Aww! A great part!
First, Clark is being a lunkhead again, trying to "keep Lois safe by keeping her out of things". Doesn't he know the first thing about her by now? Of course, he has to get whacked over the head (metaphorically) to learn that lesson.
The whole scene with Ruben was great. So often, little is written about Clark's underlying questions which he must have had. Kudos to you for bringing them up and describing how Clark resolved some of them.
And Lex...the stalking continues.
Looking forward to more!
