Fan Fic and More

Great chapters, Bisty! You've been really busy! I loved it when Lois learned that Clark was Superman. And I agree about the flying together part. I think that would be so romantic. But then she had to forget everything again. : Oh well. I'll wait to see what happens.

I loved Lois trying to say the right words and her reporter mind getting in the way:

She watched Clark hurry across the newsroom to Perry White’s office, then meandered back to her own desk.

At her desk, Lois opened a drawer, grabbed a notepad and pen, and began to scribble:

Explain, if you will, the circumstances surrounding—

She stopped short and groaned. No, that wouldn’t do. She scratched through the line.

Please elucidate, in clear and concise terms—

That wasn’t right, either. In a flash, a line of ink blotted out that line

Where were you the night of—

This was getting worse by the minute. She scratched the third line out, then considered what she was doing for a moment. Then it dawned on her…ask direct questions and demand direct answers. She put her pen to paper, and wrote out a fourth line:

What the hell did you do to me?

“What are you writing, Lois?”

great new parts. so much. i want to see the movie again. just to be thrown into it. thigns aren't going to be easy for these guys. but things ar eout in the open.

Thanks Gerry & Roselle!

***

ELEVEN


The park in Lois’s neighborhood was within walking distance of the house and had a big shady playground that Jason’d had his eye on from the moment they’d moved in. As they trekked along the sidewalk with bag lunches in hand, Lois could hear the happy sounds of the swings creaking back and forth, and the peals of laughter coming from the kids as they played. She saw a crowd of stay-at-home moms standing guard over their brood of frolicking children as they gabbed and laughed with each other.

When they reached the play area, Lois claimed a spot at an empty picnic table. She dabbed smudges of sunblock on every exposed bit of skin on Jason’s body, fighting him as he squirmed. “I hate this stuff,” he complained, wiggling some more. “It smells funny.”

“You wouldn’t hate it half so much if you stopped to consider that it’s protecting you from sunburn, skin cancer, and signs of premature aging,” she lectured him, slathering a little extra onto the end of his nose for good measure.

He scrunched up his sunblock-smeared nose, making a funny face at her. “But I don’t get sunburn,” he moaned.

“Because you wear your sunblock,” she countered. “Now go play, munchkin!”

Jason dashed over to the swing set and plunked down on an unoccupied swing. She watched him sway there for a while, then looked at the flock of chattering mothers. She glanced back at the playground. Jason had moved from the swings to the sandbox, and was burrowing his hands beneath a mountain of sand. The other kids giggled and dug and dumped bucketfuls of sand out together, but Jason stuck to his own corner. Lois shifted uneasily on the bench of the picnic table where she sat alone. She couldn’t help but think what a couple of loners the two of them were. But there was no denying it, Lois wasn’t exactly longing for the company of the other mothers out there at the moment. They were probably discussing ballet recitals or soccer matches, and what was on her mind? A case of amnesia induced by her alien lover? She tried to keep a low profile as she watched her son. Her plan only worked for so long.

It didn’t take much time before a pleasant-looking young mom and her equally pleasant-looking young daughter meandered over to Lois’s table.

“Hi, there,” the mother chirped merrily. “You looked like you could use some company, so we thought we’d come over and say hello.”

“Hello,” said Lois, striving to match the woman’s pleasant tone, but coming up miserably short.

“Is that your little boy?” the chirpy mother inquired, gesturing towards Jason, who’d moved on from digging in the sandbox to scaling the monkey bars.

Lois nodded, eyeing Jason cautiously as he climbed higher and higher.

“What’s his name?” squeaked the little girl in a voice resembling the sound of fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.

“Jason!” shouted Lois, suddenly finding herself on her feet, running past the woman and her daughter, and fighting her way through the rubber mulch that carpeted the play area as she tried desperately to reach her son.

Jason was laying facedown on the blue bed of mulch, completely immobile. Some of the children were shouting, a couple of the younger ones were even crying, and one older boy was holding up his hands in self-defense, saying to the crowd of onlookers that he didn’t have anything to do with the incident. Lois knew the boy was innocent. She’d watched the whole scene unfold before her eyes, unable to do anything until it was too late. Jason had reached the summit of the climbing apparatus and simply lost his grip for a moment. He plummeted to the ground just as Lois had screamed his name, and now he wasn’t moving.

Lois pushed passed the throng of people, and touched her son’s back. He wasn’t breathing.

“Oh, my God,” she cried, flipping him over and seeing his expressionless face. His little body was limp and motionless. His chest was still.

“Don’t move him!” one of the mothers shouted. “They say you’re not supposed to move a person when they fall!”

Another mother announced, “I called 911 on my cell…help is on the way!”

