeding and delay. Hardly anything final.

Still he kept working, silent as he concentrated on the bits he could see, binding on supports and bandages to stop the muscles tearing any further.

"How did ...I mean after Lex and I went over the edge of the building, what happened?" he asked as he worked.

Dick traded his costume for a pair of Lex's boxer-briefs, which ended up loose, and tried to wipe some of the glitter off of his torso. "Bruce went at her again. Tried to get the gauntlets off of her. He did it, and one ended up over where I was. So I figured if he thought it was worth going after, I'd grab it and see if it did anything to her. The metal was lead, which is a pretty damn weird thing to make anything out of, unless it's for radiation protection. So I... guessed that maybe that was how she was hurting you."

"It's called kryptonite," Clark mentioned not seeing any reason to hide that detail. "It's the stuff that changed a lot of people in Smallville and around the world. Most of them haven't had a choice but Helen did. You hit her with it?"

"Back of the neck. Then Bruce got her in the chest with her other hand. Then you guys showed up." Dick pulled a t-shirt down over his head, and reached for a pair of jeans that he knew would be too big for him.

Clark was a little shocked by that, that Dick could be so straightforwardly lethal with his attacks. Like Batman... like Bruce had been with his efforts. He hadn't been fighting to win; he'd been fighting to end the game completely. Sometimes that commitment required a death whether his morals recoiled from it or not.

"I guess I should be happy," he said very quietly as he manipulated another fracture with deceptive ease.

There was a little silence from Dick as he fumbled his buttons closed. "You're not?"

"No. Not really. Though there's a part of me wondering why not, after what she did to you, to Lex, Bruce and.... me from before." Clark started on more clean up. Dick wouldn't know what he was talking about but at this point in time he wasn't that sure himself.

Dick shrugged his shoulders, and moved closer to the bed. "She killed a lot of people today. My.... parents. Friends. Just people there to see the show. God knows how many others."

"Lex is going to blame himself," Clark replied distantly. "He always does. It's more my fault than his. That was my strength, my speed she had."

"That she took," Dick pointed out as he sat on the edge of the bed. "It's her fault. No one made her do any of the damn things she did."

"She used to be... nice, Dick," Clark replied still working. "She used to be a bright, nice enough doctor. I don't know what changed, but maybe it wasn't her fault? I don't know. I should have stopped her before but..."

"But, you didn't. So what? If she just went psycho like that, how's it your fault?"

"Because the stuff that causes it is to do with me Dick." Clark wasn't even sure why he was confessing all of this. Maybe he was trying to give Dick someone to blame for his parent's deaths, maybe it was just acting out his own guilt for what had happened to all the people he couldn't save. "So, it has to be my fault. It always has been."

Possibly it would have been less worrying if he had sounded melodramatic about it rather than if he was stating a very simple fact.

"Clark..." Dick trailed off as he twisted to look at the other boy. "I'm going to let your brother handle this, because I don't really have the damnedest idea of what you're saying. Somehow, I don't think you killed all those people. And you tried to save me. And then you jumped off a roof to catch your brother. That doesn't exactly put you in 'bad person' territory."

"Sorry," Clark hesitated. "You don't need to talk about this after what's happened to you, Dick, I'm sorry."

Dick's mouth twitched a little. "I just can't see why you'd think it was your fault, Clark. You're a good guy."

Clark gave a partial smile in return. "I'm not exactly normal, Dick. You might have noticed. I'm pretty damn different even as being different goes."

"Yeah, well... so?" He shrugged again, and then leaned to feel Bruce's pulse on his neck. "It doesn't make you a bad person, or make you suddenly able to beat everyone. After all, she had all of those other things in her."

"All of whom I... dealt with previously," Clark replied and exhaled as he leaned back. "How's he doing?"

"Still steady. I sort of envy him. I wish I were asleep right now." There was the sadness Clark had been expecting, waiting for. Hiding.

Clark moved around the other side of the bed, sitting next to him. "You okay?"

"No." Dick sighed that, and shook his head. "Sorry. I probably need to go back to the circus either later or tomorrow. Let them know I'm okay, see... see what happened."

Clark hesitated and then put an arm around him. "Tomorrow, Dick. We'll go with you, get things worked out the way you want," he said softly.

More quiet, then, "Thanks." For all that Dick was city smart, independent and street savvy, he was still a kid like Clark was. And he'd just lost both parents in a horrifying way.

The intercom buzzer sounded, and there was a pause before Clark heard a man's voice say, "Ah, I'm here looking for Master Wayne?"

Clark stroked Dick's hair gently, in an unconscious imitation of what Lex did to him when he was upset. "I'll just let Alfred in. He's Bruce's butler, but he brought him up pretty much after Bruce's parents were killed. I'll be right back." He got up and pressed the intercom button back. "Come on up, Alfred, I'll let you in."

"Yeah, Bruce told me about him," Dick sighed, looking down at the unconscious man that they'd been taking care of.

Clark turned, looking back at him. "Bruce really likes you, Dick; especially if he started telling you things like that. There are people who've known him for years who don't know that kind of thing about him. "

Yesterday and their matchmaking were a long way away now, and Clark just hoped that whatever spark there had been between Dick and Bruce hadn't been lost. It might be one of the only things that Dick could cling onto in the wake of his devastation.

"He's a really cool guy." Dick closed his eyes for a moment, and then shook his head. "And he's Batman. That's just so strange. But it fits."

"Lex is probably going to have something to say to him about that," Clark replied. "And he'll probably tear strips from me for blowing his secret like that. I wasn't thinking coherently." He paused. "Back in a minute, I hear Alfred."

"Right." Dick stayed where he was, half-touching Bruce. Maybe he'd be okay. Maybe.

"Alexander... Bruce...?" Alfred was just inside the entry hall, peering about for someone.

Clark walked out to meet him, still oblivious to how he looked. Dick had obviously been in too much shock to make any comment which was perhaps more of an indication of the sort of shock he was in, and Clark himself was having to concentrate so hard on keeping things together that peripheral things such as the fact he looked like he had been massacred passed him by.

"Alfred, Bruce is through here. Lex is... dealing with the police and he asked me to bring him back here. Dick and I have done our best for him."

"I see." The man looked Clark up and down, his eyes somewhat widened. "And have you treated yourself, Clark?"

"Uh..." Clark looked down at himself noticing the sticky residue all over him of his blood sticking the shreds of his clothes together as if for the first time. "No? I'm okay... yeah, I'm okay I think. Bruce, he's pretty bad, Alfred."

Clark was momentarily given the same sort of look that Martha would have given him -- the patented 'sure you're fine, uh-huh' look -- and then he moved past Clark. "I am not surprised. When does he ever come out of one of these encounters hale and healthy?"

"Hardly ever by the sound of it," Clark replied falling in behind them. "We didn't know until tonight about him being Batman. Lex is gonna throw a fit, I think."

"Master Alexander? Oh, I assume that he will. I suggest locking them in a room together and allowing them to throw fits at each other. You will spare yourself much grief that way." He seemed to generally know where he was going, but paused when they came upon the rows of doors in the upstairs hall.

"Up here, Alfred. Dick Grayson is with him... um..." Clark glanced at the older man. "Dick's parents were both killed tonight. I... don't know if I've been much help to either."

"One can suppose if he and Master Bruce are still alive, than you have been a help, Clark." Alfred gave him an assuring smile, still waiting for direction to what room.

Clark gestured. "In here, Alfred. You need anything?"

The man gave Clark a look over his shoulder, and then requested. "Tea, please. I think I have all the medical supplies that I need."

"Tea. Tea I can do," Clark replied. "Dick? Can I get you something to drink or anything?" It was almost automatic to offer though it seemed a ridiculous thing to do when he had lost his parents.

"Yeah. Coke? Something." Dick twisted a little, looking at Alfred and getting off of the bed.

"Coke... uh... okay? You want to come and see what we've got up here?" Clark asked.

"No, 's okay. I'll just stay here." He shifted, moved back a few steps to snag a chair while Alfred sorted through his medical bag.

Clark nodded and headed off to the kitchen. He could only manage one thing at a time right now but he was aware that there were things about what had happened he just hadn't looked at. He hadn't even really considered the numb aching feeling to his skin and stomach area, or the way his left arm wasn't hanging quite right because that would mean remembering it, and dealing with everything. He wasn't thinking about flying either and what that might mean. Right now, he wasn't thinking about Lex even because it was taking every bit of his focus to make a cup of tea and fetch a soda because his hands were shaking. He wanted Lex, and Lex wasn't likely to be around and when Lex came back he would need help, too, and....

