Lex refused to talk to him the rest of the night. The headlines had read that an anonymous buyer had taken the building off Wayne Enterprises hands. Bruce saw it as taking back what was rightfully his and defended his actions by saying he would have scrapped half the building when he took over anyway. Lex just called him a terrorist and left him to it.

"What's a terrorist?" Dick asked at the breakfast table. Bruce explained as best he could and Dick nodded along to show he was understanding. When he was done there were no more questions just a change in conversation "I think we'll be ready by tomorrow."

"Ready for what?" Bruce inquired.

"The show," He said slowly as if Bruce was hard of hearing.

"Ah right. Where were you thinking of having it? If you need any equipment then you're gonna have to use Lex's gym," Dick shook his head and informed him there was no equipment needed.

With a pointed sentence that it "Would be ideal to have it at the farm," Bruce was spending most of his afternoon asking the Kents if they minded two boys doing dangerous stunts for their own amusement in their front yard. Really Bruce knew they were just having it at the farm so they could play with the animals afterwards. He didn't know what they would do when they moved to Gotham. He'd have to get them a puppy or something along those lines to keep them happy. Alfred would be opposed no doubt.

The next day morning he set up chairs and laid out a table for snacks Mrs Kent was helpfully providing. Shooting glares at Lex for not helping every now and then made him feel better about labouring away.

"Too weak," He excused but had the strength to present Bruce with three wrapped packages.

He herded the boys into Clark's barn to get ready handing them their outfits. Damian was putting his on just as Dick finished tearing the wrappings from his own. Two crimson costumes with gold lining. Unwrapping his own he saw the same design as Dick and Damian's but in his size. Feeling the material he noticed its rich quality. This wasn't something one would buy in an ordinary shop. He left them to change and come out.

Taking the seat next to Lex he muttered "Nice costumes," his friend smirked.

"Thanks." They tottered out of the barn with Dick pulling Damian over and into position. "Wait a minute, I didn't buy those."

"I thought not," Talia must have switched them when Lex wasn't looking. No one else would have the knowledge or money to buy those costumes "We'll sort it out later."

For the next fifteen minutes the Kents were dazzled by flips and handstands performed in perfect synchronisation. Damian seemed to have gotten over his need to lead the performance and happily looked to Dick for cues. As they took their bows Bruce joined the Kents in their round of applause. Damian skipped over to his expectant praise and let himself be cuddled and coddled with sweets and compliments.

Dick came over to Bruce and Lex "Did you like it?"

"It was amazing," Dick lit up.

"You can do the next one," he allowed and went to join Damian.

"Its cute he looks for your acceptance," Lex noted. Bruce hummed and fingered the last costume left in its package. Seeing what he was doing Lex asked "Do you think she means any harm?"

He shook his head "She's shifted her priorities. Whatever her meaning, I think they're ultimately just gifts."

"Or a suggestion," Lex held the top up to Bruce "You'd look stunning in red," he joked.

Either way he was on guard he rest of their stay at the farm. The boys soon tired of listening to how great they were and carted Clark out for a game of tag. Running manically around the farm he watched red blur as the boys jumped and did fancy moves to escape Clark's grasp.

Returning to Lex's manor with two sleepy boys topped off a great day. He considered phoning Alfred once he put the boys to bed but figured if there were any complications Alfred would phone himself.

"What do we say to Lex for the costumes," he suggested quietly.

Rubbing their eyes Dick hugged Lex around the middle as Damian chimed "Thank you uncle Lex,' in English. Bruce could see Lex's heart melting and knew the man wasn't as fully against kids as he proclaimed.

He next morning Talia's gift caught his eye. He had the morning off and was in the mood for trying some of those moves Dick had taught Damian. Figuring they wouldn't be worn otherwise he made it his workout clothes. At least the pants, the shirt had too many sequences for his tastes.

Half an hour and he'd successfully jumped off the wall in a double flip. Trying for a triple seemed impossible but a little figure clad in similar red proved him wrong.

"You had yours on," Dick defended as he misinterpreted Bruce's astonished look.