He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t moving. Lois felt her blood go cold. She leaned over him and began the rescue breathing both she and Richard had learned eons ago at a safety course offered to new parents at Metropolis General. She started chest compressions and prayed the paramedics would get there soon. She also offered another silent – and desperate – prayer that Clark might be in the area.

Before long, the wail of sirens broke through the voices of concern surrounding them. The emergency crew encircled them, and gently nudged Lois aside to take care of Jason. They hoisted his unconscious body into the ambulance, and Lois scrambled in behind them.

“If you ride with us, you need to stay out of our way and let us take care of your boy,” an EMT told her firmly, moving past her to continue his work.

As the ambulance sped off with sirens blaring, Lois heard a female EMT declare, “He’s breathing.”

Lois felt her heart pound frantically as she watched her child being tended to by the emergency techs. For the entire ride to Metropolis General, Lois never took her eyes off of Jason.

***

“Ma’am, please,” the nurse begged her, using her body to barricade Lois from the double-doors through which Jason had just been wheeled on a gurney. “You have to wait here, in the lobby.”

“That’s my son!” Lois bellowed, willing to physically assert herself to move the nurse from her path to get to Jason, if necessary.

“I understand that,” the nurse said, holding out her hands in hopes of diverting Lois away from the hallway marked Medical Personnel Only. “And when your son is finished with his MRI, you’ll get to see him—”

“Ma’am,” said another voice. A second nurse had joined them. “Let me get you some coffee or maybe a soda…”

Lois glowered at them both. She didn’t want anything to drink. She just wanted to make sure her child was going to be OK. “No,” she grumbled. “I’m fine. Just show me where the ladies’ room is…please.”

The second nurse pointed it out, and Lois left them without another word.

In the bathroom, Lois splashed a handful of water onto her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like hell.

A woman exited one of the stalls, and a thought occurred to Lois as she watched her wash and dry her hands.

“Do you have a cell phone I could use?” she pleaded.

“Well, you’re really not supposed to use them in the hospital…they have signs posted all over—”

“This is an emergency,” Lois said through gritted teeth. After all, weren’t they in an emergency room lobby?

“Well, OK…since you put it that way…” She reluctantly handed over her phone.

Lois dialed the number for Clark’s desk at the Planet.

Be there, be there, be there, she thought madly.

An automated voice picked up the call. “Hello. You’ve reached the voicemail box of—” The automated voice cut off and was replaced by Clark’s familiar intonation, “Clark Kent.” The automated voice droned on, “If you’d like to leave this person a voice message, please press one, or wait for the...”

Lois swore under her breath and ended the call.

“Nobody there?” the woman asked cautiously.

Lois shook her head. “Thanks anyway,” she muttered. The woman departed, leaving Lois alone.

“Clark,” Lois whispered, burying her face in her hands. “We need you.” She sunk to the floor.

I hear everything. His words echoed in her memory.

“Hear me,” she whispered. “Clark,” she said softly, as if he were there in the room with her.

But the world, it’s a deafening place for someone who can hear it all, she thought.

She raised her voice a bit, not caring if the whole lobby heard her. “Clark!” It was so noisy out there, she’d have been surprised if they did, above the rest of the racket.

One more time, with feeling, she thought.

“Clark!” Her voice resonated loudly off of the ugly green tile on the walls, and she brought her hands up to cover up her mouth, slightly shocked that she’d actually just screamed his name out loud in the empty bathroom.

For all the good it did.

She turned on the faucet and splashed more water on her pale face.

Just then, she heard the voice of the same nurse who’d forbidden her access in the Medical Personnel Only-zone say, “Sir, please! You can’t go in there! It’s the ladies’ room!”

The door opened anyway, and Lois watched as Clark moved past the nurse and hurried in.

“Lois, what’s—”

But before he could finish, Lois had practically leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his chest, all the while choking on a quick succession of sobs.

“Jason,” she said finally, gaining control of her voice again. “It’s Jason.”

***

“The MRI was all clear,” the doctor told them. “There’s no sign of damage. In fact, all of Jason’s vitals seem to check out. He’s a lucky little boy.”

Lois was listening to the physician’s voice, but her eyes were fixed on the pane of glass separating them from the room where Jason slept. He looked so tiny under the stark white linens of the hospital bed.

“Now, Jason’ll probably stay asleep for awhile…don’t let that worry you. I had the nurse give him a sedative to help him sleep. I’d like to keep him overnight, however, just to be on the safe side. If all’s well in the morning, I’ll let him go home.”

Lois nodded. “Can we go in and see him now?”

The doctor looked at Clark. “Typically, we like to limit visitors to family—”

“He is family,” Lois said firmly. “He’s Jason’s father.” She took Clark’s hand and, together, they entered Jason’s room.