He dropped the spoon on the floor and after bending a little way to pick it up, decided that was a very bad idea and left it, heading back with the drinks.

Dick was half-helping Alfred tend to Bruce, keeping him up sitting so he could wrap over his ribs. It was hard to tell if Bruce were actually conscious or not. Alfred turned away for a moment when Clark came into the room, and smiled at him as he put down the drinks.

"Clark. Thank you, that will help a great deal. Perhaps you should wash off and rest?"

"I... yeah, maybe I should change, Clark admitted as he put down the drinks. "You want anything else brought in here? Another bed or something?"

It was more to stop him stopping than anything else.

"No, Master Clark. We're almost finished here," Alfred advised gently.

"Is Bruce going.... Will he be okay?" he asked looking at Dick and the injured man.

"He'll be all right. Just some broken bones, which I see that you had already set for me, and some bruises. Sprains. A few lacerations..." He seemed unconcerned. "Do you need anything that needs tending to...?"

Clark looked down at himself, unable to judge his own condition. He felt okay. A bit numb and dizzy but okay. "I don't know," he mumbled by way of a response. He wanted Lex home. "I'll take a shower... or something."

"You could probably use it," Alfred said staunchly. He said most things staunchly.

Clark felt like an intruder somehow, in what should have been a comfortable space. Dick hadn't even looked up at him and Alfred had a knack of setting things at a distance.

"If you want anything I'll be in.... the bathroom. Help yourself to anything," he said turning to go.

Maybe Dick was just thinking. Or worried. After all, he would have been worried about Lex, if Lex had been there and quite so badly wounded as Bruce was. But Lex wasn't there. Lex was covering for all their asses.

And he was being useless again.

He barely remembered getting into the shower and initially the mess made by the caked on blood covered a great deal. It wasn't until he started noticing that a lot of the red and marks were not just caked on congealed blood that he started to really go into shock.

He was covered, his torso and arms especially, in livid gash marks. Mostly healed, partially healed and numb so he found it hard to believe they were even real.

He'd forgotten how many hits he'd taken at speed, how many times he had ran back in to face her to endure her ferocity. The first gashes had healed, the next also but a bit slower... and so on. And Helen had managed a lot of clawing and ripping in their battles. The worst was the major strike she had made to his stomach. He stared at that in disbelief, poking at the starting to heal hole that was still oozing blood. This was impossible. He couldn't be badly hurt; he couldn't feel it.

Why wasn't he feeling it? All he was feeling was shaky and ill and... okay his shoulder looked strange and felt worse.

What was he going to do? Ask Alfred for help?

There was a knock on the bathroom door, which startled him a little. "Clark...? Are you in there...?"

Clark stopped looking in horrified fascination at his body and replied, "Yeah, I'm here.... you okay?" automatically.

"I'm okay," came the answer from the other side. "Can I come in?"

"Uh..." Lex shouldn't worry and he would. Except, perhaps he needed someone to worry for him because he didn't know if he should be worried or not. Probably best to see how he was first then let him know. He grabbed a large towel and draped it around him hastily. "Yeah, come on in."

"Just finished showering?" Lex strode in a little unsteady in his usual arrogance, and closed the door behind him as he looked at Clark. "I saw that Bruce and Dick seem to be okay."

"Yeah. I think Dick is focusing on Bruce to help him cope," Clark answered, holding on to the towel tightly. "How did things go? You manage to heal yourself yet? They give you a hard time?"

"They're going to call me later for more information," Lex explained as he leaned gingerly against the edge of the wide marble countertop. "I bled on a few of them and they decided that was best." He seemed to be gauging Clark's state, and then said, "I'm mostly healed up."

"You better eat something though before you go to sleep," Clark said channeling their mom almost uncannily. He hesitated. "Lex, I think I might need a bit of help. I didn't think I did but..."

"One of the staff is bringing up donuts," Lex assured as he took another step towards Clark. "Sit on the toilet and let me see what happened. You're not okay, are you?"

"I... don't really know," Clark replied uncertainly, putting the lid down and obeying. "I was so caught up in everything I didn't even notice. It can't be that bad if I haven't noticed can it?"

"I guess not," Lex murmured as he shifted to kneel down so he could take a better look. "Take the towel off."

He reluctantly shrugged off the covering, oddly ashamed of Lex seeing him that way. It looked very bad, even if it didn't feel that horrible, although the stomach wound did ache in a rather sick dull pain now.

Lex hissed a little, reaching to touch the edges. "Jesus, Clark... Lean back a little and let me put something over it."

"I'd forgotten she clawed me so much," Clark said, obeying and feeling the need to explain himself even if it was in a slightly quavering tone. "I mean, the first ones healed okay, I guess we just went at it a little too long and the kryptonite made it worse and I just lost track of things and it doesn't hurt too much. I can't really feel all the cuts that much but my stomach hurts, and my shoulder, but I don't know what to do about that."

He was babbling, but he couldn't stop it.

"What about your shoulder, Clark?" Lex shifted his hands to Clark's side, feeling for other injuries or anything else that was obvious. And maybe it was to comfort him, a little.

"I think it's like... um, dislocated or something. My arm's not working right. Like you with your hip? That kind of thing. Like... Mom's shoulder when I hit her." Clark leaned into him, breathing in his scent. Even mixed with blood and fear-sweat it was still Lex and enough to settle him. "Sorry."

"I don't want to hear 'sorry' from you," Lex pressed gently. "All right? You took so many blows that I couldn't keep track, Clark."

"It hurt a lot then, Lex," Clark confided quietly, looking down. "I thought she was going to kill me and.... I was kinda relieved. Because that would have been better than being alive and like before if she killed you."

"I understand that, Clark. That sort of thinking. But she didn't kill you, and you didn't let her kill me." Lex leaned back onto his heels, and opened the cabinet door to pull out some gauze.

"You're okay though?" Clark asked. "I tried to help Bruce and Dick and I don't think I did much good. Not really. And I didn't really do much when it came to Helen either."

"You kept her busy, which was more than any of us could do. I got myself thrown into a generator." Lex's mouth twitched a little. "Still smell like smoke. I'll need to take a shower before I join you in bed."

Thank god. He'd had a vague thought that Lex might insist on propriety with visitors in the place. "Should I go to bed now? And wait?"

It was a silent plea, asking for permission to rest, that nothing else needed doing right now.

"Let me just cover this." That was insistence as Lex placed the gauze against Clark's chest, and then reached for the 3m medical tape. "You'll heal, but you probably need to rest, too. Donuts in bed?"

"We'll get sugar in the sheets." Clark gave a faint smile.

"Clark, you got blood on your clothes, and I'm pretty sure I pissed myself at some point. Sugar on the sheets is a great step up." No laughter, but Lex was smiling as he gently pressed the tape flat. "Now let me look at your shoulder."

He allowed that. "I don't know if you'll be able to move it alone. Or without weakening the area," Clark said. "It can wait."

Lex still pressed his fingers over it, feeling. "How does it feel?"

"Wrong," Clark replied and then grimaced as a Lex prodded around the edges of the joint "Okay that hurts."

"It's out of place. Let me try to move it," Lex murmured, pulling slowly at it.

It wasn't budging, but it was hurting. Clark's strength had returned in some measure, and made it difficult to deal with. "Ah... ah... Lex! Lex, that hurts!"

Lex eased off, and leaned back a little, watching Clark's expression. "We'll look at it tomorrow, okay? I... I'm not competent enough right now to fix this. Do you need help getting to the bedroom?"

"I'm okay. But now I'm worried about you. You took a hell of a beating out there," Clark said wincing a little as he stood. "And then you covered for us."

"Least I could do." Lex rose up when Clark did, a little shaky in the motion. When he went on, Clark decided he was probably lying. "I'm fine. I just need to take a shower and sleep."

