Clark watched the action below, frowning as his father stumbled and fell. Kryptonite, he thought.

There was a scraping sound behind him, like a leather shoe scraping on metal and he looked around, poised to strike, staring in exasperation at his friend. Dick looked back at him.

"What are you …

"… doing here," Clark finished. "My dad thought I should tag along behind."

"Yeah, Bruce thought the same thing. Back up plan."

"That's exactly what my dad said."

"Shame they didn't consult with each other," Dick replied. "What's going on?"

"They've got Kryptonite," Clark told his friend. "I just saw Dad go down. There's only one thing that can do that."

Dick nodded. "I'm guessing they got hold of Lex's stash."

Clark frowned, wondering why Lex would have such lax security. Then again, he could have just handed it to them.

Batman was struggling with three men. Clark guessed they had powers of some kind. There was a guy with big muscles who looked strong enough to even beat his father. He started to move off the rooftop, but Dick stopped him.

"Are you nuts? You go down there, you'll end up like your dad. You're vulnerable to Kryptonite too, remember?"

Clark thought about that for a second.

"Okay, I get that, but if we don't do something, they're gonna hurt both my dad, and yours."

"Bruce isn't my dad," Dick said, an odd expression on his face.

"He might as well be," Clark pointed out. "I mean, he adopted you, didn't he?"

"I guess." He looked thoughtful. "Huh, you know, I never really thought of it that way. Him being my dad, I mean." He shook his head. "Anyway, let's think about this for a minute."

"We so don't have time," Clark told his friend. "Who knows what they're going to do to them?"

Dick bit his lip. "Yeah, you're right." He looked down again. Clark could see Bruce still fighting with the three men and his father was struggling with the man holding the Kryptonite. Catwoman was just standing there, watching, clearly waiting for something to happen.

"Okay, you deal with the guy with the Kryptonite and get it as far away from …"

Just as Clark began to outline his plan, there was a blur of movement in the darkened alley. A figure was doing somersaults toward the group. He frowned, watching as the figure landed on their feet, raising their head. Catwoman looked annoyed.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, you haven't met her yet. That's Black Canary."

"Who?"

"Watch. You'll see."

Suddenly there seemed to be something happening. The man holding the Kryptonite screamed, his hands going up to his eyes. Clark realised the man's glasses had been shattered. Even his dad looked to be in a little bit of pain.

Two of the thugs who had been fighting Batman turned their attention to Black Canary. She began fighting them, using what looked to Clark like some kind of martial arts. She was fast and skilled, easily deflecting their blows.

"Let's go," Dick said. Before Clark could move, Dick had already leaped off the building to the next lowest and was heading down. Clark followed him, quickly making his way down. The thug still fighting with Batman looked at him, then grabbed a weapon of some kind. Clark didn't hesitate, rushing the thug and knocking him off his feet.

"Catwoman," Batman growled.

Selina hissed, sounding very much like a cat.

"I'll get her," Superman replied, having clearly recovered. He sped to Selina's side.

Catwoman swiped at him, to no avail. He grabbed her and she deliberately ran her gloved hand with what looked like claws, down the top of his uniform. Clark wanted to shout at her, but knew if he did so it would give his father away.

Meanwhile, Black Canary had made short work of the man who had produced the Kryptonite, who was giggling. Clark glanced at his friend. Dick rolled his eyes.

"Toyman," Batman growled. "Someone hasn't got rid of you yet?"

Clark tuned out as the man, still giggling, began mumbling something about rules and it not being fair that they were ruining his game.

"Start talking, Catwoman," Batman growled, ignoring the thugs still groaning in pain on the ground.

She shrugged. "You know me, Batsy. Always gotta have an eye on the prize."

"So how much is he paying you this time?"

"Who?"

"Don't play games Catwoman," Superman growled, squeezing her arms just hard enough to make her mewl in protest. "What did Lex order you to do?"

"Who said Luthor ordered me to do anything?" she asked petulantly, but it was fairly obvious from the way her eyes darted nervously that he had been behind it.

"If the Toyman's involved, it's a safe bet it's got something to do with experiments. We both know how Toyman loves to play."

Black Canary finished helping Dick secure the remaining thugs, who had been either stunned or knocked out.

"So we gonna give these guys to the cops?" she asked.

"Canary, thank you for your assistance tonight," Batman said. He was clearly going to add something else, but Superman shot him a look.

"No problem," she said. "I was in the neighbourhood." She looked at Clark. "We haven't met," she began. "I'm …"

"We have no time for socialising," Batman snapped. "Robin, you and Superboy return to the Batcave. Superman and I will take Toyman and the others to the authorities."

"Including me?" Catwoman asked, an odd smile on her face. She pulled away from Superman and purred at Batman. "Wouldn't you rather just take me to your lair?"

Oh lord, here we go again, Clark thought, grinning at seeing the same expression on his friend's face. Batman just glared at her through his cowl.

"No! After what you tried to pull tonight …"

She pouted. "Baby you have become a real grouch lately."

Dick pulled Clark away before he heard Batman's reply.

"Why don't I join you?" Black Canary asked. She glanced at Batman and sighed. "Boy, he's in a mood tonight."

Dick shrugged. "He gets that way when he's proved right about something. Especially when Catwoman's involved."

She chuckled. "I'd hate to see him when he's proved wrong."

Dick smiled. "C'mon. My bike's not far. I can give you a ride to the cave."

"What about …?"

"I'm gonna run," Clark told her.

It was a quick run to the Batcave. Clark waited until Dick came in, the older woman on the back of the Batcycle. She got off and smiled at him, before disappearing into what Clark assumed were the changing rooms.

