Disclaimer- I don't own Smallville or Young Justice.

You knew it from the moment you saw him.

He was standing beside the kid heroes, standing amidst rubble and destroyed cement.

But him, the boy with your shield, looked into your eyes and you saw something that no other member of your team saw.

They said he was your clone.

He and you locked eyes for a moment.

A second.

Those weren't your eyes.

You knew them though.

They glared out at you at least once a week.

But the boy's eyes held none of that rage, anger, hatred that his eyes usually held.

It had been so long since you saw those eyes like that.

There was no evil in those eyes.

They were curious, always so curious.

They were open, free, innocent, like their possessor would move the stars to make you happy. To make you accept him.

Trust me, Clark. Our friendship is going to be the stuff of legends.

You run both from the boy and the memories.

The other members of the Justice League don't see it. Not even Batman can tell. Kryptonians don't have DNA like humans.

There is no way to prove it.

Should you try?

You should tell them what you know.

You should tell them all, and they will understand why you can barely look at the boy.

I don't care about the past - I believe in the power to reinvent yourself.

But shouldn't the child get a chance to prove himself?

It wouldn't be fair to tell and have the boy's new friends turn against him.

Maybe they can do what you couldn't.

They seem stronger than you were.

Any relationship founded on lies is destined to fail. It's a good thing we don't have that problem.

The next time you see him, the man who used to be your best friend, you stared at him for a moment.

That man is not Lex.

He is Luther.

He is trying to take over the world, again, and you beat him, again.

You wonder if anything was ever going to change.

You see, I don't want to do good things, I want to do great things.

He's going to school.

When J'ohn asks for the chance to give the boy your name, you agree.

There is another Kent now. A Kent who isn't.

It almost makes you laugh hysterically.

What would Dad have said?

What would Lionel have said?

Oh please. You think I don't see the way your parents look at me? The way half the town looks at me? You're no different. Friendship's a fairy tale, Clark. Respect and fear are the best you can hope for.

You later look at the records' that J'ohn hands you to sign.

Bruce has made you the boy's guardian.

Your eyes glance at the name.

Conner.

It was a good name.

Mom would like it. Dad would have liked it.

But you know that it wasn't right.

You knew that it should have been different.

You knew what Lex would have wanted.

So you pick up a pen and write out a name in the space in the middle of Connor and Kent.

Julian.

Clark, you can't save the world. All you'll end up with is a Messiah complex and a lot of enemies.

I saved you, didn't I? That turned out all right.