Clark turned, using his good arm to snake around Lex and support him for a moment and to kiss him, gently and tenderly. He'd had enough of not acting on his instincts. They had always guided him when he was a child and the years he had spent denying them had done nothing for their relationship. Right now, he knew Lex needed someone comforting him. And now, finally, he could respond, even if Lex had gotten unaccustomed to the way that Clark had used to be with him. Easy, instinctual. It was almost simpler to do things that way, and it left Clark wondering when, exactly, he'd stopped. Lex kissed him back, but he also lifted his chin to break the kiss, eyes tipped up a little to look at Clark.

"So, what was that for?

"For you." Clark replied, "Because you needed it. Because I needed it." He didn't really have the words to express the feelings properly. "Because I know you need to feel loved now, because you hurt and I can feel it in you. Like I can feel you want to hold or be held."

"I see. Is this a new leap, like the flying...?" Lex seemed to be almost teasing, but only almost, as he shifted to hold Clark. Things hadn't been quite right since Helen had entered their lives, then fucked up Clark, then he'd made that deal, and.... Even if it wasn't all fixed because she was dead, it was nice to pretend for a few minutes.

"No, it's a going backward thing. Back to when we were younger and I just... knew," Clark murmured. "There are some things I should never have stopped doing. I made your life hell for a few years, didn't I?"

It was strange the way he was talking as if that time was a lifetime distant.

Given how hard and fast both of them lived, maybe it was. Lex gave a casual shrug. "I wouldn't call it hell. Why don't we talk about this tomorrow? You still need to sleep, I still need to wash up."

Clark disentangled himself reluctantly. "I'll be waiting."

He gave a final kiss and then padded out to the bedroom, snagging a robe and deciding to get the doughnuts, and some extra food for Lex. He ate a couple himself and was fully determined to stay awake when he got into bed, putting the tray on the bed next to him. Only he started to drift almost immediately.

Eventually, he heard -- half-heard -- the bedroom door open and close. A few more half-noises, then the mattress sank beside him. "Night, Clark."

And it was second nature now to curl up close, to make sure their bodies were sharing warmth and comfort one way or another. Then he could finally sleep, even if it were a sleep born of exhaustion.

The exhaustion carried Clark through most of the night, but eventually the now rather impressive pain in his arm woke him up. He groaned quietly, trying to sleep through it, but eventually giving up. How had Lex walked around for a week with a dislocated hip?

He got up quietly, not wanting to wake his brother. The gashes had faded down to a multitude of faint red tinged scars that no doubt would vanish soon.

Breakfast, he'd make breakfast or something.

Lex was still asleep. Face down into his pillow, twisted up in the sheets, deep in a completely oblivious level of asleep.

He could manage making something for breakfast, if Alfred hadn't already beaten him to it. His shoulder hurt like hell, but he could use it, right? Lex had limped around Smallville for a week without making a sound. Never mind that Lex was good at hiding things, sitting on them and being quiet, and Clark just... wasn't.

Just like he really had no clue about injuries and what to expect. He knew about pain, he probably knew more about that than his brother, rather ironically, considering his apparent strength. But he just didn't understand dealing with injuries on himself, so he followed Lex's example and just carried on like he had the day before when all he had wanted to do was run and instead he kept going back over and over, making the same mistakes.

He wasn't terribly impressed with his contribution. He padded slowly to the kitchen, bleary eyed.

"Hey." That was Dick's voice greeting him, looking up from the cup of coffee he was stirring slowly, with a steady muted clink clunk noise. It sounded like a lot of sugar in that mug.

"Hey." Clark blinked a little to focus. "Was just going to put some coffee on for everyone. Make some breakfast or something. You beat me to it."

Dick shifted his frame slowly, and looked up at Clark. "Yeah, well. You and Lex were sleeping like babies, and Bruce and Alfred were out like lights. No harm in me getting the coffee going."

"You didn't sleep much?" Clark asked quietly even as he started getting other breakfast things out, albeit a little awkwardly.

"I didn't really sleep." Dick lifted the mug to his lips, and then took a long swig. "Had a lot to think about, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah I can imagine," Clark replied "Come up with anything?"

"Not really. I need to go back to the circus today and see... what's left of it, wh.... who's left. Things like that." Dick looked down into his mug, and took another swig of coffee. "Want a cup? Lex has good taste in coffee. And the donuts."

"We'll come and.... the circus isn't going to be your only option, you know?" Clark replied. "You do know that right?"

"I know. I still need to go see what's going on." Dick shrugged his shoulders again, frowning tightly.

"Dick is there anything I can do? To help?" Clark offered lamely. "Anything at all?"

"Nah. You helped save me. Now..." Dick swallowed. "I sort of might like an explanation of what was going on."

Clark took the coffee awkwardly and sat down. "Where do you want to hear it from Dick? What do you want to know about?"

"How the hell did she get like that? That was Helen?"

"Okay. Right." Clark composed himself. "That stuff that she had on the tips of those metal gauntlets that she was fighting me with? It's meteor rock. Special meteor rock. Long time ago, there was a big meteor impact in Smallville. That's how Lex came to lose his hair. The meteors had a weird sort of radiation. And.... well, they change people. Give them weird abilities. Like... shape shifting, or throwing electricity and things. Only most of them go psycho at some point."

Clark sighed, "Helen was fascinated with it. She was fascinated with Lex because Lex is different too. And she started to do experiments on herself trying to make herself have some of these powers. Only the same thing happened. She started going psycho and got me involved."

"And decided to make it a vendetta somehow...?" Dick looked... not angry, but lost. Confused. As far as he knew, he hadn't played any part in the drama that had led to Helen's insanity.

"Yes. She got obsessive over Lex. She found out about Switzerland, and then she tried to push Lex and me apart and.... it all came to a head when I told Lex she'd told me to stop ruining his life so they could get married. " Clark sighed. "Lex told her to get out... only, by then she had already gone over the edge. She knew by then that I was different too, and she blamed me so, well long story short, she lured me up to the Castle when Lex was in Gotham and spent three or four days uh... doing things. Dissecting me, torturing... rape... whatever. I kinda went off the rails over all that. That was the big gaps in my mails to you last year. I wanted to, maybe talk to you about it some time but things have moved on since then I guess." The worlds tumbled out clumsily. "She went on the run after that. She used what she got from me then to make her strong and fast, but mainly she did it to hurt Lex. Since then she's been going around the world doing what she did at the Circus on a smaller scale, staying one step ahead of Bruce's and Lex's trackers. And getting stronger and stronger."

"Jesus." Dick took another swig of the coffee, and then moved to pour Clark a mug of it and to top off his own. "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't want to believe you. About what she did, not... I mean, not about what she did to you, but in general, it..."

"Exactly. Which is why it doesn't usually make the news. But this time it will. Lex will probably have used Br- Batman as a cover or something." Clark sighed. "She wasn't very rational at the end. All that power and everything falling apart on her."

"We should probably turn on the news," Dick noted a little absently. "But I'm not sure I want to."

"Yeah. Yeah, I kinda don't want to but we should. How are you feeling though?" Clark asked. "Up to breakfast?"

"I could go with something." Dick shrugged. Again. "Bruce'll probably need to eat. I'll get the TV set on in a minute."

"Did he wake up at all? How is he?" Clark asked relieved to be on a safer subject.

"Roughed up, but he swears he's okay." That finally got something other than a shrug -- it got a head shake. "How're you?"

"Oh, much better. Nearly okay," Clark replied easily enough. "Don't get hurt much... usually. Well all this aside I guess."

"Your arm looks a little weird," Dick pointed out as he offered Clark a cup of coffee.

"Well yeah. Yeah, there's something wrong with it. Dislocated or something. Lex said he'd look at it this morning." Clark slurped his coffee nervously. "It hurts a bit. Well a fair amount, I don't really know how bad it is."

"Uh-huh. Maybe you should go prod your brother and get him to look at it. I could probably get something going or breakfast."

"Lex needs his rest," Clark hesitated. "He might need some help though, later. Would you mind if he does?"

"No, I wouldn't mind. Go on and rest. I'll go back upstairs and get all of you when breakfast is done." Dick seemed to be urging Clark to leave. Maybe he'd needed his alone time that he'd been getting by default of everyone else being asleep.

Clark stood again, not really sure if leaving was what he should be doing. Maybe what he had just told Dick had scared him, made him hate them. Maybe the truth had cost him another friend. Fuck, he just didn't know how to handle this. "If you need me, I'll be around, yeah?"

"Yeah. And I'll be up with food soon. Don't forget your coffee.... Hey, and maybe Lex wants a cup?"

