Snow was falling the next evening when Clark crept into Lois' apartment. She was already in her coat, hat, and mittens, looking so similar to the Lois Lane of Ellesmere Island that it gave him deja vu.

He went into the bathroom and removed his everyday clothes, revealing the shimmering steel-blue suit underneath; Lois tossed his clothes into her closet and helped him fasten the cape to his shoulders. All this was done quickly and in tense silence. There was no time to waste; they had an appointment with the Batman.

At her back door, the one that opened into the alley behind the apartment, she reached into her coat pocket and held out something small and silver in her gloved hand.

"There you go," she whispered. "The coordinate numbers are scratched on the back, see? I already put them into the GPS."

"Great." He opened the door and peered up and down the alley. All was dark and quiet. "Are your ready?"

Lois raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you?"

He hesitated; trust her to point out his lingering uneasiness. "You're sure we can trust this man?"

She pressed her lips together and nodded vigorously. "Everyone but the mob and the Gotham police department trusted the Batman."

"In other words, the people trusted him, but not necessarily the government."

"Right," Lois whispered. "He's good. Not as good as you, of course-but I trust him."

"Well, that's good enough for me," Clark said, scooping her up into his arms. "Hold on tight."

Flight, of course, was the safest and quickest way to get to their mysterious destination. His only concern-for her, not for himself-was the weather. It was icy cold, and this high above the city the temperature plummeted. Lois started to shiver.

"So tell me about this Batman," Clark said, trying to keep her mind off the cold.

"What do you already know?"

"Not much. I was trekking my way north while he was having all his adventures, so I didn't get all the details."

Lois unwound her arms from his neck, confident in her own security, and hugged herself. "He started fighting the Gotham Mafia about fifteen years ago, but when Gotham's DA turned bad-"

"What do you mean, turned bad?"

"He went insane. There was a loony terrorist wreaking havoc on the city at the time, and the DA was almost burned to death. It made him snap. Anyway, he ended up getting killed, but because he'd gone on a rampage and even tried to kill the police commissioner's family, there was a danger that all the good things he'd accomplished before going mad would be undone."

A spray of sleet hit them; Lois ducked her head, but Clark went on, unfazed. When the sleet dissipated and he could see Gotham sprawling beneath them, he asked, "Then what?"

Lois sighed. "The Batman took the fall for the DA's crimes. Told everyone that he'd killed the DA and he'd committed all his crimes. Apparently, he and the police commissioner-who was in on it-thought it was the best way to protect Gotham."

Clark frowned, shook his head. "They should've told the truth."

"Even if it threw Gotham into total chaos?" she asked softly.

"Yes. Better to let the truth stand on its own two feet than to kick it down. Lying like that, no matter your intentions, will only come back to bite you in the end."

Lois pulled her scarf up above her mouth. "Well, you got that right, because it did come back to bite them. To make a long story short, the Batman ended up becoming a hero all over again seven years ago, but everyone thought he died when he carried an atom bomb into the ocean-"

"Wait, by himself?" Clark asked, startled. "Is he . . . is he like me?"

"Oh no, no," Lois said, shaking her head. "No, the bomb was aboard his plane or hovercraft or whatever it was. But he reappeared not long after the Battle of Metropolis. People started reporting they'd seen him or his calling card-the metal bat, like he gave me last night. It's not an imposter, either. People who knew him a long time ago say it's the same man."

"So he and I came out of the woodwork about the same time," Clark mused aloud.

"Yes, but you didn't come back from the dead," Lois said, nestling her head against his chest. "Don't ever pull a trick like that on me. If you ever fake your own death, let me know you're alive and well."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll smack you across the face when you reappear." She fumbled with her phone. "We're almost there. Look . . . you'd better start heading down."

He did so, looking around at the landscape below. "What's that down there?"

"Oh, that used to be Wayne Manor. It's a boys' home now."

"Well, those coordinates are leading right to a point on that property."