"How did you do that?" Dick lit up and did it another three times effortlessly. "It's just taken me half an hour to do two and even that was hard," he whined as Dick did another.

"It's all about momentum," the boy crowed.

He tried to teach Bruce the rest of the morning with little success. Damian just took one look at them and did the move a bit less flawlessly but still complete to a groaning Bruce. He would have been late for work had Lex not intervened and told him to get lost.

He didn't notice he was shirtless and clad in crimson gymnastic pants until he put his apron on. Turning to Lana he asked "Do you think people will just assume it's a tank?"

She laughed "So long as you don't turn around."

He tried to do just that as students started filing in. It hardly mattered either way if they thought he had a thin shirt on. Ten minutes and his tip jar was full and he'd had to pick up more 'dropped' cups than ever. Lana just watched with an amused leer on her face as more girls ignored her in favour of waiting for Bruce to get back to the tills.

"Can I help you?" Clark chuckled and placed his order. "You're lucky, Lana just went for her break."

Clark cringed slightly "I guess. But we're gonna have to move past it somehow. Much as I'd like to ignore her she's friends with Chloe so..."

"Could be worse," he smiled kindly at another girl leaving her number along with a tip in his jar "Your ex could be walking through that door right now already infiltrating and planning your future," at Clark's confused look Bruce nodded behind him to where Talia, Chloe and Lois walked in.

Spotting the odd one out he swivelled back to Bruce "Wow. That's- she's beautiful." he cast another look back.

"I know," she spotted his undressed state immediately and sent a coy look over. She joined the queue that was building up so Bruce cut their talk short and sent him after his blonde friend.

Talia looked like a cat that had just killed an annoying bird. Satisfied and superior to those around her "Keep it," she crowed casting a look over the counter at him. He put the change from her $100 in hip tip jar. "I take it you like my gifts. You always did look good in red, silk or blood, and I know Damian suits it too."

"Dick said it was satisfactory but he wouldn't use it for another performance. Something about the material being too thin," she hummed in thought.

"The boy's right I suppose. But I did just get it to admire you in," he tried to send her away by gesturing to the girls behind her "I'm not the only one who is either," she left and joined Chloe.

Bruce kept one eye on her as she introduced herself to Clark. The way things were going Clark hadn't outed her immediately. Lana came back and noticed Clark's arrival. She tried to lighten the mood by pointing out Talia's presence and making hints about Bruce asking her out again. It became more and more difficult to look on their table as the Talon grew busy. By the end of his shift he had over three hundred in tips. Clark had lingered with the girls, no doubt to keep an eye on the woman who had ordered his own parents execution. An offer to walk Bruce home and they separated to Metropolis and Luther manor.

"Lois said you looked like a fallen angel with those wings," Bruce snorted and fingered his tattoo lightly.

"I hope you corrected her," Clark grinned then frowned subtly.

"Talia did actually. She said you were more like a demon masquerading as an angel. Lois laughed hard at that," he could guess why but from the confusion Clark was sprouting he wondered how innocent Clark was. "She seems... Blunt."

Bruce hummed "I don't think anyone's ever described her as blunt before."

"She is though. There's just something blatantly dangerous about her and she neither denies or tries to hide it," Bruce nodded. Talia didn't like disguises. When she went out for her father she preferred to keep to the shadows or choose a persona that accorded to her personality. She was never meek. "I can see why you'd like her."

He paused "What makes you come to that conclusion?"

Clark blushed slightly "Well you spent most of your life travelling. From those moves the first time I saw you I figured that you weren't just sightseeing. Someone who outwardly seeks danger would undoubtedly be attracted to a woman like Talia." Or someone like Clark. He was just, if not more, dangerous than Talia. Bruce was starting to see the truth in Clark's analysis. "It makes me wonder why you still walk away."

Bruce shrugged "I realised she was lacking a cock."

Clark snorted but shook his head "No, it's not that. You still love her, something else happened. If it hadn't then you would be back with her by now. You told me she let you stray now and then so, to me, it doesn't seem to be a matter of anatomy."

"You're very observant. Even Lex hasn't came to that conclusion. Not out loud anyway," he added.