"He never says no to coffee," Clark answered. "Thanks for doing this, Dick."

"No problem." And then Dick was already turning away, pouring another cup of coffee for Clark to carry up. "I guess I have to do something since I spent most of last night being a hostage."

Clark gave a faint smile. "Well, that's not likely to be a situation that will come up that often, Dick. I'll just see if Lex is up."

"Yeah. Take this with you and don't rush back." He held the second cup out to Clark, half-trying to smile.

He took it and gave the same near smile back in return. "See you in a bit."

With that, and a pang of guilt for leaving Dick alone when he was sure he needed company even though he had been gently pushed away, he returned to Lex's room.

He sat on the bed, and then turned just to look at his brother. To watch him breathe and sleep. He was beautiful like that. Clark decided that one night he would stay awake just to watch him, under better circumstances than when he had been so ill.

"Bet you thought you'd snuck off on me, hmn?" Lex mumbled that into the pillow that he was half-clutching, and started to sit up with catlike grace. "Morning, Clark. You got coffee?"

"I'd claim credit, but Dick had already made it." Clark smiled and handed the cup over. "I had grand plans of distracting myself by making breakfast for everyone, but Dick practically shoved me out of the kitchen."

"He probably needs some time alone," Lex excused sleepily, reaching for the mug and curling his fingers around it.

"Yeah. I thought so too, so I didn't pressure him or anything. He hasn't slept or anything though." Clark released the coffee cup to the custody of his brother's grip. "He said that Bruce woke up, that he's feeling a little rough but swearing he's fine."

Lex's mouth twitched, and he hovered over the cup for a moment before he took his sip. "Sounds like Bruce is still himself, then. How're you doing?"

"Nearly healed. But my arm hurts this morning. God knows how you walked around for days on your hip if it was like this," Clark replied. He grimaced a little. "Bruce is going to shout at me, isn't he?"

"He might." Lex shifted lazily into a more upright position, still sipping coffee. "I wouldn't let it bother me, if I were you."

"It bothers me. He's Batman, Lex. He has the right to criticize." Clark shifted over next to him, close enough for body heat. "I said to Dick we'd go with him to see what was left of the Circus."

"Sounds like a good idea. Facing something like that alone could be pretty overwhelming. Since his parents..." Lex paused for a moment, and then took another sip of his coffee. "Grab my spare cell phone, Clark. Could you?"

Clark nodded and reached, winced and then reached with the other arm to get the cell phone. He turned it on and immediately it started beeping with alerts for stored messages. "Oh... shit, Mom and Dad."

"Took the house phone off the hook since I wanted to be undisturbed. I didn't particularly think..." Lex reached to take the phone from Clark, waiting.

Clark pretended to shrink back from the phone as he handed it over. "All yours, Lex. You mind me using you as a human shield?"

"Feel free to any time." Lex flicked briefly through his address book, and then dialed the farm's phone. If it didn't work, he could try the cell phone he'd gotten them.

It barely had time to ring more than once when it was snatched up. "Lex? Clark?" Martha's voice sounded just this side of frantic.

"Mom, hi. It's both of us. We're at the penthouse." He didn't go any further, because he just KNEW that a torrent was going to follow affirming that it was them.

"Oh my god, sweetheart! You father and I have been calling all night! We saw what happened on the late news and realized it was the circus where you and Clark were going. I was hoping I was wrong about the night I thought you were going but... Lex, are you and Clark okay? They said it was Helen Bryce! You father was all for grabbing a gun and coming in after you!"

"Did they report that she was dead, too?" Lex half-asked. "We're really all right. Clark's still a little hurt, but I'm going to try to fix that in a minute or so. Just letting the coffee set in. I'm sorry we didn't call sooner."

"Right now I'm just pleased to hear your voice." Martha said, relief evident in her tone, "Later I might just shout a little. We'll toss a coin to see which of us gives the 'stay in touch in a crisis' lecture. What's wrong with Clark? She didn't... what did she do to him?"

"She dislocated his arm, I think. It's still bothering him, but we both healed up overnight. Do you want to talk to Clark, Mom?"

"Just for a moment. The pictures on the news were horrifying, Lex." Martha sighed, "I know you're going to be busy but... keep us up to speed, okay?"

"I promise. We'll call back tonight. I don't know when we're coming back to Smallville, but we'll keep in touch until then. Here, Mom? Here's Clark." Lex twisted a little towards Clark, and offered the phone to him.

Clark took it and took a breath. "Hi, Mom... No, I'm fine really." He looked over at Lex experiencing a similar conversation to the one Lex had just been through. "Well it, yeah... Yes, that was my friend Dick's parents... No, he's here with us, he's okay, but shaken up. Bruce was hurt, though... Yeah, I'll tell him. Yeah, and that. Love you, too, Mom. And Dad. Sorry about worrying you both... no, we won't. Bye, Mom."

He hung up and then leaned into Lex. "She was really worried. It must have looked really bad on the news."

"I'm amazed you didn't already turn it on to see." Lex slipped an arm around Clark, juggling his coffee cup to his other hand. "We were there first hand, though. I think we all saw enough."

"I think," Clark rested his head against him, "I think it would have made it real. I've been doing good job of not thinking about it, Lex. There's too much to deal with. It feels... surreal. "

"What part?" Lex wasn't saying what he thought of it all, though he was implying things. "Tell me about it."

"All of it. I can't believe I flew. Was that real? I've dreamed of flying, but that wasn't real. And Helen... I was losing, Lex. I would have lost... I had lost," Clark replied. "I thought she had killed you."

"The end result is what mattered. She didn't win; I didn't die. You... wouldn't have let that happen."

"That's my point, Lex. She could have. I tried over and over to stop her and she more than matched me." Clark looked troubled. "You protected me, and Bruce and Dick defeated her. My contribution was... nothing. A distraction maybe."

Lex's mouth pulled into a frown, and he jostled Clark. "If you hadn't been there, we would all be dead right now."

"Bruce found the way though. Batman beat her. He used his mind, Lex, and I... didn't." Clark looked up at him. "Is that the way it's going to be?"

"Way what's going to be?"

"That I'm the distraction, the muscle? But when it comes down to it, I don't really do anything," Clark asked. "Because if I'd been smarter maybe I could have stopped it before it happened, and Dick's parents wouldn't be dead or all those other people. If I'd known what to do when I first heard her..."

Lex's fingers wandered a little, stroking Clark's good shoulder. "If only I hadn't conducted those experiments with her at my side. If only I hadn't gotten involved with her and strung her along. If only I had killed her when I knew she was getting dangerous."

"Lex... see now, I knew you'd do that," Clark murmured, "This isn't your fault, it never was. She was doing experiments before she met you. And killing isn't something that should be an option."

His brother gave a snort, and patted Clark's shoulder. "I was just showing you what you sound like to me right now, Clark. Listen to your own words: 'This isn't your fault'."

Clark smiled hesitantly and shrugged, wincing automatically. "I'll believe that when you do, too."

"A lot of mistakes were made," Lex told him, "But hindsight is retrospectively too clear to do us any good."

"I want to fix it, Lex, but I don't know how," Clark confessed as if that was a terrible secret.

"You can't just... fix things, Clark. You never could when you were little, could you?" Lex's fingers kept up their idle massage. "People have to fix things themselves. You can just... help to make it easier. You can't fix Dick, for instance. But you can be there for him."

"You mean I shouldn't try to?" Clark frowned. "I don't want to screw things up. I don't know when I should dive in and when I should walk away. I feel that because I could do something I should."

"Doing things, Clark, isn't the same as fixing. I know you do a lot of things to help people. You just have to use your judgment for when to help and when to walk away."

Clark leaned back, "I love you, you know that?" he said and curled into him some more. It seemed that was all the answer he needed to solve any dilemma.

"I know." Lex took a sip of his coffee, and smiled a fraction. "I love you, too. And I have since we were just kids. Don't ever forget that."

Clark kissed at his neck. "I still make bargains with Santa every year, you know."

"Oh yeah? For what?" It didn't matter that they weren't talking about the matter at hand. They'd have to deal with it enough very soon. It was nice to relax like that, drink coffee, and just feel Clark.

"Same one as I did that first time. That he could have all my presents back as long as my brother would still love me." Clark kissed him again. "I believe in Santa Claus, Lex. He's doing a good job so far. And I get to keep the presents, too."

