A/N - it's been a while, hasn't it? Unfortunately I was kept pretty busy. I think we're in the home stretch, now, though. Thank you to everyone who has been patiently following along, and I hope this part is enjoyable. 
----------
"Your godson?" Lois and Clark both echoed at once.
"Yes," Bruce replied, giving Clark a steely look. "Mr. Kent is a very good friend of mine, and I promised that if anything should happen to him or his wife, Selina and I would make sure that Lane had...adequate supervision."
Lois's eyes flicked to the green-eyed brunette who had just strolled into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Please," she said dryly, "make yourselves at home."
"Why not?" Selina asked, returning with two steaming mugs. "You two already have."
"She's got us there, Lois," Clark responded.
Lois shot him a glare.
"Bruce!" Selina scolded as she handed a mug to the stone-faced man sitting on the couch. "Stop laughing!"
"I wasn't laughing," he protested.
"You were laughing by not laughing," she said. She curled up onto the couch, beside him.
"How do we know you two are who you say you are?" Lois asked, her eyes narrowing.
Bruce's eyebrows raised, and he seemed to regard her with approval. Setting his coffee down, he reached into his jacket pocket and produced a rather expensive-looking wallet from which a number of photographs unfolded. "Here," he said, pointing at one.
Lois could feel Clark looking over her shoulder as she took the wallet and inspected the photo in question. It showed a younger-looking Bruce and Selina standing beside a couple who were dead ringers for her and Clark. Clark's counterpart was positively beaming, smiling at the tiny baby that Bruce was holding up for the camera, and this world's Lois stood next to him, one hand resting on her husband's arm, gazing at her little family with an expression of such love and happiness that Lois felt her heart clench.
"That's certainly convincing evidence," Clark commented.
Lois gave a non-committal grunt. Her eyes wandered over the rest of the photos, most of which showed Bruce and Selina with a pair of young blonde girls. Curiously enough, they did seem to bear a slight resemblance to Clark, although she couldn't see any of either Selina or herself in them at all. "Who are the girls?" she asked.
"Clark's cousins," Selina replied.
"Cousins?!" Clark interjected, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
Selina nodded. "We adopted them after they...immigrated here," she said.
"That's nice," Lois said, a bit mystified at Clark's reaction. She glanced at him again and saw that he was staring at the two visitors with a strange look on his face.
"I guess that makes you both family," he said quietly.
Bruce started. "I suppose it does," he said after a pause.
"Our Clark always makes it a point to visit them regularly," Selina continued as though nothing had transpired. "His not showing up was one thing that tipped us off that something was...well, off."
"Among other things," Bruce added, once again frowning at Clark. "You know, I can't help but think he'd have a lot to say about this new Superboy who's been seen flying around. What are your thoughts about it, Mr. Kent?"
Lois blinked. "So that wasn't this world's Superman?" she asked.
Bruce said nothing, but kept his eyes on Clark.
Clark squirmed a little. "Well, you know," he said with something like a laugh, "being from a different world, we didn't really know what to expect. I mean, maybe, for example, this world's Superman had vision problems whereas ours could see twenty/twenty."
"As if Superman would ever need glasses," Lois mumbled.
Bruce's eyebrow went up again. Even Selina looked surprised. "If that were true," he said, "I'm sure he'd do his best to overcome his disadvantages, rather than allow any innocents to be endangered."
Lois nodded. "That's true," she agreed, thinking it over. "Protecting others at all costs is what Superman has always stood for."
Clark looked Ill. "Thanks, Lois," he muttered.
Lois frowned. "So if that kid wasn't Superman, then where is this world's Superman?"
"An excellent question," Bruce agreed, taking a sip of his coffee.
"He's probably out of town," Selina offered.
"Maybe the kid volunteered to fill in for him," Clark suggested, looking intently at Bruce.
"I'm sure Superman would have refused if he did," Bruce said simply.
Clark gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, kids can be so persuasive, can't they?"
Lois snorted. "Frankly, I can't see that kid persuading Superman to buy a candy bar."
"Thanks, Lois," Clark muttered again.
"Oh, I'm sure Superman would have had a conniption at the very thought," Bruce continued, confidently. "After all, so much can happen to a youngster; he could get injured by a powerful opponent and end up nearly blinded, for example."
"Or end up needing a cybernetic exoskeleton in order to walk straight," Selina added.
"Thank you, Selina," Bruce said dryly, tightening his grip on his cane.
"But if Superman didn't want the kid to fill in for him, then why not try to stop him?" Lois mused aloud.
"An excellent question," Bruce replied, looking at Clark with an expression that could freeze lava.
"Er, I'm sure he did...er, he tried...er, he would've," Clark stammered, glancing at Lois.
"Well, you're both new here," Selina said, generously. "You probably wouldn't know these things."
"That's true," Bruce gruffly agreed. "Perhaps we should watch Lane for you while you're working on getting back to your own world."
"Oh, thanks," said Lois, "but that hardly seems necessary. Lane's a good kid."
"No, really," Bruce said, still looking at Clark. "If it's too much for you to deal with, I insist."
At that moment, the front door opened. Clark seemed relieved at the distraction, only to groan when he realized it was Lane.
"So Da--uh, Mr. K---uh, so," Lane began. "That news report about the typhoon was pretty cool, wasn't it? I have to go to the library, now. Okay?"
Lane started towards the stairs. Their visitors both watched Clark, Bruce practically pinning him with a glare.
"Ah, Lane!" Clark said with a nervous chuckle, reaching out to intercept the boy before he could get very far. "Aren't you going to say hello to your god-parents?"
"My what?" Lane turn to the visitors, staring at them in confusion. "Who are you?"
