"Smallville wasn't always like this, you know.  So quiet.  Back when I was growing up, it seemed a lot more ...."  Clark trailed off, looking into the distance like he could actually see something in the pitch-black night.   Probably he could.

It was unusual for Clark to talk about the past, at least around Richard.  Maybe because a lot of his post-Smallville, pre-five-year-hiatus stories involved Lois.  In regards to the town Clark had grown up in, the town which they were now visiting, Richard had gotten a vague sort of "Kansas-cows-corn-pie" story from Lois.  Clark himself talked mostly about his mom, and not much else.  Richard had occasionally wondered if Smallville consisted of a single farm, run by the redoubtable Martha Kent, who corralled cows in the morning and baked pies all afternoon.  

"A lot different," Clark finally finished.

"Reallly?" Richard asked, aiming for casually interested and non-judgemental.  Now that he was actually in Smallville, leaning on a wooden fence, his stomach still full from homemade apple pie and his shirt still damp from washing dishes, he was beginning to think Clark's life was a lot weirder than he'd realized.  Who lived like this?  Clark's "different" could be anything from 'one of the chickens once laid two eggs in one day' to 'aliens landed in our front yard.'  Actually ... that had really happened, hadn't it?  Richard mentally raised his upper weird limit to a whole flotilla of aliens, who held barbecues twice a month, and shopped at the local farmer's market.

********************************

It had seemed like such a good idea when Lois was explaining it.  She had been selected as part of the media entourage that would accompany a group of world leaders as they did a two-week tour of Africa.  "You should do something," she'd said.  "Something fun for Jason.  Something cultural."  She had then proceeded to lay out their itenerary.  "Just some ideas," she'd insisted, but in Lois-speak that meant she'd already bought the tickets and made the reservations, and it was better to just agree right away and avoid any lectures, arguments, and/or apologies that might follow.

Richard still wasn't sure whether the stop to see Clark's mom was supposed to be "fun" or "cultural."  So far, it had been nothing like he expected.  There were no cows, for one thing.  ("Not anymore, dear," Martha had told him.)  There was a dog, though.  Named Bessie.  Jason seemed fascinated by Bessie, and Richard was already coming up with a mental list of reasons why no, they really couldn't get a dog.  

Martha was either a saint, or she had been forewarned, because she greeted the three of them with open arms and no awkward questions.  They ate, and toured the farm, and drove into town for ice cream, and ate some more.  Jason threw the ball for Bessie about a hundred times, and Richard tried not to act surprised every time he stumbled across another high-tech gadget covered by a decorative cloth or tucked behind a basket of garden tools.  Martha, it seemed, liked to stay connected.

Still, she bundled them all off to bed early, with promises of more exciting Smallvillian activities the next day.  Richard tried to imagine what was left; he was pretty sure they'd driven the length of the town on the ice cream trip, and none of it had really seemed fascinating enough to warrant a return visit.   (Although Jason had firmly declared that cows were his new favorite animal and he would never ever eat them again.  Richard wondered if he should convert his mental list into reasons why no, they really, definitely, couldn't get a cow.)

**********************************

Nighttime was Clark's favorite time of day in Smallville.  Even now, when so much had changed, there was something magical about it -- the darkness, the potential, the beckoning freedom.

Clark hadn't slept through the night at his own house since he was 15.  Daytime was for school and work, chores and family.  Nights -- nights were for everything else.  Who had time to sleep?  

**********************************

"I think we should visit the castle today," Clark said, over breakfast.  He said it with a straight face, so Richard assumed he wasn't kidding.  Then again, it was hard to tell sometimes.

"A castle?"  Jason was hooked.    

Martha, on the other hand, looked worried.  "Oh, Clark," she said.  "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Mom ..."  Clark gave his mother a look any parent would recognize.  Silent communication hummed in the air between them.  "It's fine."  Now Richard was hooked too.  What was that all about?  

"What castle?" Richard asked.

More speaking looks between Martha and Clark.  "It's a funny story, actually," Clark said.  "I'll tell you on the way over."  Ah.  The Castle -- and it had definitely taken on capital letters in Richard's mind -- was apparently not appropriate breakfast table conversation.

****************************

"Is it big?" 

"It's pretty big, yeah.  Bigger than the farmhouse."  