It finally, finally got a laugh out of Lex, and he twisted to kiss Clark on the mouth instead of just 'allowing' Clark to kiss his neck. "Now I wonder how that works out..."

"I'm just a very, very good boy all year?" Clark smiled, delighted to have lightened his brother's expression even for a moment. "Very... good." And he punctuated that comment with a more serious kiss.

"Are you going to show me just how good...?" Lex leaned a little, but set his coffee aside. No sense in spilling a good cup.

With uncanny, impeccable timing that only a first-class butler could achieve, there was a polite knock at the door just as Clark was getting a little more serious with his body contact.

"Master Alexander, young master Clark -- I have brought your breakfast."

Lex didn't go still with fear or shock. Instead, he shifted, slipping out from under Clark and picked up the robe he'd put on the night before, hiding bare skin away from Clark's view. If he didn't want to use x-ray vision, that is. "Thank you, Alfred. One moment."

Clark flopped back on the bed with exaggerated melodrama even as Lex opened the door to the impeccably served breakfast.

"Courtesy of young Master Dick. He also said that your brother was injured and you might be in need of assistance?"

"Yes." Lex took the tray; it was impeccable even if it was scrambled eggs and left over donuts with fruit that had clearly been butler-scavenged from the fridge. "His shoulder is dislocated, and I'd rather not take him to a hospital. Particularly since they're already slammed with injuries right now, I'm sure."

"I understand, sir. Would you care for me to come back at a more convenient time?" Alfred asked.

"Do you happen to know how to relocate a dislocated shoulder?" Lex asked, a little curiously.

"Of course, Master Alexander." Alfred replied as if all butlers were gifted with this ability. "Master Bruce frequently has such injuries."

"Then maybe after you've had a chance to eat breakfast yourself, Alfred, you'd like to give me a hand."

"Of course. I await your convenience sir," Alfred replied and gravely departed with the dignity that always seemed to cling to the man.

Lex closed the door only slowly, and with a sigh. "One day... I'm going to get him to drop that act. Somehow. But for now..." A gesture to the tray as he headed for the bed. "We have food."

"Better get my strength up if you're going to yank my arm around in a minute," Clark murmured, wondering if he could get the mood back.

"Actually, yeah. That's just my intent." Lex set the tray down, and reached for his cup of coffee from the bedside stand. "Tell me how the scrambled eggs are, taste-tester."

"Yes, my Lord Lex." Clark mimicked Alfred's tone and scooped some of the fluffy looking egg. "Mmm, not bad, but still suspect. I better try some more."

"Go on. That's probably why Dick gave us so much." Lex slid the tray closer to Clark, and sat on the bed again.

Clark ate as if he hadn't had anything for days, finding himself hungry. Toast vanished as well, and anything else that came near him. He stopped short of eating Lex's share as well. "All yours."

Lex prodded a fork into the eggs, and then lifted a bite to his mouth. "I'm not too hungry, so if you want what's left..."

"No, I've eaten enough." Clark laid back closing his eyes a moment. "What do you think will happen with Dick?"

"That depends. His parents' wills will have to be taken into account. If he has any other relatives, he'll probably have to live with them. Or he can be considered emancipated, and on his own." Lex chewed another forkful of the eggs, slow and thoughtful about it. "I suppose the latter is the most likely, given how independent he is."

"He shouldn't be completely on his own," Clark replied thoughtfully. "I mean I know he's been independent, and he's putting up a strong front, but he and Bruce are pretty similar. He's hurt badly, Lex, but he doesn't seem to think there's anyone he can show it to. I don't know if he has any really close friends. I mean he knows a lot of people, but all the moving around..."

"If he's so much like Bruce, then I wouldn't call it a front." He alternated a sip of coffee with eggs, and then jabbed at a slice of melon. "We'll see what happens at the circus. And then we can offer to help him out. Bruce might do the same. I don't know."

Clark looked relieved. "As long as he has something. I mean, all of us have lost our biological parents. I guess I got off easiest on that since I don't really remember mine." Though that had left him with a whole other set of issues that normal adopted children never had to face.

Lex gave half a nod in agreement. "It's easier when you're younger, in a lot of ways. You have... other options to move onto, other people to parent you. Alfred did that for Bruce, Mom and Dad for us... When you're Dick's age, no one does. He'll need friends to help him out."

"He shouldn't be alone," Clark said decisively. "What did you tell the police about what happened? Did they know we were there?"

"They knew we were there." He finished his coffee, and went back to eating the eggs slowly. "I told them that you left through the Executive Escape. Remind me to show you where that is sometime. I gave them the super-powerless version of what happened. Neither you nor I fell off the roof. She fought with you for a while, and then Batman tackled her, while you and I were down and out. Dick got himself free to help Batman, and Batman landed the killing blow moments after you and I started to rouse ourselves."

Clark nodded. "I could stick my arm in a sling for a bit. You're good at cover stories, Lex. Thank God you are otherwise I would've probably spilled my secret a hundred times over."

Lex's mouth twitched a little. "I don't mind covering for you. Apparently I inherited my father's oration skills."

"You do have a fantastic mouth. And tongue," Clark agreed, leaning over him again to brush over his lips.

"Oration, not oral skills," Lex chided. But he still kissed Clark back, even if they both tasted like eggs and coffee.

"There's a difference? You voice sounds sexy," Clark purred back. "You have this way of dipping your voice that reaches right into me."

"I think later I'll have to prove that my hands dip just as well." Lex tipped his head back a little, teased a kiss against Clark's lips, and picked up his fork again.

"Later. You can kiss my shoulder and make it better." Clark shifted so Lex could continue eating as he nuzzled in the crook of his neck

That was nice, Lex decided. Very, very, nicely distracting. Clark's hair, a little wild from having recently woken up, tickled teasingly against his skin. "I promise that I will."

Clark wasn't indulging in a specific prelude to sex, although he'd never say no; he was just acting on his instincts to express his feelings and that resulted in warm attention to Lex even as he ate. "Good, something to look forward to. Not looking forward to the arm thing though." He sighed a warm huff of air over Lex's skin.

"I can warn you that it's going to hurt badly, but it feels better when it's in the socket the way it should be. We may need to get a little kryptonite to get it to move," he hedged a little, sliding his free hand over Clark's back.

"That's okay, I figured as much," Clark replied. "It's just pain. It'll go eventually."

"As far as pain goes, it's a pretty natural one," Lex tried to soothe.

"You want to do this now? It's kinda making me a bit nervous," Clark admitted.

"If you want to, Clark, " Lex agreed.

"...Yeah," Clark nodded. "Is that okay?"

"I think everyone else will have eaten already. Why don't you stay here and finish off your coffee, while I round up help? You know where the band is..."

Clark nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Lex."

"I'll remember that you thanked me when you try to hit me for twisting your arm in a few minutes." Lex winked, and then kissed the edge of Clark's cheek. "Back in a few. I'll check on Bruce and Dick while I'm at it." He paused. "I think I'll get dressed first."

Clark very nearly laughed at that, and decided he ought to at least slip on some pants himself and make the room presentable for everyone coming back even as Lex left. He then lay back on the bed, rather apprehensive, half hoping that Lex took his time, and the other half of him wanting him to hurry up and get it over with.

"So you're going to hold his torso still, while I pull his arm out? Here's to hoping it won't pull my arm out," Lex quipped as he opened the bedroom door some minutes later. "Thanks for helping, Dick, Alfred."

"It's no problem. Not after all the help you guys gave me. Bruce would help, but he's probably got too many broken bones."

"It should be a comparatively easy procedure Master Alexander," Alfred said seriously. "It is something I have performed many times on Master Bruce. Some degree of brute strength is required."

If Alfred had done it, Lex and Dick seemed to decide, and then they'd be just fine. "Then you can direct us, and we'll be brute force for you," Lex said as he moved to one side of the bed."

Clark was trying not to look worried as he sat up. "Do I have to do anything?"

"Just sit up, Master Clark, we'll do the rest." Alfred advised. "Now then, Master Lex, you take hold of the arm and try and pull it towards you and up and out a little to the side. Young Master Dick, if you would hold onto him and pull back at the same time... that should do it."

Clark hastily put the band onto a low setting, the pain of the shoulder flaring up.