Clark scuffed the ground as they walked "I've been told I'm a good listener," he offered. Eyes curious to hear about Bruce's past.

Bruce eyed him carefully "Maybe some other time." all this talk of confessing had Bruce thinking about Clark's situation. "Clark, there's something I have to tell you."

He looked on "If it's about your crush on me, I know," he joked.

Bruce turned seriously on him "Lana told me she was going to break up with you. She told me that she didn't like you lying to her and that she thought there was no relationship between you if you continued to leave her out of the loop."

Clark nodded "That's what she said the other day."

"Did she tell you anything else?" he shook his head "Well that was only part of the reason she wanted to break up with you. Don't get mad," he warned "She wanted to break up with you to be with Lex. It wasn't his fault though. He has no idea about Lana's feelings or even that you've broken up. Don't blame him."

His confession had Clark stopping a while. He leant against the fence holding a farmer's field and Bruce could see him trying to sort his mind out.

"What's he going to do?" Bruce sighed and joined him.

"He feels the same," he laid out "He wouldn't dare act on it. Not without your permission. Lex has little to no friends and those he does have he values higher than any girl. So don't blame him."

Clark ran his hand through his hair and leaned even more over the fence "I can't believe this is happening."

"Believe it," he insisted "Don't lose a friend over it though."

"Everything's so messed up," Clark sighed. "Thank you for telling me."

"I would have earlier but you seemed too upset," Clark nodded.

"And now?"

Bruce shrugged "You're still upset but Lex will be asking for your permission soon. I thought it best you know."

Clark narrowed his eyes "How soon?"

Bruce cringed again "Lana seems rather eager." He felt bad for Clark. Lana was already making plans to move on just days after her previous relationship. Clark was going to have to adapt to the new situation quickly.

"What would Lex do if I said no?"

"Honestly? He'd leave her alone. But you have to think of it this way. You like Lana," Clark nodded "If you say no and prevent her from pursuing what she thinks will make her happy then she'll never forgive you. You'll end up the bad guy instead of the victim."

"Guess I have to say yes then," he lifted off the fence and started walking. Bruce only hesitated a second before joining him. Clark turned to him a ways down the path "'I'll end up the bad guy' is that what happened between you and Talia?"

Bruce smirked "No but nice guess."

They came to the crossroad that would lead him to Lex's manor. Bruce waved his goodbye to a startled Clark "What, no kiss?"

Bruce smirked again and called back "You're kissing me next time."

Lex was passed out with paint on his face when Bruce found him. The culprits were colouring in the last of their masterpiece on the dining table. He shuddered at the mess and went to draw what would be one of the worst experiences of his life.

Bath ready he secured Damian upside down and grabbed Dick's arm to keep him from running. They went quietly until spotting the bath. Dick plodded in with no bother as Damian struggled and hissed to be let go.

"It's unsanitary," he argued and got Bruce in a rather uncomfortable place.

"You take a shower with no argument, a bath's no different. Now in," paint got smudged everywhere on his face and clothes as he finally forced the boy into the water.

What should have been a simple shampooing turned into a water fight as Dick tried to help. The water turned a muddy brown as sticky hands were cleaned. Unfortunately it ended up cascaded on the walls and stained the bath once Damian finally escaped. Bruce helped dry Dick's tears as he removed soapy brown water from the boys eyes and was glad at least one of them was partially clean.

Damian proved to be more difficult when he refused to put his pyjamas on. Bruce gave up after a minute of arguing and took a shower. Damian was still naked as he got out so he let him win and didn't press the issue. He sent them both to bed with the promise they'd be asleep when he came back in. Dick would be but Damian was having a rebellious night and would probably try to out sleep him again.

He took a picture of Lex before waking him. Purposefully not pointing out the paint on his face in a game with himself to see how long it would take him.

"I think I might spend the day at the Talon tomorrow. I need to check on the profits," He suspected it was Dick that had drew the love heart on Lex's chin.

"Liar, you just want another day away from them two," Lex yawned making the whiskers on his cheeks stretch with it.

"I had to buy them paints to calm them down. I swear, children are like gremlins, never feed them after six," Bruce laughed partially at Lex's joke and partially because one, or both, had drawn a rainbow on the top of his head.