They were on the road.  So far, Clark had been spared any explanation by Jason's stream of questions.  On the plus side, Richard had learned that the castle was made of stone, and didn't have any dungeons, but it did have "several underground levels."

"Is it bigger than our house?"

Clark glanced at Richard.  "Maybe," he said.  "It's hard to compare."

"Is there a king who lives there?"

"No, no king.  Nobody lives there right now."  

"Why not?"

"In this country we don't have kings and queens," Clark answered.  "We have a president instead."

"Why?"

"Oh look," Clark said, sounding faintly relieved.  "We're here."

They turned a corner and Richard's jaw dropped.  

*****************************

Clark had a lot of time for thinking, especially when he wasn't sleeping.  There were certain things in his life he was willing to accept, because sometimes the trouble you know is better than the trouble you don't. His growing powers, his loneliness, his fear of living forever; they were all just part of the landscape.

Once he added Jason into the picture, however, that landscape changed drastically.  Personal secrets were one thing; witholding information that could make a child's life easier and safer was completely different.  It was time to fill in the (highly edited) short version of his history that he'd given Richard.

******************************

"D'you know, Lois has never asked me about this place?" Clark asked.  "I always figured her tact got ahead of her curiosity for once, or maybe he was better at scrubbing files than I thought."

They were on a roof, and Clark wasn't looking at him.  Jason had gone exploring, which Richard thought was probably one of those things Lois would never have allowed, but Clark had just given him a funny look, and said, "It's perfectly safe here," and Richard believed him.

("Can Jason hear us?" he'd asked, and not even gotten a look that time.

"Probably," Clark had answered, and if he was fine with it, Richard could be fine with it too.)

"Who?"

Clark laughed, but his voice sounded strained when he answered.  "Haven't you guessed?  Who else would put a castle in the middle of a cow pasture?"

Richard was stunned by the sudden realization that this was Clark, sharing personal information, in his own peculiarly circular way.  Maybe it was the Smallville air?  Luckily, Clark didn't actually seem to expect an answer to his question, because Richard was busy battling the urge to ask him if he was feeling all right.

"I mean, it's mine now, sort of, but I didn't put it here," Clark said.

"What?"  Richard managed to get the question out, and Clark finally looked at him.

"I --"  Clark looked hesitant for the first time since their arrival, and he took a deep breath.  "There's some things I'd like to show Jason.  Things I'd like to tell him, someday.  The castle's sort of -- part of it, I guess.  But you're his dad.  I want to tell you first."  There was a pause.  "I want to tell you," he repeated, emphasizing the "you" slightly.

So this was what a turning point in your life felt like.  Richard said, "Okay," and then instantly wished he'd been more articulate.  Clark didn't seem to mind, though; he just focused his eyes firmly back on the horizon and started talking.

"The castle originally belonged to Lex Luthor."  Clark paused, and Richard managed (barely) to not say anything.  

"He had it flown in stone by stone when I was 15, then hit me with his car when he was driving into town to take charge of one of the Luthor plants.  That was the day I found out I was an alien.  And mostly indestructible."

Richard ruthlessly suppressed the urge to leap up, find out if Lex Luthor was still alive, and then go find him and punch him.  Repeatedly.  Preferably in the face.  He'd hit Clark with his car?  He pulled his focus back as Clark kept talking.

"We were practically in each others' backyards.  I was manifesting new powers like crazy, and it seemed like every week people were stumbling onto meteor rocks -- kryptonite -- and turning into things I never wanted to see outside of comic books and bad movies."

"My parents were so scared," Clark said. "For me -- of me, I sometimes thought. I was terrible at hiding my powers, worse at hiding my feelings.  One day when Lex asked, I just told him. I needed someone I could talk to who already had scarier things in his life than me."

Richard could hear birds singing as soon as Clark fell silent. It was hot; they were sitting in the sun, but the castle stone was cool under his hands.  He waited.  

"It took us a while to figure things out, come up with workable solutions.  Lex helped me learn how to deal with my powers and still stay under the radar of ... things I wasn't ready to handle then."

Richard's brain filled in the "things" Clark had glossed over -- there would have been hundreds of groups itching to get their hands on the kind of power Clark held possessed, even as a teenager.  Lionel Luthor would've been at the front of the line, and Richard wondered what kind of "workable solution" had been used for that particularly thorny problem.