"Dinah keeps a spare set of clothes here," Dick explained. "She often uses the cave when she's in Gotham. I'm just gonna go change myself." He eyed Clark's t-shirt, which had the El family emblem on it. "You have anything to change into?"

"No. That's okay. Dad and I'll head home soon. Mom's gonna have a bird when she finds out I came here with Dad."

"Yeah," his friend smiled. "I'd hate to be in your shoes. Your mom's scary."

As Dick went to change, Dinah came back out. She had removed the dark make-up she used as a mask and had changed into a sweater and black pants. She stopped to get something from the small fridge Bruce had installed and picked up a bottle of water.

She quickly explained that while she had met his father a few months earlier she had had to leave town to follow up on something else she'd been working on and hadn't been back to Metropolis since then.

"So how is your mom?" she asked. "I hear she's doing really well at the Planet."

Clark nodded. "Yeah, she's great. I'm gonna be a big brother soon."

Dinah smiled and nodded in reply. "I heard. That's great. You and your parents must be very excited."

"We are," Clark said with a smile. "It's kind of cool. I mean, I know they'll be too little for a while, but I can't wait to be able to take them out and teach them stuff."

He heard the sound of an engine and realised Batman was coming in. His father flew in, landing gently beside him and nodded at Dinah.

"Hello Dinah."

"Kal," she said. "Clark was just telling me he's looking forward to being a big brother."

His dad reached over and ruffled his hair. "We're all pretty excited really, aren't we champ?"

"Sure are, Dad," Clark said.

Bruce had stripped off his cowl and was striding toward them, looking pissed. Dick came out of the changing rooms, wearing jeans and a shirt.

"What were you doing there?" Bruce asked Dinah.

"I happened to be following up on one of my own projects," she told him smoothly. "Otherwise I wouldn't have been here. We all know how territorial you are."

Bruce ignored her and turned to Clark's father.

"And what was the big idea bringing Clark without telling me?"

Kal glared back at his friend and huffed.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't realise I was stepping on your toes, Batman. The fact is, I didn't trust your girlfriend at her word, and it turns out I was right."

"I don't care about that. Clark is untrained. Which is why I asked Dick to back me up." He sighed. "Kal, I know you meant well, but what if Clark got hurt?"

Kal glanced at his son, who just shrugged and smiled. No harm, no foul, his expression suggested.

"Bruce, I get it, but Clark's not a child. He's smart enough not to go into something like that blindly."

Clark grinned at the praise.

Bruce shook his head. "His mother won't exactly be happy," he said.

"I'll talk to Lois," Kal assured his friend. "So what do you want to do about Selina?"

"Nothing I can do. It looks like Lex paid her to do it."

"What do you think he was after?" Dinah asked.

"Most likely me," Kal told her. "He wants to study me and my vulnerabilities."

"Unfortunately, Toyman will have something to report back to him. Lex will know about your problem with Kryptonite," Bruce reminded him. "I still think we should have built something into the suit."

Kal nodded. Bruce had suggested using some kind of armour; lead-based, since he had discovered he was unable to see through lead, but Kal had decided he didn't want to use any kind of armour. Lead was a heavy metal; while it might not slow him down, necessarily, there might have been issues with moulding it into the suit.

"Dad, Uncle Bruce does have a point. I mean, surely his science guys could come up with some way to … I don't know, create some kind of alloy. Or what about Grandpa Jor-El? Couldn't he come up with something?"

Bruce canted his head. "Kid might be onto something," he said. "I mean, let's face it. Now that Lex knows for sure you're vulnerable to Kryptonite, he will use it to his advantage. It would be foolish to continue on as if there's nothing to be concerned about."

"All right," he said, nodding. "You're both right. We'll go talk to your Grandpa at the fortress," he told his son, not wanting Clark to feel left out, considering it was his idea.

Meanwhile, he was still worried about Catwoman and what had happened tonight. It seemed odd that she would have agreed to the job, considering there was no real personal gain for her. Selina didn't really care about the money Lex paid her. She was more in it for the thrill.

Kal decided he would talk to Bruce about that later, figuring it was his friend's problem and if Bruce wanted his help he would ask for it. He returned to Smallville with Clark and sent him to bed for a couple of hours. It was almost four and Jonathan would most likely be getting up at six to take care of the chores.

Lois was awake.

"Hey," she said. "What time is it?"

"Late," he replied softly. "Or early. Depends on your point of view. Why aren't you asleep?"

"Babies are keeping me up. They decided to use my womb as a boxing ring and they're currently duking it out in there."

Kal laughed and rubbed her belly. "Fighting already?" he said. "Sounds like a Lane thing."

"Watch it, Kal-El," she growled. "I can get very cranky when I haven't had much sleep."

He grinned, deciding to bite his tongue. He curled up beside his wife, who rolled onto her side and took his hand.

"So how did it go?" she asked.

"Short story is it was a trap. Fortunately, we had help. Bruce brought Dick along as back up and Clark …"

She sat up and looked down at him.

"You let Clark go on a mission?" she asked.

"Honey, I'll tell you the same thing I told Bruce. He's not a child. I trusted him to do the sensible thing and he did. If it hadn't been for him, Bruce and I would have been in a whole lot of trouble."

"I can't believe you let our son …" she grumbled.

"If I hadn't, I have no doubt he would have come anyway," he told her. Clark had as much as demanded to be allowed to back him up before Kal had even asked his son about it. The point was, Clark wanted to be able to help on missions and Kal wasn't about to deny him that chance.

Lois sighed, nodding in resignation. Their son was a teenager who was smart and resourceful, and more than capable of holding his own in a fight. Forgetting the little problem with Kryptonite, of course.

It hadn't brought them any closer to proving Lex was up to no good, but Kal had a feeling Bruce would somehow manage to get the truth out of Selina. One way or the other.