"Right, I can do that." Dick moved to hold onto Clark from the other side, wrapping his arms around his chest and leaning back as Lex took a good hold of Clark's upper arm and wrist, and started to pull just as instructed.

The only problem was that it wasn't really doing much except hurting. Clark made some muffled noises of protest as sweat beaded up on his brow, a very unusual sign for him.

"Harder, Master Lex." Alfred encouraged.

"Dammit." Lex pulled harder, watching Clark's expression as Dick levered him the other way.

It didn't appear to be working, proving there were times when super strength could be a definite liability. "Lex... up the band," Clark managed in between his failing attempts to be stoic.

Still pulling, Lex slipped his hand to Clark's wrist and did that -- exposing Clark to a full burst of the stuff, rather by accident.

Clark immediately went limp against Dick and his arm proved more tractable even if the sounds he was making had reverted to those of a person so shocked by pain they couldn't even manage a scream. The green tinge flooded up his arm and immediately his body temperature rose to such an extent it was very noticeable.

"And it's just supposed to go into the socket?" Lex asked Alfred, a little sharp and rhetorical as he pulled enough to get it free at last.

"Jesus..."

"That's it, Master Lex, now push it back and you'll hear when it is in the correct place." Alfred did not seem unduly concerned. "Master Dick, it's very important he doesn't move right now."

"Working on it," Dick countered.

"Okay..." Lex started to push Clark's arm back in, trying to be careful but still forceful enough.

It was just well that Clark was weakened because he started to writhe around as if trying to get free, making inarticulate noises of protest and pain. But Alfred was right, it really was very clear when it was the right place as there was an audible 'clunk' and Clark yelled.

Lex let go, and reached for the band right away, closing it

The change was as dramatic in reverse as it had been in his deterioration. Suddenly the tinge of greenness faded, the heat reduced and Clark looked normal aside from breathing a little heavier. He sat up rotating his shoulder a little. "That feels a lot better."

"What the heck happened?" Dick asked, staring a little at the band as Lex removed it from Clark's wrist. He slowly started to let go of Clark, looking a little amazed.

"We just put Clark's arm back in his socket, I think."

"Good as new," Clark acknowledged, brushing his hair back into some order. "Thanks."

"You have no after effects, Master Clark?" Alfred asked with only a slight questioning lilt in his voice indicating any surprise.

"No, no. I'm fine now, Alfred."

"Thanks for helping," Lex told them both sincerely as he pocketed the band. "Is there anything Bruce needs done to him, since we're into rearranging bones?"

"Young Master Clark and Master Dick, did a good job of setting the bones for me, and cleaning him up," Alfred replied, "He will no doubt awaken soon and be trying to get up."

"Restraints, then?" Lex asked blithely. "Will those be needed?"

"Believe me, Master Lex, it wouldn't stop him." Alfred gave a very slight smile. "Master Bruce is very adept at getting out of most forms of restraint."

It was probably just as well he didn't elaborate as Clark found his mind disappearing off into some very surprising areas.

Lex's mouth twitched. "Yes, well. Sometimes one tries things despite previous empirical evidence. Clark, hey. Why don't you go use the shower and get dressed? I'm going to help Dick get another change of clothes, and maybe find something for Bruce."

"Sure, yeah," Clark nodded and then admitted. "I just grabbed the nearest random things last night."

Alfred inclined his head. "It is at least more suitable for going out in public than young Master Grayson's original attire."

"If it were night, I would've been fine in my costume." Dick seemed close to laughing, and just shook his head. "Thanks."

"It's no problem, Dick. Let's go rifle the spare closet for things." Lex gave Clark a smile, then moved to lead Dick and Alfred out of their bedroom.

Clark watched them go with his own slight smile. Dick was strong, he seemed to be coping, and Lex was right. All he could do was just be there if Dick needed help. He couldn't force him to take it and he couldn't protect him from the things that needed to be done.

And there was another lesson to be learned as well; that perhaps it wasn't him who would do these things at all.

Perhaps there was someone else more suited for the job.

Watching other people suffering was emotionally draining, particularly when one was trapped in a state of ineffectuality, no matter how sympathetically words were turned. Lex had hardly been able to keep Dick's spirits buoyed through the hard work of finding out who had lived and who had died.

So it was okay that the cup of coffee in his hand had more than a little brandy flavoring it. And it was okay that he'd abandoned Dick and Clark and Alfred to the wilds of his entertainment center. He had one last mission for the night -- sitting down and talking with Bruce.

Bruce was notoriously difficult to make casual conversation with at the best of times. As injured as he was, the conversation could go one of two ways; either the drugs or painkillers would make him comparatively garrulous or he might just pass out.

Alfred had pointed out that in terms of meaningful conversation, it was toss-up between which of the two methods might produce the most meaningful results from Bruce. His dry sarcasm and wit aside, the attention he lavished on the man bespoke his concern rather more than his unflappable demeanor. It was obvious he was taking the situation seriously, and that he hadn't been joking about Bruce being too stubborn to know when he was really hurt.

Lex had only needed to creak the door open a little to catch Bruce's eyes, and then he closed the door behind him. "Do I get to lecture you about resting, Bruce?"

"You may as well. I won't guarantee I'll listen," Bruce replied looking at him. "Alfred has a range of lectures he dusts off depending on the occasion."

"It'd be the same one you gave me when I ignored you about my heart, Bruce," Lex drawled as he moved closer to the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine," Bruce said immediately, almost in a reflex and then paused. "Much like the incident at Excelsior with those Irish twins in the year above us and their gang... remember?"

"You weren't fine. Bruce, you spit out a tooth into the sink." That was invitation enough to perch on the edge of the bed, watching Bruce's expression. Why was it all right for Bruce to lecture him, but not the other way around?

"I bounced back, eventually," Bruce replied. He inhaled slowly, "This is a reasonably frequent occurrence Lex, and I don't want you to worry about it. I've had worse. Undoubtedly I will experience worse in my time."

"So tell me why you want to make it harder on your body by trying to move a lot, hmn? Alfred told me about the hassle it was to get you to settle down. Dick agreed."

"Because there's no time to convalesce," Bruce replied. "Seeming as how Clark stripped me of my secret, there is no reason even to lie about why."

"Clark didn't mean to. He's a kid. He's still learning how to be... subtle." Lex held out his coffee mug towards Bruce. "Here, have a sip."

"You sure that's allowed?" Bruce replied shifting painfully. "Knowing who I am could put you all in danger." He looked at Lex. "You haven't said anything about it."

"It makes a hell of a lot of retrospective sense, Bruce. I can't say I'm really surprised, and I'm more than a little proud." Lex's mouth twitched a little. "Now I know what you were studying in Asia other than swordplay."

"More martial arts than you can shake a kendo stick at, Lex." Bruce smiled just a little in response. "I am mildly surprised. Alfred rather kindly takes it on himself to poke fun at me so I keep perspective."

"I can't blame him. You have a tendency to take yourself very seriously." Lex took his coffee cup back after a moment, still watching his old lover who was still his friend. It was good for both of them that they'd branched out, gone their separate ways, in a way. "What surprises you?"

"Your lack of reaction. Perhaps my everyday persona isn't as convincing as I at first thought." Bruce closed his eyes a moment. "But then perhaps many things aren't as I first thought."

"Bruce... I live with an alien. I grew up in Smallville, which can produce some pretty frightful things. I seriously dated a woman who turned into a mass murderer." Lex opened his mouth for a moment, and then simply closed it, taking a moment of pause. "That you dress up in a costume and beat up bad guys at night is sort of refreshing."

"You know how to put a man's issues into perspective, Lex." Bruce sounded a little bit weary. "How long it will last, I don't know."

"Bruce... I'm trying to lighten you up a little. Not even liquored coffee is going to do that, though, will it? You're doing... a really impressive thing in Gotham. I'm just hard to shock."

"Forgive me, Lex. I've just been handed a plate full of humility and it's been hard to choke down," Bruce replied. "I'm coming to the realization that I had underestimated the power levels of whom I was facing. Underestimated the whole concept of... superhuman, metahuman whatever the best term would be. You may remember that I don't take well to being found... wanting."

"You held your own impressively," Lex pointed out, "And you killed her. I don't think you were really... wanting. Maybe you did underestimate her, but we all did."