***

Lois had fallen asleep in a fairly uncomfortable vinyl chair that she pushed beside Jason’s bed. She awoke from a prickling pain she suspected was caused by sleeping with her own arm pressed against the chair’s wooden arm. For a moment, it felt like dead weight, then like a thousand tiny needles were puncturing it. As she waited for the pain to subside, she watched Clark. He was seated on the edge of the bed, beside Jason.

Jason’s small left hand was nestled in Clark’s strong grasp. From the angle where Lois was, she couldn’t be certain, but she thought she could see tears in Clark’s eyes. Jason’s breathing was soft and steady. His skin was a healthy tint once more, and he looked peaceful as he slept, unlike…before. Lois shuddered at the memory of her son’s lifeless body lying on the ground of the play yard.

Her son.

His son.

With all feeling back in her arm again, Lois noiselessly moved from her spot on the chair. She tip-toed around the bed to the side where Clark sat, then slipped into the spot just behind him. All anger and bitterness temporarily ebbed away as she wrapped her arms around him tenderly and whispered to him, “Thank you for coming.”

She felt him move to turn towards her, and she let go. He shifted on the bed and faced her, then said, “I had to…I heard you call.”

“You always do.” She slid nearer to him, until she was close enough to curl up in his lap. She let him hold her…let herself be held. She felt him softly kiss the top of her head and she knew, in this moment at least, she could not deny him a part of the things he had sacrificed so long ago.


TBC

that is one sickly kid. and i can't figure out why...is it the amount of sun screen they have on him. cause the kyrptonite doesn't affect him, but everything from earth does. he has the reverse problem of his dad...maybe the red sun of krypton will help him.

i'm glad jason is alright. i'm glad she called for clark (the one scene missing from the movie i wanted was a help superman). but now the secret is out. how is she going to explain this and what will it mean for her job with richard's uncle perry. i'm thinking its good you 86 him.

TWELVE

Sleep never seemed to come naturally for patients lying in hospital beds. Even in the dead of night, Metropolis General never truly slept. Noises, even hushed ones, always buzzed in patients’ ears; the glow of lights from the corridors outside the room, and the monitors and equipment inside the room always shined in their tired eyes. But for Jason White, sleep had come easily. His physician’s prescription soothed him into a peaceful night’s rest, while watchful eyes kept vigil at his side.

***

Lois fought the urge to sleep, but she was losing the battle. Her eyelids felt as if they weighed a ton, and her head swayed back and forth as if she’d had too much to drink.

“Lay down…rest,” Clark advised.

“What if he wakes up?” Lois whispered.

Clark stared at Jason for a moment, then smiled. “He’s not budging,” he said matter-of-factly. “But you look like you’re about to fall over.”

Lois felt like she was about to fall over, but she was stubborn. Stubborn about being there for her child, if and when he needed her.

Clark reached out and stroked her hair. “Rest,” he whispered, urging her to lay down next to Jason.

Slowly, she relaxed her body, then leaned over to share her son’s pillow. Finally, she nuzzled in beside him and yielded to sleep.

***

“Mom?”

Lois abruptly sat up, but her eyes took a moment to adjust to the bright rays streaming into the room through a large, open window next to the bed. Dazzling sunshine reflected off of the tall buildings of the city that surrounded the hospital, causing her to squint until her eyes became used to the change from darkness to light.

She heard Jason’s voice; it was raspy at first, but when he spoke again, she heard him clearly. His voice sounded like music to her ears.

“Mom? Where are we?”

“Baby,” she said tenderly, turning to him and seeing his bright eyes shining back at her. They were, without a doubt, the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. He was sitting upright in his hospital bed, bathed in a little pool of sunshine spilling in through that open window. Lois scooped him up in her arms and squeezed him tightly. Normally, Jason would have protested being labeled as a “baby” at the ripe old age of seven, but for the moment, he seemed tolerant of Lois’s motherly coddling. “Sweetie, we’re at the hospital…do you remember falling?”

“Falling…” Jason echoed.

Lois pulled back and looked at him. His forehead was furrowed as he thought for a moment, and it struck her that sometimes she’d noticed Clark with a similar expression, usually at the Planet, when Perry was rallying the staffers about a big story. She smiled.

“At the playground?” Jason said, interrupting Lois’s thought.

“Yes,” Lois confirmed. “You fell from the monkey bars, and an ambulance brought you here.”

“An ambulance?” Jason asked. He glanced at the window. A pigeon had landed on the sill. Lois listened to it coo for a second, wondering where her son’s thoughts were. She also couldn’t help but wonder what had beckoned Clark away; it was selfish, she knew, but she had felt a twinge of disappointment at not seeing him in the room when she awakened.

But before she could wonder anymore about Jason, or feel any more pangs of regret about Clark’s disappearance, the nurse on duty had bustled into the room, momentarily removing the thoughts from her mind.