"Lex was always a planner," Clark said.  "We had contingencies on top of contingencies. Training, research, ... suppression of the media," Clark added, with a sideways look at Richard. "And when things really hit the fan, he was more than happy to leap into the spotlight and use up all the attention until things blew over."

"High school by day, superhero training at night?" Richard guessed.

Clark laughed.  "Something like that."

There was another brief pause before Clark continued. "Lex was exposed to the meteor rocks when he was a kid -- that's when he lost his hair, and they made him heal a lot faster than a regular human. Everyone else we found who'd come in such close contact with the rocks -- they got really messed up.  We knew the probabilities were good it would happen to him too. How do you think he knew where the Fortress was in the Arctic? We went up there together to scan him with the AI, see if there was anything we could do to fix things."

"And?"

"We managed to put it off for a while, delay the inevitable. Long enough to make more plans.  Transfer assets, wipe files, that sort of thing."

And wasn't that a scary thought. "Did you know this would happen?" Richard asked, incredulous.

"What, that I'd become Superman, and he'd become my arch-nemesis?" Clark asked dryly.  "Not really, no. This wasn't exactly on our top five wish list."

Richard was trying to work up the nerve to ask what had been on the top five list, when Clark abruptly changed the subject.  "Jason's headed back," he said.  We should probably break for lunch."

********************************

Clark thought things were going fairly well.  He'd gotten through at least the first part of the conversation -- which he'd mentally dubbed the "how I became best friends with Lex Luthor" segment, without too much trouble.  Unfortunately, they still had the (likely to be much harder, he was figuring) second part left to go --  the part about Jason.

In truth, he didn't know what to think about Jason.  According to the Fortress' AI, Clark shouldn't have been biologically compatible enough with humans to have played any part in his conception.  And he was almost -- maybe not 100%; he'd certainly seen crazier things -- but definitely 99% sure Lois was completely human.  On the other hand, Jason did seem to have several unexplained abilities.  Or rather, abilities that could have more than one explanation, including the large quantity of pure Kryptonite he'd been exposed to right before he'd stopped having asthma attacks and started being able to listen through walls.  

For himself, Clark was perfectly content to not know whose DNA was involved; curiosity wasn't what had driven him to journalism.  As far as he could see, Lois and Richard were devoted parents and Jason was a happy and healthy kid.  What Clark did want to know was whether or not he was going to be allowed to be part of Jason's life -- regardless of parentage or powers, he wanted the answer to be yes.  Still, he wasn't so clueless that he didn't know any conversation about that would have to wait until Lois was present.  If that had the side effect of putting off any potential conversation until later, well, that was just an unexpected bonus.

**************************************

"So what were the top five?"  

Richard tried to sound casual, but he was incredibly curious.  Lunch was over, and they were exploring more of the castle.  Actually, Jason was exploring, somewhere up ahead, and he and Clark were ambling through the hallways after him.  Richard thought the complete emptiness of the castle was a little disconcerting, but Jason was practically bouncing with excitement.  Clark looked surprisingly mellow, which made Richard freer with his questions than he normally would have been.

"Hm?" Clark asked, sounding distracted.  He shook himself and looked around, almost as if he was surprised to see empty rooms and Richard walking next to him. "Oh, with Lex?"  He ticked the answers off on his fingers.  "Spontaneous recovery, meeting someone with healing abilities, alien intervention, time travel, and alternate dimensions.  That was my list, anyway."

"Wow."  Richard didn't know what else to say.  'Your life is so weird,' came to mind, but he was pretty sure that a) Clark already knew that, and b) he wouldn't appreciate the reminder.  He was spared having to come up with anything better by the ringing of Clark's phone.

"Kent speaking," Clark said.  "What?  Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker."  Clark took the phone away from his ear and pushed a series of buttons.  "All right, what's going on?"

Richard heard a tinny voice coming from the phone.  A very annoyed voice.  "Speaker?  Why?"

"Because I'm on vacation, Bruce.  I'm not on call."  

"You're not on vacation any more.  There's someone here looking for you, and I don't want him in my house.  Hell, I don't want him in my city."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, he's contained.  But -- you're not going to like this.  He says he's Lex Luthor."

Clark froze.  Carefully, he asked, "Is he?"

There was a pause from the other end of the line, which Richard could only assume was Bruce Wayne.  "I don't know.  He looks like Lex, and he knows stuff that Lex knew, but he's not ...  I think you need to see for yourself."