"Lex, I've always considered myself a match to any of the so called super-criminals I have come across in Gotham," Bruce replied. "More than a match if truth be told, although there have been occasions where the conflict has been close. The point is that today, had Helen been serious about killing us, any of us, we would never have known it because we would have been dead in an instance. True metahumans, superhumans like... Clark.... though I could beat them given time, all they would need is one good hit and I would be dead."

"That's true." No sense in denying it. Bruce knew Clark's secret, why shouldn't he know the extent of his strength? "I found that out when I went after him. Even though I was something more than human at the time, he still could have caved my skull in with one good punch. He's very careful to be gentle with things."

"And perhaps that's lulled me into a false sense of security about the threat posed by those like Clark." Bruce looked up at Lex, "Forgive me, but you have to admit that there is that potential in him."

"Physically, I'm sure there is. But not mentally, Bruce. Clark doesn't pose a threat to anyone." Lex had spent enough time trying to drill that possibility out of Clark's mind, talking to him, assuring him, everything he could do.

"Perhaps. But your own encounters in Smallville, this confrontation with Helen... it shows a worrying trend, Lex." Bruce winced as he shifted, "Much as it galls me to admit it after all this time as a lone crime fighter, I couldn't have done this without help. And believe me, I never thought I would say that and if anyone asks I'll probably disavow saying it."

"Then I won't ask you about it." He'd just remember. "Do you know if there are more people of your mindset out there?"

"One or two, in differing places. There are more cropping up all the time but to date I've concentrated on researching the 'villains' as the heroes seem to be a solitary sort, " Bruce replied.

"Historically, that doesn't work well." Lex leaned back on one hand, and finished off his liquored coffee. "Even in comics, heroes work together."

"You suggest we take our model from comic books?" Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You plan on making yourself into Warrior Angel, Lex?"

"I'd need super powers that didn't involve expanding my stock portfolio carefully. Can you imagine me threatening someone with bankruptcy sometime in the next three years? They'd fear me as a super hero, oh yes..." Lex shook his head. "No, Bruce."

"I would point out that I have no specific power except that of my natural intelligence," Bruce answered quietly. "And you know that there are areas in which you surpass me... while I'm reveling in the novelty of humility. It won't last. Make the most of it."

Lex snorted, but pressed on. It was almost a little heartening to see Bruce talking that way. "You have superb physical prowess, Bruce. You plotted for this for years. You knew what you were going to do when you went overseas, didn't you?"

"Application and training, Lex. Nothing 'meta' about it. Nothing uncontrolled either," Bruce replied. "You think about it; there's always someone stronger, smarter, faster than you are. That's the rule of the universe I have to work with. Now think if that applies to someone like Clark. What then?"

"Then more than one person would be needed to take them down if they're going to try to hurt people. With superior strategy and superior numbers, you have a much greater chance of winning."

"What exactly are you proposing, Lex?" Bruce said after a long moments thought.

"I guess I'm proposing the idea of you not fighting against the odds when you don't have to. Do some research. I'll help. Find other exceptional people who do what you do, and approach them. Network. In the least, set up some sort of emergency response."

Bruce seemed to consider this fact. "A network that would include... Clark?"

"Possibly." Lex seemed hesitant to agree. No. Was hesitant. Clark was his little brother; Clark was his lover. That gave Lex rights to two counts of protective shielding from danger. "That would be up to him."

"Are you going to be involved, Lex?" Bruce asked pointblank. "Because you have to admit that your brother could be as much a powerful resource for us as he could be a threat. You may not want to think of these options, but someone has to."

"I can't see Clark ever being a threat to you, Bruce." But he could understand how Bruce could think of Clark as a threat having just battled Helen. "He's as human as you or me inside where it counts, and more careful of people's feelings than either of us."

"And humans are capable of terrible things, Lex." Bruce sighed and lay back. "I'm a professional cynic Lex, more so than you. I believe in the worst case scenario, it's all I know how to do. But, your idea has merit -- with one condition."

"Being...?"

"He needs some training. He should have been able to take her down. His inexperience nearly resulted in all of us being killed," Bruce said flatly. "There will come a time where he cannot rely on his powers alone. He will have to be able to think. He has courage; I'll give him that. He was terrified but he kept launching back in there knowing he was losing. That in itself gives me the most hope."

It pulled at Lex's nerves. "Bruce, Clark's willingness to fight kept you alive. Of course he's inexperienced. He's in high school."

"All the better that he's in the habit of learning." Bruce's hard demeanor dropped a little. "I told you I still had issues, Lex. I won't apologize for that though I will admit that, yes, I'm doing Clark a disservice. Clark is an innocent, Lex. I don't know how he's retained it, but he has an inherent capacity to care about things, and it hurts him. Dick told me that Clark regretted that Helen was dead... do you have that sort of forgiveness in you? If she had done to you what she did to him? I know I don't. Maybe it's because it's something totally alien to me that makes me doubt it, I don't know..."

"I would have staked her to the ground, possibly in glee, if I had have been Clark," Lex said flatly. He still couldn't imagine, even after he'd watched the DVD's. "But you and I aren't Clark. He's still young, and I want him to have the chance to grown up the way he wants to. If I do otherwise, our parents will kill me."

Bruce gave a slight smile. "You know, I just find it supremely ironic that I know in the future some of the most important people in history are going to be Jonathan and Martha Kent. There will be students writing dull deconstructive dissertations on them and their influence on the powers that shaped the world. You think we should tell them?"

Lex took it as a joke and shook his head. "No, it might go to their heads, Bruce. We wouldn't want that." Neither of them would care, anyway. Martha's favorite thing to know was that she was a good mother and that they loved her. And they did. And they loved Jonathan. They were... or at least tried to be the best parents anyone could have. Not perfect, but damn close. "Clark and I haven't made it easy on them. The least we can do is respect their wishes."

"Yes, we can do that," Bruce replied. "We'll talk about this some more when I'm a little more coherent. I'm finding it difficult to concentrate right now."

"Do you want me to get Alfred? I think he has more pain meds. I know I have a few..." Lex started to stand up. "We'll talk about it more tomorrow. I'll hedge it to Clark and see what he thinks. If he's not eavesdropping by accident."

"No, it's best not to, I've had enough of them," Bruce replied, his dark eyes shadowed and unreadable. "Go, he'll need you. The reality will start settling in for him now; it generally does."

"Time delay," Lex agreed. He gave Bruce a smile, standing beside the bed. "I'd give you a hug, Bruce, but I think I'd crack something. I'm glad we're all alive."

"It's my preferred mode of existence," Bruce agreed. "You and Clark rest well."

"You, too, Bruce." Lex hesitated for a moment, musing over saying or doing something more, but there wasn't the opportunity. The door opened, and Dick peered in.

"Hey, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Not at all. I was just leaving to find Clark." Lex gave Bruce one last glance, then headed for the door. "Goodnight."

Bruce pushed himself up just a little, trying to ease his discomfort. "Thank you Lex, good night. Come on in, Dick."

Dick watched Lex leave, and then moved forwards. "Hey. Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm conscious," Bruce replied in his soft voice. "This is probably seen as being better. I'm not too sure, though. Sit down, Dick... if you wish."

Dick sat down, right in the spot close against Bruce's legs that Lex had been warming. "You didn't miss much by being unconscious."

"Aside from all of you helping to relocate Clark's shoulder and your trip back to the circus." Bruce paused a moment looking directly at him. "How did that go?"

"It.... went." Dick looked sideways for a moment, then leaned forwards a little. "Yeah. It went. Clark stood there looking sad, and Lex bustled me through the legal and financial things. I couldn't figure out where to start, but he knew. Found the lock box where.... Mom kept everything, and helped some of the other people with that. We.... a lot of performers died. She'd set an explosion off to the side where we waited between acts. Then we went to... ID them for the police. While we were at the hospital, I went to see some of my friends. They were pretty badly hurt. Jack -- the lion tamer. He's okay, but he lost his lions..."

Bruce looked at him, his eyes mirroring Dick's loss. "And you?" he asked softly.

He was very quiet for a moment, looking off to a point somewhere past Bruce's right shoulder. "It's all gone."

"What are you going to do?" Bruce asked him, seeing an echo of himself in this moment: an echo of those moments when it all came crashing in about what had been taken from him and the devastation left in its wake.