“I hate to disturb you,” the nurse said cheerfully. “But I need to check in on this little guy.” She scuttled over to the window and shut it tight. “Let’s keep this shut, shall we?” She made a face at the pigeon as it took to the air.

The nurse made her way back to Jason’s bedside and started in with a series of pokes and prods. “I take it your husband had to leave,” she commented to Lois as she continued checking Jason over.

Lois looked taken aback. “My…husband?” She looked at Jason, who hadn’t flinched since the nurse had begun the check-up. Strangely, she couldn’t read his expression as he sat there being examined.

“Um, I’m not…married,” Lois spluttered, remembering that she’d boldly told Jason’s physician that Clark was Jason’s father, and realizing that the staff might’ve wrongly concluded that she and Clark were married. She also quickly realized what a sticky situation this could’ve turned into if the nurse had turned to Jason instead and said, “I take it your dad had to leave.” She felt her cheeks redden, and wished she could mimic her son’s poker face.

“Oh, my mistake,” said the nurse. She patted Jason on the knee. “This kid looks great,” she added. “The doctor will want to take a look in on him prior to release, but I don’t see any reason why he won’t be able to go home this morning.”

Lois nodded quickly. “Great,” she said. “That sounds great.”

The nurse left them, and Lois sat back down beside Jason. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Fine,” replied Jason.

“You sure?” Lois pressed him.

“Yep,” Jason said. “Can we go soon?”

“As soon as the doctor springs you,” said Lois, tousling the top of his hair. She picked up the handset to the telephone sitting on Jason’s bedside table and said, “I’m gonna give Uncle Perry a call, to let him know what’s up. If he doesn’t hear from me, he may get the impression you and I are playing hooky again.”

“Where would he think we’d go?” asked Jason.

Lois thought for a moment. “Tahiti?” she said hopefully.

Jason shook his head. “Rome!”

Lois smiled, then dialed Perry’s number. Rome, indeed.

***

Lois couldn’t stop watching Jason for the duration of the cab ride back home. During the ride through the city, she noticed he kept his eyes peeled on the skyline, taking in the urban vista of soaring buildings as they scraped the atmosphere. Was Jason watching for him? Did Jason know he’d sat for hours last night in the hospital room, keeping watch and offering quiet prayers while the boy slept?

As the cab sped towards the outskirts of Metropolis, and into the secure confines of suburbia, Jason relaxed in his seat, and Lois held out her hand to him. What did he know? she thought. What was he feeling? She squeezed his hand as they pulled into the driveway.

“Home,” she sighed. At last.

***

Lois’s suggestion to rest did not go over well with Jason. Leave it to him to fully inherit my stubborn streak, she thought dolefully. He spilled out the contents of a puzzle box in front of the fireplace, and began assembling it right on the hardwood floor. Lois relaxed on the sofa and watched Jason piece together the puzzle’s frame. She noticed Jason’s copy of Stuart Little laying among some magazines on the coffee table, and she thought immediately of Clark. She eyed her bag on the table by the front door and considered getting up to grab her cell phone.

I should call him, she thought. Maybe he wants to come, but he feels... She paused for a moment. Well, let’s just say I didn’t exactly make him feel welcome last time he was here. She bit at her thumbnail, uncertain of what to do. Or maybe he’s busy. Perry probably has him on that transit story…it’s not like Clark can tell the chief he’s taking the day off for the same reason I am…then again, maybe he’s busy… She imagined a bridge collapsing in Europe or an earthquake in Asia.

Lois thought about being with Clark in that hospital room last night, before she’d succumbed to a night’s sleep. There, just a short time ago, she’d allowed herself to be comforted by his touch. There she’d felt her anger at him melt away in the warm solace of his embrace. There he’d cradled her in his strong arms and offered her consolation; in his tender presence, he gave her relief. He was, after all, the one person she could truly connect with over this – but more than that, she wanted that connection with him – needed it, even – despite their problems. Those problems seemed so trivial when faced with the possibility of almost losing their child.

Jason had completed the frame, and was now carefully organizing the rest of the puzzle pieces, grouping them together by color or pattern. He was so focused, Lois observed. His mind was a constant machine in motion, always more willing to solve problems on his own than to let someone do things for him. He drank in new information, whether at school with his teachers, or at home, through books or the occasional educational program on TV, and he was always thirsty to know more.

But how much did he know? Lois thought, reflexively biting at her nail again. Did he have unconscious memories, perhaps, or had he just put two and two together? Jason had always been more perceptive than the average kid.

She remembered seeing Jason first thing that morning, sitting in his hospital bed, perking up quickly as he basked in the morning sunshine. Maybe it was about time she stopped trying to shield him from…certain things. Maybe what made him different was what made him special – what made him Jason. Maybe it did him more harm than good to try to make him appear…normal. What was normal anyhow?