He made towards a forest at the back of the beautiful, well-tended estate far from the huge, well-lit house. As soon as his feet hit the snow-covered ground, he set Lois down and looked around, listening intently.

"Here, take the phone," Lois whispered, giving it to him. "Lead on."

Hand-in-hand they ventured forward, the snow crunching beneath their feet. The clouds broke and the moon gleamed down, casting a silvery light on the trees, the slender woman, and the tall Kryptonian with the voluminous red cape. When they came to a stream, however, supplied by a thundering waterfall, they halted in confusion. Clark looked at the GPS and swept his gaze around the area.

"The coordinates lead right here," he said. "Are you sure you put in the right numbers?"

She fished the tiny bat out of her pocket and compared the numbers on its back to the ones in her phone. "Yes, I got them right. We must be missing something . . ."

Clark scowled, thinking hard. He stepped a little further down the bank, leading her along, then stopped so fast she bumped into him.

"Look," he whispered.

"What?" she whispered back, narrowing her eyes.

"There's an opening behind that waterfall."

Lois peered hard. Clark grabbed her shoulders and drew her forward, pointing. "See it?"

"I see it," she said, amazed. "Let's go."

"Hold it-you'll get wet," he said, concerned. "It won't bother me, but if you get drenched-"

Lois shot him an incredulous look. "You're talking to the girl who followed you all the way to your Kryptonian ship in subzero temperatures. You know I'm tough."

"I know, and I love you for it," he replied. She smirked at him, then darted forward and started picking her way over small rocks peeking out of the rushing water. Clark shook his head ruefully; he hovered across the stream, caught her, and carried her the rest of the way, even through the curtain of water. The icy water was refreshing to him, but he heard Lois draw in a sharp, painful breath. He set her down on the other side in the damp entrance of what sounded, from the echoes, like a huge cave.

"I'm all right, I'm all right," Lois said, waving off his concerns. "My face and legs got a little wet, that's all. Look at you-you're the one who's drenched!"

"I'll dry fast," he said, running a hand through his wet curls. "Where now?"

To his surprise, she pulled a flashlight from her pocket. "When he said the word 'cave' I figured we might need this. Lead on, Smallville."

They hadn't gone far, though, when they reached a blank wall. Clark rested his hand against the cold stone, looking up and around. "Dead end."

"Oh, hardly," a female voice replied just behind them.

Lois whirled; Clark turned more slowly, determined to keep calm, and saw a tall, very slender woman standing before them in a blue turtleneck and black pants. Her dark hair was drawn back in a tight bun and her arms were crossed over her chest; he noticed, too, that her stomach bulged gently with pregnancy. She let out a low laugh at their confusion.

"You're wanting to get further into the cave, Mr. Superman?" she asked flirtatiously. Clark sensed Lois bristle; he gave her a quick warning look and stepped forward.

"The Batman said I was to meet him here at midnight. We followed the coordinates he gave Miss Lane up to this point. You're telling me this isn't a dead end, so I assume you're familiar with this cave?"

"Somewhat," the woman said, with a smile that let him know she was being sarcastic. "Step back a little, if you would."

Clark hesitated, but Lois slipped her hand into his and drew him back. She might not like this woman much, but she clearly trusted her more than Clark did. The woman's smile, directed now at Lois, softened. She approached the wall and laid her hand over the slightest of crevices.

Suddenly the ground beneath their feet shifted. Clark kept his balance, but Lois staggered and clutched his arm. The woman set her feet squarely apart and put her hands on her hips, the picture of unflappable grace as the platform rose several feet until a doorway in the wall above them opened with a scraping sound. The platform stopped with a muffled clanking.

The woman strode past Clark and Lois and through the opening. They followed at a small but cautious distance, their footsteps echoing on the smooth stone floor of this dark, but drier, corridor. A constant animal chirping somewhere in the cave clearly made Lois nervous; she kept very close to Clark, glancing around uneasily.

