Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.

Also, if you have not read my other stories, it would be helpful to do so before reading this one. The chronology goes: Brothers in Arms, Where Do We Go From Here, Tragedies of the Past, Betrayal From Within, Future Sins, Reestablishing Bonds, Parents and Children, New Allies, Rivals or Friends, Public Enemy Number One, Double Date, Mind Games, Solar Complications, Mentors and Pupils, Brother Against Brother, Calm Before the Storm, Opening Moves, Isolation, The Great Father and Son Contest, Fugue State, Fallout, Holidays, Confidence and Envy, and Betrayal.

Mandatory Downtime, chapter 1

Location: the Kent's farm

Kon looked at his brother. Max was in his costume as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Aren't you supposed to be laying low?" he asked.

"I don't think it's necessary," Match responded.

"You just did that undercover assignment," Kon pointed out. "The villain community is out for your blood."

"As opposed to normal? Come on, let's fly out to the Titans."

"Why don't you talk to Cyborg first?"

Match rolled his eyes and pulled out his communicator. "Fine. This is Match; I'm coming out to the Tower, okay?"

There was a pause and Batman's voice answered. "Negative. You're on reserve status until it's safe."

Match frowned. "You're not serious, are you?"

"I know you'd try this end run; that's why I left instructions that any call you made be forwarded to me."

Match turned off his communicator and looked furious. "Man, this sucks!"

Kon shrugged. "Enjoy your time off. I wish I got a vacation."

Location: the Kent's farm, a short time later

Martha and Jonathan left to go to their weekend dance class (taken at Martha's insistence), leaving Max home alone. He had already tried calling Dan, but he was helping his father at the mechanic's until late afternoon.

Max looked around and muttered, "Bored."

He thought about getting in contact with Mrs. Chen, but they had an agreement that he would only contact her once a month unless it was an emergency. His lack of anything to do did not constitute one. He worked a little on one of his personal projects but quickly realized he wasn't in the mood.

He decided to work on the Kent's tractor. It wasn't really used anymore, so there had to be something wrong with it. He took out the tools and started taking it apart. Pieces of it were soon scattered around, and Max was examining and cleaning them.

Location: Titan's Tower

"What do you think Match is up to?" Cassie asked.

Kon shrugged. "He's probably working on some serious project or cleaning. He knows how to keep himself busy."

Location: the Kent's farm

Max realized he had underestimated the amount of time the tractor would take when Dan and his father pulled up in their car.

"What the hell happened here?" Mr. Reiner asked, looking at the scattered tractor parts on the ground.

"I guess I was bored and got a little too involved in this," Max admitted.

"You're a very strange boy."

"I'll help you put it back together," Dan volunteered.

"Are you really going to use this if it gets put back together?"

"There's the possibility that we might plant some crops," Max noted.

Dan, who had heard the Kent's constant comments about being glad they didn't have to farm at their age, asked, "By 'we' do you really mean 'if I get bored again?'"

"It would be a waste if nothing's done with this land," Max argued weakly.

"You'd plant a field because you were bored?" Dan's father asked, incredulously. "How weird are you?"

Max turned to Dan. "Am I weird?"

"Yes, but it's okay," Dan reassured him.

Location: Titan's Tower

"Kon, I think you need to see this," Robin called out.

Curious, Kon went over to the computer Robin was at. "What's up?"

"These are images of the Kent's farm from the JLA's satellite," Robin said, pointing at the screen. "Do you think there's any good reason for Match to be surrounded by tractor parts?"

Kon sighed and put a hand to his head. "I bet he was bored. My brother is so weird."

Location: the Kent's farm

Mr. Reiner ruffled his son's hair. "Do you need me to help with this?"

Dan automatically smoothed his hair back into place. "Nah, I should be okay here. I'll call you when I'm ready to come home."

"Would you like to have dinner here?" Max offered. "I can easily whip up something after you're done with work."

"It's not going to be anything strange like monkey brains, is it?" Mr. Reiner asked.

"No, it's difficult to get fresh monkey brains in this country. I've had frozen ones shipped, but they just aren't as good."

"He's joking," Dan assured his father, who was looking a little nauseous. "He's got a strange sense of humor, or whatever passes for one."

After his father left, Dan took a look at everything on the ground. "Let's get started."

Dan was explaining the proper procedures to putting an engine back together when he abruptly stopped. "You're not paying attention to me."

"That's not true," Max protested.

"You have that distracted look on your face. Don't lie to me!"

"Okay, I wasn't really focused on what you were saying," Max admitted.

"I knew it!"

"But I was really paying attention to you. You've been in that mechanic's uniform for five, six hours now?"

"Are you saying I stink? Oh, you're in trouble-"

Max leaned in to grab him by the arm and pull him close. "Your scent has been driving me crazy ever since you got here."

Dan reddened. "I think we can get this back together in thirty minutes. Let's do that first."

Max nodded.

Location: the Kent's farm, later that evening

Jonathan and Martha were a little surprised to have guests for dinner and more surprised to find that their tractor had been looked at and was all ready to be used.

Jonathan took it in stride, but Martha was a little more perceptive.

"Max," she said, "you were bored, weren't you?"

Dan laughed as Max blushed and nodded.

"Why don't we try to find you a hobby that doesn't involve disassembling farm machinery?"

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