She picked up Jason’s book from the coffee table and slowly trailed her finger down its spine. She opened it to chapter one and read the first line to herself:

“When Mrs. Frederick C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse.”

Jason had been a frail child at the start, but with the passage of time, he was showing hints of slowly overcoming those frailties. It was an uphill battle to be sure, but Lois still bore the brunt of the guilt and felt it full-on each time she saw his eyes water from allergies or heard him wheeze from asthma. Was it the human side of his composition that sentenced him to a life of health ailments? Were her human genetics such a horrible match with those of Clark’s Kryptonian makeup? The thought had occurred to her more than once since the day she saw her small son hurl a 1,100 pound grand piano across a yacht. Surely Clark had never had to drink macrobiotic shakes as a kid. And surely, if he ever fell off of the monkey bars on the playground as a child, he floated gently to the ground instead of hurling towards it and getting knocked unconscious. But then again, she was pretty sure there hadn’t been any monkey bars on the Kent farm, and besides, Mrs. Kent probably never bothered coating Clark with sunblock, either.

***

By the time Jason’s puzzle was complete, it was time for a dinner plan.

“I want a cheeseburger,” Jason said, swinging his legs from his perch on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter. Lois was busy scanning the contents of the freezer for something to prepare.

“Oh, do you?” she asked, peeking around the freezer door to look at him. “Well, we’re fresh out of red meat, buddy. How about a tofu burger…minus the cheese?”

Jason made a face. “Can I have fries with it?”

“You can have steamed broccoli,” she countered. “And two scoops of your ice cream if you don’t complain.” She felt guilty, but the offer of dessert seemed to mollify her son’s rebellious streak.

“Set the table, will you?” she asked, handing him two plates from the cupboard. He hopped down from the stool and placed the plates on placemats. He took cutlery out of one of the drawers and looked around for the linens to set them on.

“The napkins are in the laundry room,” Lois said, realizing she’d washed them some time ago, but hadn’t gotten around to putting them back in their place in the kitchen yet.

Jason scampered into the laundry room and returned quickly, clutching a stack of napkins in his hands and wearing…glasses.

Lois dropped the package of tofu she was holding, and it hit the floor with a thud.

They were Clark’s, the pair he’d left the other night. Lucy must have placed them in the laundry room. Lois expected his jacket was back there, too.

Jason peeped through the lenses with his eyes squinted ever so slightly.

“Where’d you find those?” Lois asked, trying to make her voice sound nonchalant. She stooped over to retrieve the fallen package of tofu. She set it down on the counter and grabbed the vegetable steamer for the broccoli.

“On the dryer,” Jason replied, adjusting the too-large glasses as they slid down the bridge of his nose. “Do I look like Mr. Kent?”

The stainless steel of the steamer struck the ground with a loud clatter after it slipped from Lois’s grasp.

***

After Lois tucked Jason into bed that evening, she looked high and low in the house, hoping to discover a place where a pack of cigarettes might be hiding. It was a fruitless hunt, however. Before the move, she’d discarded the last of her “secret stash,” replacing each pack she’d tossed with a pack of chewing gum. It just wasn’t the same. Tonight she was letting stress tug her back towards old habits, but in her futile search of the house, she wasn’t even lucky enough to find a stick of Dentyne.

She was ready to admit defeat and head to bed herself when there was a soft knock at the front door. Her heart pounded as she neared the door to open it, and when she peeked through the peephole and saw him standing on her front porch, she felt her heart quicken even more. She had never doubted that he wanted to come, only thought that she hadn’t made him feel as though he were welcome to do so. But a dose of reality was enough to make Lois see beyond mistakes made in the past. Their future was upstairs, tucked cozily in bed and snoozing comfortably away under a ceiling full of stars.

She let Clark in and closed the door. She pulled him towards her into a warm hug and told him, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Clark explained why he’d left the hospital in the middle of the night, but Lois already knew. The open window that morning had been a telltale sign. As for why he’d not come back to them until now, he explained further. “I thought Jason would be better off coming home and settling in with you. Just you.”

Lois read the pain behind his eyes. He was still dressed for work, as if he’d come straight from the Planet to her house, and he was even still wearing glasses, but they no longer worked to shield anything from her. His pain was palpable, and she knew how he felt, although he didn’t put it into words. With them – her and Jason – he felt like an outsider. At the hospital, she was sure he’d felt differently. But here, in their home… Did he feel like he was intruding?

She took him by the hand and led him up the stairs, to Jason’s room. There they found Jason, fast asleep. Beside the bed, Stuart Little lay open face down, marking the place where he’d left off before turning the lamp off for the night.