Their guide turned a corner and they found themselves in another high-ceilinged room. Here was the source of the waterfall; a fast-moving stream ran down the center of the room, and on one side of it stood a large computer terminal. Two men stood behind it, their backs to the newcomers; an old man sat near them, his hands resting upon a polished cane.

"I've brought your guests in," the female guide said, a heavy touch of sarcasm in her voice.

The men at the computer immediately turned and Clark heard Lois gasp. He glanced down at her and saw she'd clapped one hand to her mouth. One of the men-the older and taller of the two-smiled pleasantly and stepped away from the computer. Clark detected a slight limp in his right leg.

"Miss Lane, I believe we've met a couple of times before," the man said, extending his hand to her.

Lois took his hand quickly. "But-but I thought you'd lost your estate, Mr. Wayne!"

He chuckled. "Well, technically I did, but my old friend Mr. Pennyworth is in charge of it now. He lets me drop by now and again."

Clark glanced at the elderly man, who'd now turned and was watching him with clear interest and respect. The old man smiled warmly and nodded when he saw Clark looking in his direction.

"Kal-El," Lois began carefully, protecting his identity even here, "this is-"

"The Batman," Clark interrupted.

Lois' mouth fell open. Wayne's hazel eyes narrowed, but not in an antagonistic expression; he looked intrigued. "How did you know?"

"Well, I don't see anyone in an armored suit, and you appear to be the leader here," Clark said honestly. "I also gave you a once-over and you're covered in scars. You have an artificial knee-just put in-and your body frame matches that of the few pictures I've seen of the Batman."

Wayne crossed his arms over his chest. "Anything else?"

Clark looked around. "This cave is on the old Wayne estate, and it's full of bats-varmints you could've easily driven out if you'd wanted to. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together."

"You mean-" Lois stammered, pointing at Wayne. "You were the one who talked to me last night?"

Wayne bowed slightly at the waist. "I hope I didn't frighten you. I saw you at your mother's party last night and hoped to talk with you there, but Lex Luthor got your attention first and I never had a chance afterward."

Lois reddened. "I wish you'd interrupted that conversation. I would've much rather talked to an adventurer like you than Luthor, even if I didn't know you were Batman."

Wayne chuckled and motioned towards his companions. "This is John Blake, known to the police force and detective world as 'Nightwing.' He took over for me when I left Gotham seven years ago. This is Alfred Pennyworth, and this is my wife, Selina."

The woman who'd led the way here smiled, and this time there was no flirtatious mockery in her face. John Blake, a short, sharp-featured young man, nodded respectfully. Clark started to relax; there was nothing to fear here.

"You might've guessed I didn't call you here to socialize, though," Wayne said quietly. "I've kept an eye on you ever since the Battle of Metropolis. That's why Batman came back to Gotham. Bruce Wayne had been back for a couple of years, of course, but he hadn't intended to don the cape again."

"What changed your mind?" Clark asked.

"He couldn't keep away from adventure if he tried," Selina Wayne said with a sly look in her husband's direction. "He talks big about leading a retired life. Don't believe a word of it."

"Adventure tends to find me, not the other way around," Wayne retorted. "In all seriousness, though: I was concerned Superman might not be trustworthy. If he ever threatened the twin cities-or any city, for that matter-I was prepared to stand him down."

"I hope I've proved myself trustworthy since then," Clark said quietly.

Wayne nodded. "You've certainly proved we have the same motive: to protect the innocent and defenseless. Anyone with that kind of mission is a friend in my book."

He uncrossed his arms, motioned for Clark to follow him to the computer. "Part of protecting the innocent, though, involves fighting the tyrants, whether they're corrupt officials and mobsters-or invaders like your General Zod."

"Are you aware of some new threat?" Clark asked. "Is that why you called us here?"

Wayne didn't reply directly; instead he turned to his younger companion. "Blake, you have the file?"