**************************************

Clark reminded himself to breathe.  Not that he actually needed to breathe, at least nowhere near as often as he did, but it  helped him focus, and it was good to keep up the habit.  He took one deep breath, and then another.  His first instinct was to fly immediately to Gotham.  His second was to ask Richard and Jason if they'd be all right, then fly to Gotham.

He did neither.  Regardless of what she thought, he actually did listen when Lois yelled at him.  Most of the time.  Always when she was talking about something important, or when she put things in helpful bullet points.  Like, 'stop and think before you fly off without us,' and 'don't ignore our opinions when your decisions affect our lives.'  

So he said, "Hang on," to Bruce, and stuck the phone in his pocket.  Richard was staring at him in shock, and Jason had joined them at some point, tucking his hand into Richard's and looking excited.

Jason said, "Are you going to go see Mr. Luthor and Mr. Wayne?  I want to go too."

Clark said (recapping, since he thought assuming Jason was eavesdropping on every conversation would set a bad precedent), "Bruce Wayne is on the phone, he says a person claiming to be Lex Luthor has shown up and is asking to see me."  He added carefully, "I'd like to go to Gotham and see for myself what's going on."

Richard said, "Well, let's go," and Clark blinked.  Really?  "It's okay if we come, right?" Richard asked.  "I just don't think you should do this alone."

Clark didn't really know what to think.  It did feel nice that they wanted to come, though.  "We'll have to take the car," he said.  

"None of your friends have super-advanced teleportation abilities?" Richard said.  

Clark was pretty sure he was joking, but he answered anyway, already thinking about other things.  "One or two, maybe, but it's only for emergencies.  Because of the team-up problem."  If he'd left immediately, he could've been in Gotham already, finding out what had put that odd note into Bruce's voice. By car, it would take hours. Maybe he could just -- Richard's voice interrupted his thoughts. 

"Okay, give me your phone." Clark stared at him. "What? You can use mine to call your Mom, so she knows not to expect us back for dinner. I'll explain what's going on to Wayne. He's got a fast car, right? Maybe he can meet us halfway." 

On the other hand, maybe there were some advantages to not doing things alone all the time. 

********************************************* 

Gotham was a creepy city that Richard thought probably only got creepier at night. And Clark was a terrible driver. Those were the two things clearest in his mind when they arrived at Wayne Manor.  Bruce Wayne swept down the front steps to meet them, with an expression on his face that Richard could only describe as a scowl. 

"Finally," Wayne said. 

"Where is he?" Clark asked. Richard wasn't sure why he didn't just use his x-ray vision, but maybe that broke some superhero code of conduct -- thou shalt not use x-ray vision on a fellow superhero's residence, or something like that. "What happened?" 

"He appeared in the foyer and said he wanted to talk to you. I told him I was going to call the police, and he asked me not to." 

"Really?"  Clark sounded surprised.  Richard wondered if Wayne was being purposefully vague, or if Luthor had literally "appeared" inside the house.

"No threats, no lackeys, no kryptonite, no cameras. It seemed ... unusual, for him, so I called you. He's been playing video games with Tim and Dick ever since." 

"What?"  

"I know, but there's not that many options for keeping evil geniuses out of trouble. This was the only one I didn't think you'd yell at me for." 

Richard thought that was finally the moment when Clark would dash off, faster than a speeding bullet and all that, but somehow the four of them ended up trooping up the stairs and through the massive house together. Which he was starting to think might be a bad idea, since Jason was right there with them, and he'd already had one traumatic Lex Luthor experience, which should be more than enough for anyone's lifetime. But then they'd arrived, and there was Luthor, wearing an Gotham U. sweatshirt and howling with laughter as a brightly colored cartoon character leapt up and down on a even more brightly colored mushroom. 

"I'm telling you, there's a secret level!" someone said.  More laughter. 

Wayne cleared his throat loudly, and said, "Visitors." 

Silence reigned for precious seconds; Richard had time to wonder if he should grab Jason and make a dive for the exit. 

Then Clark said, "Lex?" and his voice was so hesitant, Richard suddenly felt that urge to punch Luthor in the face all over again. 

"Hey Clark." It was like the rest of them weren't even there. And Richard could see why Wayne had called Clark instead of the police, because the person who followed up that greeting with a gentle "You okay?" didn't sound anything like the Lex Luthor who'd been terrorizing Metropolis for years. 

