Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League or any of its characters. Sadly.

This chapter didn't go the way I planned. At all. It's because of that that this fic will be expanded one more time. The good news is that I waited until I had a good chunk of chapter five and a bit of chapter six written before posting this, so I can promise you wouldn't have to wait so long for an update.

I'm so, so, sorry for making you wait so long one more time. I hope someone is still interested in this fic.

...

Clark kept his eyes fixed on the bright lights above him, watching and waiting, and trying very hard to keep his mind blank. It was harder now that the pain wasn't clouding his senses.

After a small argument, he agreed to spend fifteen minutes under a couple of sun lamps in the med bay of the cave to get rid of the lingering effects of the Kryptonite and start the healing process, even if that wasn't going to be time enough to regain his powers.

He could speed up his recovery by getting out of the dark cave and into the sunlight -like Bruce exasperatedly pointed out - but with his powers gone that would mean walk out of here and leave Bruce alone for a while, and even if Superman was under control now he wasn't comfortable with that.

As soon as the fifteen minutes were up Clark pushed the lamps aside and got up from the cot. He took a moment to stretch his muscles as soon as he was back on his feet, testing how much he recovered.

The Kryptonian was cleaning the dried blood from his face with a damp cloth as he walked back to the main area of the cave where Bruce was already busy working in the Batcomputer. Clark noticed he had already taken off the cowl and placed it aside.

Bruce reached for a stool hidden under the large desk without looking away from the screen and pushed it his way. Clark sat down with a sigh, his mind clear enough to pay attention to the information displayed there.

They worked together for a few minutes before the sharp noise of an alarm resounded through the cave as a message popped up on the screen.

Bruce was on his feet in one instant and Clark followed just a quickly. Maybe he should have gone outside for some sunlight after all- except that would have left Bruce here all alone to deal with whatever this was. He opened his mouth to speak as the alarm was silenced, but a gust of wind hit them less than a second later as someone else appeared in the cave.

"Hey, Supes! What's up with the-" The red-clad hero trailed off, eyes widening behind his mask as he caught sight of them. A second later there was nothing but a red blur.

Clark blinked, and when the Flash was visible again he closer still, arms wrapped tightly around a stock-still Bruce as the speeder started speaking, tongue running as fast as his feet.

"Oh God, Bats! I can't believe it's you! You're back! What happened? How are you? Are you okay? What happened? How did you come back? Was it Supes?" Before either could tell him the truth, the speeder spoke again. "Doesn't matter I missed you so, so much, Bats! Don't you ever go away again! Please."

He stopped speaking and released a shaky, breathless, happy laugh that resounded around the cave. It made Clark's stomach clench. Flash was crying, he had no doubt about that even if he couldn't see his eyes. The quivering of his voice, thick with emotions told him that. Rao, he was so happy thinking his Batman was back.

Arms full of Flash, Bruce turned to Clark with an expression that anyone else would think looked perfectly calm, but the Kryptonian noticed the slightly panicked flicker in his eyes.

"I'm not him," Bruce said finally, using his own voice rather than Batman's growl.

The words were enough to make Flash let go of him. The speeder took a step away, pushing his mask back and looking at him with wet, confused green eyes.

Clark cleared his throat before explaining further. "We were transported here from another dimension."

There was silence for a beat as Barry's eyes were drawn back to the man wearing the suit of his dead friend. Bruce forced himself to meet the speeder's eyes as he saw the confusion and happiness that had filled them just seconds before turn into a dark, bitter acceptance.

"I'm so sorry for reacting like that. I just- It's been so long since you, I mean he-" Flash cut himself off, eyes widening further as he looked back at Clark. "Wait. You said we."

"I- yes. We came together," Clark explained. "I'm not this world's Superman either."

Barry blinked and then nodded. He bit his lip when he looked in Bruce's direction before turning to Clark, making no attempts to clean the tears from his face.

"And where's my Supey? I mean, this world's Superman."

"He is in one of the holding cells in the back," Bruce replied simply.

Flash took another step back, eyeing them warily. Bruce approved of the reaction, even if it was a late one. He should have taken his distance the moment he realized they weren't his teammates, but Barry had always been too trusting and nice for his own good.

"I want to see him," He demanded.

Bruce gave a sharp nod. He moved back to the computer, fingers flying across the keyboard until the image of a surveillance camera showed the cell where Superman was being held. He was still unconscious, but the high quality of the equipment showed a clear image of him, letting them see the rise and fall of his chest with every breath he took.

"You two got into a fight?" Barry asked after a moment, watching the image of Superman on the screen before looking back at Clark.

Clark looked down at his dirty, torn suit. "We did. That's why we had to put him in there."