"Right here," Blake answered, handing him a memory drive. Wayne slipped it into the computer, and immediately a catalog of detailed information on Lex Luthor appeared on the screen. Surprised, Clark glanced down at Lois and saw her lift her eyebrows.

"Here's your enemy," Wayne said.

Clark said nothing and instead gave Wayne an incredulous look, as if to ask how a small-built, bald-headed, loud-mouthed billionaire could be much of an enemy. Wayne smirked, guessing his thoughts.

"Now that I'm a lowly has-been Luthor is the wealthiest man in this country. The difference between us is that he has almost every politician and businessman in Metropolis and Gotham in his back pocket. He's also the owner of a good percentage of the buildings damaged during your fight against General Zod."

"If I could've prevented that-" Clark began.

"No use your telling him that," Wayne interrupted. "But I don't think his investment losses are his main reason for belittling you with these scathing opinion pieces. I overheard your conversation with him, Miss Lane. It confirmed what I'd been suspecting about his feud with Superman."

"Which is . . . ?" Clark prodded.

Wayne looked him in the eye. "You're an unpredictable threat to his hold on this city. He can't do much about Batman. I stick to Gotham most of the time and I'm more secretive than you are. You're out in the open where the whole world can see you-and you contrast sharply with the likes of Lex Luthor."

He turned to Lois. "You work for the one newspaper that doesn't go hand and foot before Luthor, right?"

Lois nodded. "The Planet is the only paper in Metropolis that's not owned by LexCorp."

"What do you know about him, then?"

"That not all of his business deals are on the up-and-up," she offered. "Or at least, that's what most people suspect. There've been concerns in the past that his profits don't all come from investments in the city."

"You're talking illegal imports and exports, right?" Wayne prodded.

Lois nodded. "But no one can prove it. And when you have that kind of money, you can buy anyone off-even federal investigators."

"So in a way, Metropolis is as enslaved as Gotham used to be by the mob," Wayne said with a disgusted shake of his head. "But now Metropolis, like Gotham, also has one man who could stand up against the injustice . . ."

"And Luthor knows it," Lois finished, the comprehension flooding into her face. "He remembers what happened in Gotham the last time a mysterious hero popped up out of nowhere!"

"Which is why he'll do everything he can to stop another hero on his home turf," John Blake said. "I still have friends in the detective world who I rely on for the trickiest cases. We've kept an eye on Luthor ever since we found out he was building an official LexCorp lab down by the river, disguised as a shipping center. Then last week we found out he's received permission from the military to start researching the remains of the alien ship that crashed in Metropolis."

"The Fortress of Solitude," Clark said, stunned."They had it dismantled while I was looking for survivors. I never found out what happened to it."

Blake scratched the back of his head with a worried look. "Well, Luthor just got his hands on it. Why, I don't know. It just seems odd for him to be researching a dismantled spacecraft at the same time that he's upped his criticsm of you in the Metropolis press."

Clark pressed his lips together, deep in thought, and leaned against the terminal. He scanned the information, marveling at its detail. Everything he'd need to know about Lex Luthor and his connections was contained right here.

"I need this file," he said, straightening again. "If I'm going to keep an eye on this 'research project,' I'll need to know everything I can about it and Luthor."

"Take it with you, then," Wayne said, removing the memory drive from the computer. "But be careful. Don't let anyone, least of all Luthor, know you're paying any attention to him. He may be young, but he's learned to be ruthless. You wouldn't want him to strike at your friends to warn you off the scent."

As he spoke, he glanced meaningfully at Lois. Clark felt a cold chill run through him, but she threw her head back.

"I'm not afraid of Luthor," she said, defiant.

"Whether or not you're afraid is beside the point," Selina suddenly replied, approaching with slow, cat-like movements. "The question is, are you sharp enough to stay vigilant and never take a reckless step? Make one wrong move and you'll find yourself and Superman in the hangman's noose."

Clark and Lois looked uneasily at each other.

"You're his eyes and ears," Selina said, still addressing Lois but nodding with her dark head in Clark's direction. "You're an investigative reporter. Make the most of your profession for his sake."