“When I tucked him in tonight, he asked me when Clark would be back to finish the story,” Lois whispered as they watched him sleep. “I read him another chapter, but I don’t think it was quite the same.”

Clark picked the book up from the floor and held it for a moment. Lois placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, then stole from the room without a sound. She went downstairs and waited for Clark in the living room. Within moments, he’d rejoined her down there. She felt her face flush as he walked across the room towards her. The other night, she had sent him away, but she didn’t want him to go tonight. He stopped in front of her and slipped off his glasses.

“Old habit,” he said quietly, looking at them as he held them in his hands. Lois smiled. He set them aside and brought a hand to her face.

Lois stood there, surprised at the lightness of his touch. He was strong enough to lift an ocean liner without so much as breaking a sweat, or crush through steel walls on a whim, yet when he reached out to her, his touch was feather-light. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. She knew what she wanted him to do next. She was hungry for it, starving to death in every moment he let pass without giving in. She begged him for it without speaking a word. Her body was pleading for him, and he always heard her pleas…

TBC

*dusting myself off from the fall out of the chair* wow. and whole lot of emotion as well. i am so sucked in i have no idea what to do. jason is a very interesting character. i'm guessing he knows, more than he's letting on. i'm glad he's home and feeling better. and clark came over. awwww. i love how we are into lois' head and her thoughts.

Roselle - Lots more about Jason to come, but this next chapter focuses on...erm...well, you'll see. And buckle your safety belt this time, OK?

***

Attention, readers! For this chapter only...

Rating: MATURE (If you are a young reader, SHOO!! There is mature content within.)

***

THIRTEEN

Lois felt Clark step nearer, yet her eyes remained shut. His one hand still held her face so lightly, she barely felt him urge it upwards. The heat of his breath warmed her lips before his mouth did, and it sent a sensation of pleasure through her like thousands of tiny electrical currents. For just a moment, he let his mouth touch hers in the same feather-light way his hand softly played against her skin, just long enough for her to feel like she would stop breathing if he didn’t stop taunting her with these whispering sensations. He lingered there, lips closed, for that moment; perhaps trying to tease her, but more likely trying to talk himself out of doing something else that might start a chain reaction.

But Lois wasn’t about to let him convince himself this wasn’t what should be happening. She opened her mouth to intensify a kiss that had barely started out as one. Her tongue was greedy and persistent, and soon Clark had yielded, kissing her deeply. She lapped him up, starving to savor his taste, having once forgotten it, but feeling as though she was beginning at long last to remember. Her hands raked through his dark hair, while his hands had stopped being so gentle, so polite. They glided under her blouse and she felt her skin practically catch fire. His fingers pressed against the silky fabric of her bra, each movement telling her they were desperate to knead the softness of the skin trapped beneath. She fumbled for the latch, desperate to help him to reach his goal. She let out a tiny moan when he finally did.

When did they reach the confines of the sofa? Lois had no clue. Had he flown her there? Had they stumbled across the floor together? Did it matter? She sat straddling his lap, her skirt pushed nearly all the way up to her waist; his hands massaging the inner part of her thighs. She loosened his tie, wondering why he was still burdened down with clothing. She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, wondering how they were going to contend with the suit he wore beneath. Much to her surprise, however, as she progressed with the unbuttoning, she discovered there was no blue fabric beneath his dress shirt, merely the warm flesh of his bare chest.

Lois raised an eyebrow, and he stopped massaging for a moment, much to her chagrin. “You sly dog,” she whispered. She leaned into him and tickled his bare skin with her mouth. “Did you expect something to happen tonight?” She was teasing him, and she enjoyed it. She saw his face redden and she fought hard not to smile triumphantly.

“I had hoped…” he quietly admitted.

“Had you?” she returned, tugging at his shirt to pull it away. She ran a hand across his skin, so flawless, so perfect. The muscle beneath it was so solid, so different from her own tender flesh that he was now electrifying once again with his touch. Her shirt and bra had been discarded, and now he was tasting that soft flesh, and his hands were once more in motion at her thighs, dancing dangerously close to a more intimate place. She leaned into him, rubbing her face against his chest, nuzzling against him like a cat, tickling his skin again, this time with the tip of her tongue, tracing a wet trail along the perfect lines of his body.

“Clark,” she purred in his ear in a low voice. She was scared to speak above a whisper, lest she wake their sleeping child, just up the flight of stairs. The threat of being discovered was a strange aphrodisiac, but she assumed Clark’s amplified hearing would alert them in time if there was trouble. Still, the risk was there, and she felt the odd mixed effects of it. How much farther could they go before having to flee for cover if Jason were to awaken? And could they handle the situation if they were found out? Lois wasn’t willing to risk that. “Clark,” she said again, this time with a little more urgency. “I think we should move…”

His hands moved and, she anxiously thought, if they moved any deeper, she was going to soon be seeing fireworks.