"I don't really know." Dick swallowed, and looked down to the sheets. "Lex was talking about insurance policies and emancipation, and their wills, but... I... just can't think."

"Dick, it's okay to be upset. I do understand, probably more than Lex and Clark, even though they would more than most," Bruce said quietly. "You're allowed time to hurt, there's no rule that says you have to pretend things are normal."

"I don't know how things should be. I..." Dick's voice broke, and he swallowed again, eyes starting to look suspiciously wet. "They're dead. They shouldn't be."

"You're right, they shouldn't." Bruce agreed reaching out a hand to lightly touch him in a rare gesture of sympathy.

"We were supposed to do another show today..." Dick swallowed, but his voice was showing the strain of everything he was holding back. "If, if something had gone wrong with the act, it might've been easier, a risk we all knew about and accepted, but..."

"...but they were murdered," Bruce completed the phrase and the emotion. "And nothing can ever prepare you for that shock. The unfairness, the sense of wrongness, the need to demand that things should be changed because it is wrong."

Dick could only nod. "I thought that... killing Helen might make it feel better, but..."

"Vengeance is a bitter thing," Bruce said softly. "Double edged. I thought the same once."

Dick shifted, moving to sit up beside Bruce's hips so he could talk more quietly. "It should help. It... it doesn't bring them back, though."

"No, it won't." Bruce paused. "I'm not going to tell you time will heal all. The loss will always be there, but there are two options. Either it rules and defines you, or you rule and define it. Maybe I'm meant to mutter soothing phrases, Dick, but that's not my way. Saying it's going to be all right doesn't make it happen. "

Dick nodded, but he also made a choked noise, as if everything that was happening was just starting to set in for him. "I know. Nothing... nothing short of going back in time and killing her would work..." It sounded like Dick had already been advising himself of the same thing Bruce told him, but the mantra was wearing thin.

Bruce hesitated a moment. Hindsight taught him that no one should be alone in a moment like this, or they might turn out like he did. With more issues and shadows and pain in them that anyone could hope to unravel. A life twisted into a knot of darkness. He forced himself to sit up and reached out with his least damaged arm to hook the young man in. He felt old, so old in the reflection of that fresh grief, his own past illuminated by the similarities between them.

It was easy to pull Dick in, for the young man to lean into Bruce. It wasn't half as close as the feeling of slick, sweaty aroused body against body, as they'd been the night of the dinner, but it was also somehow more intimate than that had been. Dick was tense, trying to keep himself in control.

"Let go," Bruce murmured. "It's okay, I won't let you be alone."

Let go. It was easier to say than it was for Dick to do, but he finally sighed, half-holding onto Bruce. The sigh turned to a hitch, and the younger man finally started to cry. Quietly.

It didn't matter then that Bruce was hurt, that points of touching were hot and fiery pains. He'd made a life out of that pain and he could embrace it to himself, much as he did Dick. He could give Dick that security to let go when he needed to and rather hesitantly he felt a different need grow in him. Not just to fight but to protect. To care, or more. Dangerous feelings that had never yet led him to happiness, only to more sacrifice. Common sense told him he should pull away, shouldn't risk himself and yet...

And yet where was his place in the world if not embracing danger on the edge of darkness?

He pressed a kiss into Dick's soft hair and pulled him tighter even than he believed possible.

"God..." Dick made another choked sound, then mumbled, "I'm glad I know you. All of you. I..." It didn't make sense. He, both of them, hardly knew the other, but there was so much in common, so many ways that they saw eye to eye.

"We've had to make our own family, Dick. A family we've chosen to be, rather than one we were born into," Bruce stroked his hair with bruised fingers. "One that never asks you to forget everything you've lost, but tries to give you everything it can without taking anything away. You'll be welcome in it if you wish."

He made a noise that was probably agreement, and nodded beneath Bruce's fingers. "Any option's better than nothing... You guys..."

"We'll be here for you," Bruce replied and then amended in a soft voice, "I will always be here for you if you want me."

Another nod, and Dick pulled back a little, wiping at his face. "God, I'm probably making all of those, those broken bones you have hurt."

"It's okay," Bruce replied. "It's fine. Stay."

Dick tried to laugh, almost smiling. "You do a good job acting noble."

"Alfred taught me everything I know about manners and nobility," Bruce answered dryly. "Stay."

"I guess I have to, then?" He was still trying to joke, even if he got up to get a tissue from the box. Never mind that they were probably kept there for a different purpose than people blowing their nose.

"Definitely," Bruce murmured. "Stay, Dick."

"You're pretty beat up, Bruce." Dick was slowly pulling himself together, wiping his face, blowing his nose, breathing better. It wasn't over like that, nothing ever was. But at least he was willing to accept help from Bruce, from his friends. He moved to pull the recliner closer to the bed.

"It's something I'm used to. I would appreciate the company myself," Bruce replied, surprising himself. "There room enough for us both here Dick."

"Are you sure?" Dick asked, hesitating as he stopped dragging the recliner.

"I'm sure," Bruce replied. "You might even stop me trying to get up in the night. I'm notoriously nocturnal."

"So there's a risk you might try to hobble out of bed for another piece of Alfred's pie? Clark says that it's almost as good as what his mom makes. And better than Lex's chef, which started some sort of argument that went over my head." Any reason to change the subject was something for Dick to jump on. He moved towards the bed, finally.

"One day I'll get Martha Kent and Alfred in a kitchen together and let the top chefs of the world despair." Bruce half-smiled. "This side is better than that one."

"Better compared to...?" Dick skimmed his borrowed t-shirt off, and tossed it at the recliner.

"Compared to the large number of broken ribs on the other side. I'll feel comfortable with you close there, if you don't mind," Bruce responded.

Dick shimmied out of a pair of his jeans that they'd taken with them from things that had been salvageable at the circus. "Okay. I don't want to scratch you up with my clothes, so."

"I would appreciate that." Bruce settled down, feeling the warmth near him. There was a compulsion in him, an instinct he couldn't suppress for all the fact it was probably the wrong time and moment. "Dick... would you consider staying with me? Come back with me to Gotham?"

"Are you sure that you'd even want that?" Dick moved to settle against him, and the borrowed boxers he was wearing were less than scratchy when he moved close to Bruce. "I'd move. I do it al-- did it all the time."

"It's not my intent to tie you down, or limit you, Dick. But you should have somewhere, with some people that you can call home," Bruce answered. "You forget I know the value of travel myself, and I want you to have all the opportunities you can."

Dick laid his head down, staring at the side of Bruce's face. "I've traveled everywhere. Done lots of things. I think... I don't know. It'd be nice to have a pl-- people to call home when I get back. Before it was just me, and my... parents."

"Trust me, you'll have a choice. I'd be willing to bet that Lex and Clark would offer the same thing," Bruce replied quietly. "I know them. I would understand if you took their offer, or something else entirely."

"They already did. I don't think I'm cut out for country life. Clark was raised out there, no matter what he is, and Lex just... has this feeling of wonder when he talks about the farm. But it's not for me." Dick sighed, closing his eyes. "It was a nice offer, though."

"You'll visit, and you'll understand," Bruce replied. "I think most of Lex's wonder is bound up with Clark. But there are some for whom cities are their natural habitat and I'm one of those people. I would... like your company Dick. As a friend, as my Ward even if that suits you. Under whatever circumstances you prefer."

He smiled a little, but it faded into something sad. "I'd like better circumstances. But..."

"This isn't an offer made from pity, Dick." Bruce turned and looked directly at him, his dark eyes clear and open in a way that was all Bruce and little of Batman. "It's an offer I'd like to think I might have come to anyway over time. I trust my intuitive reasoning, and it was telling me that there was more between us than just a good time."

"You're still a good time." Dick didn't open his eyes, couldn't see the change in Bruce's expression, but he could hear the different quality of his voice. "I mean, if none of this had happened. Better circumstances. I'll think about it..."

Bruce's fingers stroked through his hair gently. "Your choice, Dick. Now get some rest. I know you didn't sleep last night."

Dick nodded, soothed by the stroking. Maybe it wouldn't work out well, but it would... work. He had options, and he had to keep moving forwards. There wasn't any going back or changing what had happened. Not for him, Bruce, Clark or Lex. As with all endings it had brought pain associated with the change and Dick was not going to let that destroy him for all loss. He wasn't completely alone, not even now.