"At least you didn't have to bathe them. Damian's having another 'no' day," Lex was venturing near the window. Bruce held his breath as he stared out at the scenery.

'I figured as much when he said no to pretty much everything I suggest- oh my god!" he couldn't help descending into laughter after that. Making a note to praise the boys creativity in the morning he tried to stop his stomach aching with each breath he took. "One of them has tried to draw hair!" he moaned showing Bruce the brown stripes at the back. He stared shocked at Bruce "Dear God no. Please tell me you didn't," one look at Bruce's hand had him lunging for the phone.

Lex tried to erase his picture all night and again in the morning. He refused to look after the boys, sticking with his plans to hide in the Talon. Unfortunately that meant that Bruce had to bring them with him to work once again. So really Lex wasn't escaping anything. Damian was more compliant in the morning. Having spent most of the night awake he spent most of the morning napping. Dick played behind the counter and sneaked muffins when he thought Bruce wasn't looking. Lex had tried to keep his distance, preferring to spend the morning with Lana going over the books. Bruce couldn't keep the smile off his face when he realised Lex had missed the faint smudge of a rainbow on top of his head.

His shift passed quickly since he was only in the morning. The rest of the day he spent with the boys. Taking them out to get ice cream then spending the whole afternoon playing hide and seek in Lex's manor. It was more fun when they all realised they could hide in odd places. Bruce found Damian curled up on top of Lex's wardrobe and Dick hiding in one of his vents as a warm up and once Damian took to playing ninja on the rooftop they switched games to something more fun than hiding from each other.

As Lex came back he shut himself off in his study. The locking sound told Bruce he probably shouldn't disturb him for a while. No doubt Lana had taken advantage of her alone time with him and made her move. Bruce didn't know whether he should ignore Lex's clear personal boundary line or invade it.

He chose the latter as Dick tugged on his sleeve. "This was on your bed," He handed the envelope to Bruce.

Taking Dick's hand he led him after Damian into the dining area for some craft time. No paints were allowed as Bruce showed them how to make origami swans then googled how to do more things with paper. They had assembled an army of planes and swans at the end of three hours. Coloured brightly in felt tips and marked clearly as to who they belonged to the three of them let loose the paper abominations back into the wild to see who's would fly the farthest. He thanked God the maid was below and had assented to measure as well as pick up their fallen creations, otherwise he would've been left to clean it up himself.

"What was in that envelope?" Damian asked "It looked like it was from mother."

"What did Damian say?" He was seriously going to have to teach one or the other another language.

"He's asking what was in the envelope I got," Maybe French, that was easy to learn.

"What was in it?" Spanish maybe. Something that wouldn't require Dick having to learn a new writing pattern.

"I haven't opened it yet," That had the two boys begging to open it themselves "No," He took the brown envelope and held it high "It's addressed to me and I'll open it later. If there's something good in it I'll tell you."

Damian peered curiously at the writing "And if it isn't?"

"I'll still tell you," He promised and the matter was dropped.

He didn't open it until the boys had passed out outside Lex's study. The three of them had gotten worried and tried to coax (annoy) him out. Lifting out the contents he was a bit disappointed to note there was only two sheets. One of them being a note in Talia's crisp handwriting saying 'If your interested. there's a video to go along with this.'

Not liking where this was heading he looked at the photo. Clark, stretched out on his couch in the barn. Shirt pulled up and pants around his thighs his head was tossed back and hand closed around his erection. The lighting wasn't good since it was dark but there was enough detail to make him uncomfortable to be looking at this with the boys around.

What really caught his attention was the glow. A faint red that was still distinguishable in the dark and coming from Clark's eyes. It seemed to encompass them, leaving nothing black in its wake. It could have been a fault of the camera but usually the red only caught the pupil. Not all around like this. Intrigued, Bruce made a note to approach Clark about it the next day. Or better yet Chloe.

Lana had said she knew more of what was going on in Smallville than the average person. Perhaps she had already unravelled Clark's secret. A secret which, until now, Bruce had been neglecting to find out.