“To my office,” she murmured. It was just off the living room. There was a door there. They could close it, and lock it, and try to be quiet. Oh, but how badly he was making her want to scream out loud…

He slid his hands back down her thighs and nudged her backwards slightly as he stood. She felt her body lift in one deft movement that made her absolutely quiver. She wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the other room.

***

“Lois,” he whispered to her before leaning in to taste the nape of her neck.

Lois felt her skin tingle, and she thought quickly that she might never allow anyone else to say her name again, aside from Clark. When he said it, it was tuneful and hypnotic. She lay there, on the rug in her office, spellbound by his voice and held captive by his embrace. Moments ago, they had collapsed upon one another after the climax of their lovemaking, their hearts pounding in mad unison, and he had breathed just one word…her name. The effect was just as seductive as his touch.

He stroked the hair away from her face, the strands of it damp with perspiration, and offered her a soft kiss. He pulled back and cast his gaze on her, his piercing blue eyes seeing through her in a way more extraordinary than was typical even for him.

“How do we make this work, Clark?” she whispered. “Tell me how, and we’ll do it…” She brought a finger up to the irresistible indentation marking his chin and touched it. “We need you, Clark,” she said on a sigh. “I need you…”

She wrapped her arms around him, coaxing him even closer than before. They lay together, listening to the strange song of the cicadas serenade them from the trees in the yard. She felt him take a slow, deep breath in, then gradually release it.

“I’m sorry for—” he tried to say, but she stopped him.

She brought a finger up to his lips to hush him. “What’s done is done,” she said calmly. “And you’ve atoned for the past.”

“The future…” he murmured.

“Has yet to be written,” she replied. “Our future.”

“Yours, mine…Jason’s?”

“Exactly.” She felt a thrilling shudder run through her.

“You’re cold?” he asked, trying to enfold her in his warmth.

“Never, when you’re near,” she cooed, kissing him again, reveling in their intimate connection. “I love you, Clark.”

“Lois,” he replied, mesmerizing her with the sound of her own name. “I love you.”

***

The dawn broke too early for either of their tastes. The sounds of the birds chirruping in the trees, replacing the nighttime tunes sung by the cicadas, reminded them that time was marching onward. A new day had begun, and soon a young boy would be bounding down the staircase, calling for his mother and his breakfast. The same mother who lay naked, entangled in her lover’s embrace on the floor of her office, with half of her clothes strewn about the living room floor…

Lois sat bolt upright – her arms wrapped around her bare torso, suddenly cold as she pulled away from Clark – as reality smacked her into full awareness.

She watched Clark stretch languidly as he awoke. His eyes blinked open slowly, and he looked at her sitting beside him, shivering as she did so. He smiled.

“I thought it might’ve been a dream,” he said, sitting up and moving nearer to her. She let him hold her close, suddenly desperate to warm up, but she quickly regretted it. He was distracting her, and Jason would be awake soon… His mouth greeted hers with the best good morning she’d had in a long, long time. She could really get used to waking up to this…

“Clark,” she said, half-moaning, half-pleading. She reluctantly pulled away. “Jason,” she said emphatically. “He could be down here any second…”

Clark bent an ear, then gave the ceiling a penetrating stare. “Not unless he sleepwalks,” he said, smiling. He planted a quick kiss on her forehead, then ran his hands down the length of her arms, from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers. He brought her hands up to his mouth, and graced them both with a kiss, each in turn. “Wait here,” he said.

Before she could ask him where she would go in her current state of undress, he had gone and come back in an instant – a flesh-colored streak speeding from the office to the living room and back again – returning with a bundle of wrinkled clothing clutched in his hands.

Lois’s mouth turned upwards, a smile forming as she stared at him in amazement. She watched as he dressed, unabashed about admiring the absolute magnificence of him as he tugged his trousers on and buttoned his shirt up just like any other man might do, except he wasn’t just like any other man. That she could attest to.

She slipped back into her undergarments, and pulled her skirt back over her hips. She slid her arms into the sleeves of her blouse and nearly swayed to the ground when he stepped close to her and began doing up the buttons for her.

His mouth brushed hers one last time for that morning, and he quickly whispered a good-bye to her. The look he gave the ceiling indicated that Jason had finally begun to stir. He moved away so quickly, she couldn’t have been certain that he hadn’t actually vanished into thin air instead of speeding away.

She felt the heat of his kiss still burning on her lips, the heady scent of their night spent together still lingering in the air. She closed her eyes and longed for the day when they’d wake up together leisurely and without fear of discovery. She imagined them curled under the covers of her bed together, maybe occasionally with Jason bounding in to tell them they’d both slept in too late. She smiled at the vision.

One day, she thought.

