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

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Chapter 4.

Before Clark could follow Batman's example and leave the mountain for some much needed rest, Flash appeared at his side in a blink, a bag of cookies in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Hey, Supes. Nice to have you back."

Clark gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Flash."

The speeder grinned widely before popping a handful of cookies into his mouth, chewing happily before remembering his manners- at least partially since he spoke before swallowing fully.

"Sorry. Want some?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Everyone is waiting for you in the meeting room."

"Why?"

Flash swallowed the cookies in his mouth before answering this time, a quizzical expression evident even with the mask covering part of his face. "Uh, the briefing? Like the ones we have every time something big happens? And even when it doesn't? You know, so you and Bats tell us all about your adventures and we tell you guys what happened here."

"Right." He had been so concerned with Batman and what happened that he had forgotten about the meeting. They probably had delayed it to give him and Batman a moment to refresh.

"Yeah. Uh, see you there?"

Flash was gone before Clark could answer, and it wasn't until he tried to fly after him that he remembered his powers hadn't returned.

The installation of a modified solar bed or lamps calibrated to emit solar light in the mountain was one of the additions still pending to the League's headquarter. With so many other things needed around the base, he had been the first to wave away the issue-considering it would be added only for his personal use- and lead the attention of the rest of the League to other more pressing needs instead.

He didn't regret it even now, but he still grimaced, knowing he was going to need several hours outdoors to get his powers back.

By the time Clark stepped into the room Flash was already in his seat, bag of cookies nowhere to be seen and chatting animatedly with Green Lantern. Clark nodded to everyone in the room, closing the door before walking to his seat next to Wonder Woman.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. We can start."

"Hey," Flash started, lowering his hand as everyone turned to look at him. "Shouldn't we wait for Bats?"

"Yeah, where's Mr. Control Freak?" Green Arrow asked, for some reason looking at Clark for an answer. "There's no way in hell he would allow us to leave him out the loop about this. And he so wouldn't miss the chance to act like the self-righteous bastard he is while telling us everything we did wrong and how he could have done it better and faster."

Only founding members of the League were supposed to attend meetings such as this one, but as he was starting to think was a rule with Gotham's Dark Knight, an exception had been made for him. Batman had made his attendance to meetings a major condition to join the League, after all. They discussed it, and since there had been no consensus, had submitted the matter to a vote, which had ultimately been won.

Of course Batman was only interested in meetings where information was presented, or to discuss and review recent events and their performances sometimes, which did nothing to help change the more negative views and opinions of the man. Not that Batman cared, of course. He wasn't here to make friends, as he had made clear from the start.

"Batman is not on the premises anymore." Wonder Woman answered with a small frown on her face. "He left shortly after we arrived."

"Well, it is daytime. So he probably had to go back to his coffin."

Green Arrow laughed outright at Green Lantern's joke, and Clark even saw the twitch of a smile in Flash's face. Diana and J'onn's faces were solemn, even if he detected a seemingly confused expression on the Martian's face.

"I'm sure Batman had things to take care of back in Gotham," He said with a pointed look at both green heroes. "Besides, he would be able to review the reports later if he wishes to."

The meeting went on without a hitch after that.

J'onn took the lead of the briefing, with interventions from the other League members around the table on several occasions. The Martian was an excellent expositor; always clear, concise and to the point. Unlike Batman, who liked to go over every single detail thoroughly, or Green Lantern, who could get sidetracked from the topic on hand too easily, or even Flash, who sometimes talked as fast as he could run.

This time, however, Clark found his mind wandering on several occasions during the meeting. He knew that as soon as they finished it would be his turn to speak, and he didn't know how much of what had happened he was going to tell them. He would not reveal Batman's identity, that much he was certain of. He was of the idea that the League could work better together if they were to leave secret identities behind-at least among the founders-but he also shared some of the reluctance and wariness of the rest of the members about the issue, and so he would never violate Batman's privacy like that- or anyone else's for that matter.

Even so, having a minor operating within the League was still an issue, and one that concerned the whole League. By that principle alone, he should tell them; this could potentially affect the League and they had a right to know. But he just wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do.

If he was honest with himself, he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of humans facing the same threats and dangers that he and other metahumans-as they called them-faced, but he respected and even admired them for it. But now, knowing that a minor was standing alongside them in the middle of the chaos and destruction was alarming. Frightening, even. And yet, Bruce's words still echoed in his mind, making him hesitate.

"Kal?" Diana called, a touch of concern coloring her tone.

They were all looking at him, with several degrees of impatience, confusion, and concern in their expressions. It was obvious they had been trying to get his attention for some time.

Clark cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

He paused again, taking a deep breath before speaking, the decision made even before he knew it.

He wouldn't tell them. At least not yet. He needed to think about this some more.

Once the meeting was adjourned, Clark was left to ponder the problem of just how exactly he was going to go home.

He could simply use the zeta-beam to Metropolis, of course. It would leave him a few blocks away from the Daily Planet, so he would just need to put on his civilian clothes, walk to the nearest bus stop, and then be on his way home, just like that. But with so many cell phones and cameras everywhere, he couldn't be sure he would be able to change fast enough to prevent someone getting a lucky photo or video. He couldn't take the risk of that happening.

So he needed to get his powers back before leaving. Great.

Go to the top of the mountain and lay there until his powers came back as he had done in the past when he was exposed to Kryptonite was the easiest way, even if not the faster to do it. It normally took him a few hours under direct sunlight-and with any traces of Kryptonite far away-to get his powers back. And while he hadn't been exposed to red sun radiation before, from what he know about it and the whole experience, he had the feeling it was going to take longer to get past its effects.