Lois pressed her lips together and met Selina's steely gaze with a feisty, determined glare of her own. A plan was obviously forming in her mind.

Back at the apartment, Lois pulled on her most comfortable and unfashionable sweats. She was too cold and too tired to care about being cute or stylish, even for Clark.

While she dressed, though, her head was full of the adventure she'd just experienced, the plan she was forming, and the newest secret she now guarded. Bruce Wayne obviously trusted her with it; he wouldn't have shared it with her otherwise.

I guess he figures anyone who can keep Superman's secret can keep his, too, she thought. But she couldn't help wondering, too, how Wayne-Batman-had escaped that atomic explosion years ago, or where he'd married that woman, or how they'd kept themselves concealed for so long.

Next time-if they allowed her a 'next time'-she'd be braver and more inquisitive, but she wouldn't break Bruce Wayne's story for the world anymore than she'd betray Clark Kent. She might be insanely curious, but she also abhorred the idea of betraying a trust.

Clark was in the kitchen, back in his everyday clothes and putting the memory drive into her laptop, when she came downstairs. She put her arms around his neck and set her chin on his shoulder. Clark leaned forward, following the words on the screen with his finger.

"So I'm no longer fighting brutal invaders," he muttered. "I'm up against cunning politicians instead."

Lois shrugged. "I'd venture to say the invaders only come once in a lifetime. It's the cunning politicians who are more likely to give consistent trouble."

"This will be completely different from fighting Zod and Faora."

"Thankfully it should be a lot less noisy," Lois said dryly.

Clark gave a rueful chuckle. "I'm not cut out for it."

"Yes you are-especially if you have an investigative journalist on your team."

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Do I?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Forever and always."

He took one of her hands and squeezed it. "Selina Wayne gave you some kind of idea. I could tell looking at you that you were coming up with something clever."

Lois gave him an arch look. "Maybe."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"If I did, you might order me never to carry it out."

At that, he whirled in his seat. "Wait . . . what are you going to do, Lois?"

She'd meant to keep her own counsel, but that look of alarm in his blue eyes made her think twice. Before she could assure him of her intentions, he jumped out of the chair and took her by the shoulders.

"Don't you dare put yourself in any kind of danger," he said firmly. "And don't compromise yourself. If you trade away your dignity or your safety-"

"Clark, I think I have a better opinion of myself than to do anything like that. I'm not about to become Luthor's mistress to get information and I'm not going to walk into the LexCorp main headquarters with guns blazing, if that's what you're worried about."

Clark relaxed, but only slightly. "But?"

"But I am going to spend more time at my mom's 'events' so I can see him, and I am going to flirt a little bit-and you have to swear to me you won't go into a jealous rage over it," she said, jabbing her finger in his chest. "People like Lex Luthor love to have their egos stroked. It loosens their tongue a bit."

"How do you know?" he demanded.

"Didn't I just tell you you have an investigative journalist on your team? I've milked secrets out of plenty of people in my time!" She freed her arms from his grasp and slipped them around his neck. "You haven't even seen me at my finest. You weren't around when I won my Pulitzer, were you?"

"No . . ."

"Well, I only won it because I used a few old-fashioned tricks of espionage and disguise." Her spirits were rising until she was almost giddy with excitement. "I uncovered a whole conspiracy against a secret society right here in Metropolis. Won my Pulitzer at the ripe old age of twenty-six. You should've seen my mother. It was the only time I ever saw her almost burst with pride where I was concerned."

He still looked skeptical. Lois stood on tiptoe and pulled his head down until their foreheads touched.

"You have to trust me," she whispered. "I promise I won't fall in love with the man and I won't do anything stupid or sleazy . . . but you've got to let me help you. Please, Clark."

A faint smile crept into his face. "You are the gutsiest person I've ever known."

She shrugged, smiled back. "I've gotta be, if I'm going to keep up with you."