Clark gave a tiny laugh. "Sure, Lex. You?" 

"You know how it goes. I'm pretty sure I just became some alien med student's thesis project, but basically fine." 

"Aliens?" 

The word was barely out of Clark's mouth when Richard's ears popped, and the room was suddenly a lot more crowded.  Two Clarks, two Luthors, two Richards, and some extra  people he'd never seen before.  Maybe it was the conversation he'd just been listening to, but at that moment Richard would've bet a million dollars the extras were aliens.

"Hi everyone," the second Clark said cheerfully.  "Don't worry, we're from the future.  Everything's fine, we're just here to help with the explanations."

"And we've got about fifteen minutes," second-Luthor said, checking a small device.  "So we'll make it quick."

The group split up, with the aliens (if they really were aliens) heading for a (wow, really angry looking) Bruce Wayne and his wards.  Second-Clark and second-Luthor had grabbed their counterparts and were engaged in serious-looking conversations on opposite sides of the room.  Second-him approached casually.  He looked older, unlike Clark and Luthor, who looked almost identical to their current-day selves.  

"Hey," the second him said with a nod.  "Hi Jason."  Jason stared at him with wide eyes.  "I'm just along for the ride; no great wisdom to impart or anything.  Got any questions about the future?"  

The older him grinned, and Richard was struck by the feeling that he would somehow, contrary to all logic, end up coming out the other side of this experience even more laid back.  He wasn't sure if that was reassuring (apparently the future didn't include an apocalyptic meltdown that he was going to be in charge of preventing) or worrying (there would come a point in his life when time-travelling with aliens and Lex Luthor seemed normal).

Presented with the opportunity to pick his own brain about future events, Richard found himself drawing a blank. 

"Is the future nice?" Jason asked.

Future-him smiled.  "Yeah, it's nice.  Worth the wait."

"Can we trust him?" Richard wanted to know.

"Who, Lex?  Well, he really is cured of the kryptonite poisoning.  He's still Lex Luthor -- I think diabolical's in the genes, but he mostly uses his powers for good now.  I'd trust him with my life, if that helps."

"Where's Lois?  Is she okay?"  

"She's great; just drew the short straw on this little trip.  She's back at home, covering for us."  Richard raised his eyebrows in obvious question.  The other-him shrugged.  "This isn't exactly what we said we were going to be doing with the time travel device when we signed it out.  It's a little tricky, visiting your own past -- it helps to have someone on the other end push the button to bring you back.  They tried to explain it to me, but it's pretty far beyond my understanding of temporal anything.  It works, that's all I know."

Jason piped up again.  "Where am I?"

"You're at school," future-him said.  "Alternating between learning and getting into trouble, if the reports I keep getting from your teachers are any indication."  

Another question popped into Richard's head.  It was random, but since they'd already covered the important stuff... "So, why is Clark so bad at driving?"

"Is he?  I don't know, really.  Lack of practice?  Could be the super-senses, too -- that's what he  usually blames when he walks into stuff."

Across the room, future-Clark announced their time was almost up.  "And I am not a bad driver," he added.  Richard blushed, but his future-self laughed.  

"Sure you're not," he said.  "Come on, let's go home."  

Apparently, hugging was a big thing in the future.  The Luthor's were hugging each other, the Clark's were hugging each other ... Bruce Wayne looked like nobody had better even be thinking of hugging him, so the aliens were exchanging hugs amongst themselves.  Richard looked at his future-self, who was looking back at him.  They shared a quick hug before future-him bent down to embrace Jason.  

Then everyone was moving, and waving, and all the time travellers disappeared.  Richard's ears popped again.  

"Well, that was interesting."

************************************

There really was no good way to tell Lois that yes, she'd missed a major news event that he and Clark (and Jason) were right in the middle of.  Or that Lex Luthor was back, but aliens and time-travellers had vouched for him, so instead of locking him up, they were sitting around Bruce Wayne's game room making awkward conversation.  

Any way you sliced it, that phone call was bound to contain a lot of shouting.  Richard was more than willing to put it off for a few more hours, especially since he didn't want to miss anything.  Not that the awkward conversation was anything to write home about, but with two superheroes and a former supervillain all in the same room, it couldn't stay boring forever.