From where he stood Bruce watched the speeder's reaction carefully. He didn't think Barry would react anything like Superman had, but it was better to be cautious just in case.

"What did he do?"

The Kryptonian exchanged a look with Bruce. "He kept insisting Bruce had to stay here with him and attacked us when we tried to leave."

Flash didn't rush to defend his ex-teammate, or at least question further what happened. There was only silence.

"He took it really hard, you know? I mean, we all took it pretty bad, but he-" Barry bit his lip, eyes flickering away. "He wasn't the same after Bats was gone."

"That's why the League fell apart." It wasn't a question.

"I, uh, yeah, I guess so. Supes kinda disappeared after what happened, but the rest of us tried to make it work for a while. Diana and J'ohn worked really hard to keep things going, but there was tension and other stuff and it just- It didn't work the way it was supposed to.

"Most of us are still around, though. We're still in touch and help each other out when we can." Barry managed a small smile. "It isn't as good as it was before, but we're still fighting the good fight."

"And Superman?" Clark asked, dreading the answer. Could he really have abandoned Earth's people to their own fate? He understood his grief -as much as he could without feeling it himself, thank Rao- but he wished his love for Earth and its people had been enough to keep him going.

If this world's Bruce was anything like his own, he was sure he would have wanted Superman to keep helping people and protecting Earth and Superman should have known that.

"He mostly just stays in Metropolis and Gotham, but when there's something big, Supes always shows up to help out too."

Clark was taken by surprise by the mention of Gotham, but it made sense that Superman would take it upon himself to protect the city as some kind of penance or maybe as a tribute to Batman.

"I- don't think he ever got over Batman's death. Not that any of us did, really," Barry added, looking in Bruce's direction. "But we still moved on as best as we could. He blames himself for what happened. He blames all of us, I think. That's probably why he didn't go back to the League and tried to cut contact with all of us.

"Diana tried to reach out to him, but he didn't let her." Barry swallowed. "They had a big fight when we went to the Fortress and forced him to let us take the body."

Bruce flickered his eyes in Clark's direction, noticing the stricken expression on his pale face. It was clear he was having troubles dealing with all of this, and hearing details about Superman's erratic behavior was making things worse.

The billionaire turned back to the other man as the speeder watched him out of the corner of his eye. "What happened after Batman's identity was discovered?"

If the Flash was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. Clark, on the other hand, made his shock obvious in the way his head snapped in his direction, azure eyes wide.

"It was pretty crazy for a while. A long while," Barry admitted after a moment of silence. "Dick was sure they wouldn't be able to involve them directly in the crime fighting-thing, but they still could be considered accomplices or be accused of covering thing up. Besides, Batman made a lot of enemies so it wasn't entirely safe for them to stay here. They said you- he had a contingency plan in case that happened, so they disappeared shortly after.

"I know they're doing okay because Dick sends me messages sometimes. We're really careful, I swear!" He added.

Bruce nodded, grateful Barry understood what he was asking exactly and addressing that. They may not be his family, but he was relieved to know they were fine. Or as fine as they could be under the circumstances. There was something else, though.

"And the Manor?"

"He- Superman, I mean, he must have made some kind of deal with the government or something. I'm not sure what it was, but they let him keep it. He, uh, claimed it publicly and made sure everyone knew they would have to deal with him if anyone tried to break in or something. He lives here, I think."

It wasn't surprising, not really, though Bruce had to wonder how Superman managed that. What he gave them in return because he had to have given them something.

"So, uh. You know how to get back home?" Barry asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Not really," Clark admitted, relieved to go back to a safe topic. "We didn't get a chance to start looking until now."

"I can help. Maybe. I know some stuff about dimension travel and that kind of thing, so I will be happy to help in any way I can."

Bruce gave the speeder a curt nod before moving to sit back on the chair before the monitors.

"Thanks, Barry," Clark offered with a small, genuine smile.

"It's cool. That's what friends are for." The speeder paused. "I mean, we're kind of friends, right?"

"Of course," He agreed, putting a hand on the Flash's shoulder and squeezing lightly. It was a relief to see it didn't matter how bad things were, some things still hadn't changed.

...

a/n: So, as you can guess, Barry wasn't supposed to make an appearance here. Everything he talked about was supposed to be only mentioned once Bruce and Clark were back home, but then this happened. I liked the way it came out, even if I'm sure some of you may wish I had just finished this already instead of coming up with more chapters. I kind of wish that too. A little.

Seriously, I have absolutely no idea why it's been so hard for me to work on this story. None at all. But I swear I'm committed to finish this, and it looks like that's going to happen soon. *crosses fingers*