This is less a second chapter than a second ficlet set in the same universe. I'll probably continue like that, writing short ficlets.

Ima: There' some mention of how Lex Luthor got visitation rights but I'll probably write another ficlet from Luthor's POV which will deal with it in more detail.

Family bonding

Diana stopped short when she found Batman sitting in front of the monitor. Wasn't he supposed to be at Mount Justice? But then she caught sight of what he was watching.

"You're having Superboy's visits with Luthor recorded?" she asked.

Batman smirked. "Of course."

She shook her head. "I still can't believe you allow it." Before he could reply, she sighed and continued: "I know, I know. We didn't really have a choice. Although I still don't understand why any judge would even consider giving Luthor custody over Superboy."

"They try to keep a child with his biological family. Since Luthor can prove that he is Superboy's "father" and has managed to appear reformed for over a year, a judge might decide in his favour. These supervised visitations are the best compromise we could reach outside of court," Batman explained.

She sighed again. She knew all that but that didn't make it easier. "Well, Clark's certainly not helping. We wouldn't have to worry about Luthor taking advantage of Superboy if he weren't so damn awkward when he's interacting with his son. Or in the same city, really." They hadn't seen signs yet that Luthor might hurt Superboy or use him, at least J'onn hadn't picked up anything. And Superboy seemed to relish having a father who actually took the time to see him regularly and take an interest into him. From what J'onn had mentioned, they steered clear of 'shop talk' (because that would get awkward even faster than Superman accidentally encountering the boy, considering they were supervillain and young hero), so they instead talked about – well, a lot of different things. J'onn had actually started asking her about some of the references Luthor used concerning Greek mythology and history. If he weren't a supervillain, she'd definitely have to have coffee with him...

"I don't think we'll have to worry about Luthor taking advantage of Superboy. If anything we'll soon have to worry about the opposite," Batman said, interrupting her thoughts (thankfully).

"What do you mean?" she asked, intrigued.

By way of an answer, Batman opened another video file, this one from the last visit.

"...and that's what people – like your friend – mean when they say 'that body'," Luthor was just saying, a slight almost...tender smile on his lips.

"Lex?" Superboy asked, looking at him out of those blue eyes that could seem so innocent often. "Why did you become a villain?"

And Luthor, Diana was very amused to see, actually gaped.

"I...I mean you're really bright. Even Robin and Batman say so. And from what they say on the television your company does all those great things to help people. So why did you decide to fight Superman?"

Lex opened his mouth but then closed it again, obviously not knowing what to say. He stood abruptly, crossing over to the window and staring outside.

"Lex?" Superboy asked tentatively, slowly going to him. "Did... did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to offend you. I...I know I sometimes..."

"No. No, you didn't offend me," Luthor quickly reassured him. "You just...took me by surprise. You know, I haven't thought about that in years. Actually," he glanced at J'onn. When he inclined his head, agreeing not to listen for a moment – obviously because he knew that Batman would catch whatever it was – Lex continued, voice lowered, "I don't know anymore."

Diana was surprised. This would have been the perfect opportunity for Luthor to start influencing Superboy but instead he hadn't used it. She looked at Batman. "Do you think Luthor actually cares for... his son?"

Batman regarded the picture on the monitor thoughtfully. "We'll see."

Just a short ficlet for now. I'll write more about their relationship in the ficlet from Lex' POV I mentioned.

For those of you wondering about how LL acts in the ficlet: 'my' Lex tends to be rather influenced by the first few seasons of Smallville. Therefore I think that, no matter how much he planned to use Superboy in the beginning, he'd probably be able to relate because they share the whole father issue and he can understand the whole 'I'm only a replacement for my father but he doesn't love me because I'm not perfect'-feeling (plus there's that nostalgia issue, you know, the whole "You're about the same age your father was when I met him")