Tim, who'd been fussing with a computer, set it down on the table in front of Bruce (apparently meeting time-travellers and aliens meant you got to be on a first-name basis with everyone who'd shared the experience) with a flourish.  "There," he said.  "Now when they start calling, we can all hear."

"Calling?"  Richard asked.  

"A temporal event with an alien energy signature?  You're about to get a Who's Who tour of everyone paying attention in North America.  Don't worry, there's not as many as you might think."  

Someone's phone rang.  Bruce sighed, but hooked it up to Tim's computer.  "Wayne Manor," he said.  "Hello Oliver."

Tim leaned towards Richard and whispered, "That's Oliver Queen.  He's really nosy.  Bruce doesn't like him much."

"Bruce!  Is everything okay over there?  We picked up the strangest readings earlier."

"Yes, thanks, we're all fine here.  Nothing to worry about.  Tell your friends, will you?  It's going to be a long day if they all feel the need to check up on me."

"I'll pass it along.  Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Very sure.  Thanks for calling though."  

Bruce ended the call, looking irritated.  His phone rang again almost immediately.  Instead of leaving it connected to the computer, he grabbed it and stalked into the hallway.  Richard looked at Tim questioningly.  Tim looked at Dick, who shrugged.  "It's probably Selina," he said.

"Catwoman?" Lex spoke up for the first time.  He suddenly had everyone's attention.  "What?" he asked.  "Word gets around, you know."

Richard's attempt at a question was interrupted by yet another phone call.  Dick flipped his phone open as he connected it to the computer.  "Hey Pete," he said.

"What's happening at the Manor?  I just tried to call Bruce, but I got kicked to voicemail."

"Yeah, he's talking with Selina, we think.  Did your program really pick up weird stuff happening here?"

"If the weird stuff was a temporal portal opening twice, yeah.  I just got back from class and saw it -- thought I'd call and make sure you were all set."

"We're good.  We've still got visitors, but everyone who wasn't supposed to be in this time has gone home.  Actually, would you mind doing us a favor?"

There was a pause.  "What is it?"

"Well, we've got Lex Luthor here.  Turns out he was being affected by kryptonite poisoning when he was being a villain, and he's been cured now.  Can you pass the word?"

"Is Superman on board with this?"

"He's here too; it's cool."

"His villain, his call.  I'll tell Matt and Reed and let them spread it around."

Richard saw Lex repeat "your villain?" to Clark, who looked embarassed.

"Thanks, Pete.  We appreciate it."

They chatted briefly about Pete's class, and whether or not he was going to pass it, and Richard wondered who "Pete" was.  He also wondered if there was going to be any trouble when everyone else in the room realized that Richard wasn't actually part of their secret club.

That was when the butler walked in, holding -- of course -- yet another phone.  "The Xavier Institute is on line one," he said calmly.  

"Oh, this is always a good one," Tim said.

"This is Logan, is Bruce Wayne around?"

"This is Dick Grayson speaking; Bruce is on the other line.  Did it really take you guys this long to notice something was up?"

"No, it took the kids this long to find someone willing to make the call.  Wayne's not too social, I'm guessing."

"That was awfully nice of you."

"Not really.  They gave me twenty bucks, plus they're in charge of dinners for the rest of the week."

"Let me guess; your computer says we had a temporal anomaly here earlier."

"I've got a first temporal vortex opening at Wayne Manor, 1549 hours, with six travellers -- three aliens, three duplicates from the future.  Second vortex opening fifteen minutes later, same location, same  six taking the return trip.  And I've got Lex Luthor, Clark Kent, Richard White, and Jason Lane all currently at your location, along with the usual residents.  Am I close?"

"Wow.  That's a little creepy, actually.  We're all fine, though.  Lex Luthor's back on our side, if you want to pass that along."

"Cyke'll probably make me fill out a form.  Still, good to know."

The call cut off.  Apparently Logan wasn't exactly the most social person either.  

"That's probably the last of them," Tim said.  "Now we can eat without being interrupted all the time."

"I'm hungry," Jason said.

"I could eat," Clark added.  

And just like that, they were all headed for the dining room, and Bruce was back, looking slightly less dark and brooding than he had when he left.  Jason was talking with Lex about a science fair project, and Richard figured he could safely put off calling Lois for at least another hour or two.  He heard Clark laugh, and looked up in time to see a brilliant smile on his face.  Yeah, life was good.