It would be easier to just ask Diana or J'onn to fly him as close as they could to the sun and be back to normal faster, but at the same time, it was harder; he wasn't sure how long it would take and he didn't want to put them off in any way. Didn't want to ask them to fly him to the sun and then wait who knew how long, all the while carrying him in their arms.

Green Lantern would have been the best option; he could simply create a construction with his ring and get him even just a few inches away from the sun and most importantly, he wouldn't have to carry him. But he had just returned back to Earth after months on a space mission with the Corps, and had left the mountain as soon as the meeting was over.

But he really wanted to go home. With a heavy sigh, he set out to look for Diana.

He found her in the small cafeteria they had set up in the mountain, talking with J'ohn. Sitting down at her request, Clark had fidgeted with a corner of his cape under the table before getting past his awkwardness and sheepishness, at least enough to ask her. With a soft smile that lightened her features and made her look even more beautiful she agreed willingly, and they were out of the mountain and flying to the sun only moments later.

Getting his powers back fully took longer than he would have liked, but the wait was far from being uncomfortable as he had feared. Instead, their interaction was laid back and filled with camaraderie; their talk like any other they had ever shared in the past-though perhaps it was the longer they had been able to talk without being interrupted by an emergency of any kind-regardless of the fact he was in her arms or that they were hovering so close to the sun.

They flew back to the mountain together. After bidding her goodbye, Clark had chosen to use the zeta-beam to go back to Metropolis.

He was greeted by a car accident only a couple of miles away from where he was teleported. Clark rushed to the crash site, and immediately started to work on getting the victims out of the wrecked cars, being careful not to cause any more damage. There were no fatalities, and some of the injuries, though serious, weren't life threatening if treated with opportunely. The paramedics arrived only minutes after he managed to pull them all out, and after making sure everything was under control, Clark flew away.

Superman landed at the end of an empty alley, behind a dumpster. He put on his civilian clothes in a flash, and less than a second later, Clark Kent came out of it, adjusting his glasses before walking the couple of blocks that still separated him from his apartment building on 344 Clinton Street.

As Clark stepped into the building, he found Mrs. Creager at the bottom of the staircase, shifting the grocery bags in her arms for a better grip before climbing the stairs. Julia Creager's apartment was on the third floor, a couple of doors away from Clark's own apartment. She had moved in just a few months ago, and lived alone with her young daughter Amy, who Clark had looked after on one occasion.

Not a very practical or smart choice on his part, considering he had to go out at any emergency, but once he had pointed out his lack of experience with children, and she still had asked him, he had been unable to say no. It had been a very interesting experience to say the least.

"I believe I can help you with that, Mrs. Creager."

She spun around, surprise flashing across her face. "Clark!" A smiled curled her lips. "I thought I told you to call me Julia."

"You did," Clark took one of the bags from her, and motioned for her to climb the stairs first.

"Thank you. You're a sweetheart." They took the first couple of steps in silence, before she turned to him. "I didn't see you around the last couple of days. Mrs. Goldstein also commented on it."

"Yeah. I was busy chasing the lead for a story. It didn't pan out." It didn't seem to matter how many times he did it, or that he only did it to protect his identity, he still hated lying.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. It was a long shot," Clark said with a shrug. "Besides, I have plenty of other stories to keep me busy."

"Well, that's good."

They continued their talk for a few minutes even after they reached her apartment. Clark stepped inside for a moment to carry the bag to the counter of her kitchen, before excusing himself and following his way.

As soon as he stepped into his apartment and closed the door behind him, Clark learned against the door with a sigh, closing his eyes. It was good to be home. Or at least in his home away from home. Clark forced himself to move after a moment, turning on the TV on the news channel, the monotonous voice of the presenter following him as he went to the kitchen.

As a Kryptonian, he could spend days without food with no problem, but years of eating like a human made it natural for him to eat like anyone else, and even give him the sense of hunger. That and he really liked to eat. He downed a glass of water and set the empty glass on the counter before looking around the kitchen for something to eat.

He knew how to cook, of course. Thanks to Martha Kent's intensive cooking lessons before he left Smallville. She hadn't been about to let her only son out into the world without making sure said son wasn't going to starve to death or live out of fast food, or any other food that wouldn't live up to Martha Kent's high standards of nutritional value for an extended period of time.

Clark settled for making a quick sandwich, at least for now. He could always make something more elaborate later. He brought the plate out of the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table after taking a bite, and sat on the couch with his laptop before him to check his e-mail.

The barking of a dog coming from a commercial of dog food on the TV snapped Clark out of his retrieve, making him realized he been staring at the screen of his laptop without reading or typing anything for a while now. He shook his head, ready to open an e-mail from Jimmy when he paused. He debated internally with himself for a moment, before finally opening another tab on his laptop and typing two words into the search engine.

Bruce Wayne.

He bit his lip, watching as the results came up on the screen.

...

a/n: Yeah, sorry again for the super long wait, but my brain won't shut up about other ideas. Speaking of which, did you guys read Batman/Superman #18? Because I did and oh boy, I have something in the works related to that issue. Should be up soon since it's almost done. So look up for it if you're interested.

Also, sorry about the kind-of-cliffhanger. But I promise we, along with Clark, would be learning a bit more about this Bruce Wayne in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this!

And thank you so much everyone for the support and patience! And a super huge thank you too for all the comments and favorites! *hugs*