She heard Jason’s small feet padding down the stairs, and his voice calling to her.

One day.


TBC

Great parts, Bisty! I'm beginning to think that maybe too much sunblock is indeed the cause of Jason's problems. After all, our yellow sun gave Superman his powers. Jason probably needs the sun, even if it gives him unwelcome powers. After all, throwing a piano over a yacht isn't exactly normal. But then neither is calling for Clark and him running into the ladies' room!

:D

so can we hold you to the one day? cause i have this thing i have noticed in the lovely realm of superheroes...NO ONE IS HAPPY. it's like they have this big maytr thing going on.

i'm glad to know more info will come about jason. i have my seatbelt totally buckeld

FOURTEEN

Lois watched the cascade of Rice Krispies fall into Jason’s cereal bowl as she grabbed the carton of soy milk from the top shelf of the fridge. She walked over to his place at the counter and flooded the mound of tiny kernels with milk. Jason tilted his head, bending an ear to the bowl.

“What are they saying today?” she asked him. She took the pitcher of orange juice from the fridge next, awaiting his answer.

He was listening intently. “They say good morning,” he finally replied, translating their snapping and crackling speech patterns for her.

“Naturally,” said Lois, as she poured out two glassfuls of juice. She slid one of them across the counter towards Jason and asked, “What else?”

“They say the weather today will be party cloudy with a chance of late afternoon thunderstorms.”

“Have you been watching the Weather Channel again?” Lois queried before taking a sip of orange juice.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. “I think they have, though.” He smiled. It was infectious, and soon Lois was grinning back at him. He bent his ear closer still to the bowl, then said, “They noticed that you’re wearing yesterday’s clothes.”

Lois blinked. That bowl of cereal sure had a keen sense of observation. “Whadda you know?” she spluttered, smoothing out the deep creases in her blouse and skirt, and fighting to keep the color from rising in her cheeks. “I think maybe I should change, now that they mention it…”

Jason shrugged again, then stuffed a heaping spoonful of cereal into his mouth and began to crunch.

Lois cleared her throat and asked, “So, how are you feeling this morning? Good?”

Jason nodded and continued crunching.

“Good,” Lois repeated. “Good enough to go back to school?”

Jason nodded again, then swallowed his bite of food down quickly so he could say, “Yes…we’re going to the zoo today.”

“Oh, God!” Lois exclaimed. “The zoo! I gave your teacher that form, didn’t I?”

“Yes, mom,” Jason confirmed. He grabbed his juice glass and began draining it dry at a rapid pace. When he was finished he asked, “Can I watch TV until it’s time to leave?”

“Rinse your stuff and put it in the dishwasher, first,” Lois said. “Then how about fifteen minutes on the keyboard before you vegetate, hmm?” They had forty-five minutes before they needed to be out the door. She could shower and change while he practiced arpeggios, then got caught up on episodes of Jimmy Neutron.

“OK,” Jason answered, a small note of disappointment in his voice.

“Thanks, sweetie,” she said. She gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head. “I’ll be upstairs getting ready…call me if you need me.”

“I will,” he answered.

***

Lois stood under the steady hot stream of water raining from the shower head. Her eyes were closed, and she was luxuriating in the memories of the night before as the water poured over her. She ran a soapsuds-covered washcloth over her skin and remembered Clark’s touch in the same places it traveled. She stood to be very late to work if she kept this up. She sighed, then rinsed the lather from her body. She’d see him at work in just a short time. The idea both thrilled her and frightened her. Could she keep a level head with him mere feet away?

She toweled off, blow-dried her hair, then dressed. As she slipped her shoes on, she called down the stairs to Jason. “Two minutes!”

Two minutes later, the cartoons had been turned off, and Jason stood by the front door with his book bag slung over his shoulders. Lois grabbed her own bag and fished out her car keys. They were off.

Once they arrived at Jason’s school, Lois took some time with Mrs. Murphy, explaining his absence.

“He scared me half to death,” Lois told the school director. “My heart stopped beating when I saw him fall…”

Mrs. Murphy gave her a warm smile. “I’m thankful to see he’s alright now. He’s one resilient boy, isn’t he?” She looked down at Jason. “You just remember to be more careful next time you’re climbing so high. You can’t fly, you know!” She laughed.

Lois weakly grinned. She looked down at her son and found him staring at his shoes. She knelt down beside him and gave him a hug. Normally this met with resistance on school property, but today Jason said nothing. “Have fun at the zoo, kiddo,” she told him before saying good-bye.

***

Morning traffic in the city was a bear. Lois cursed her decision to drive that morning right before cursing the brainless driver sitting motionless in front of her. “What are we waiting for?” she grumbled. The man had out-of-state tags on his car and three frolicking children in his backseat. His wife was in the front passenger seat, poring over a map. During morning rush hour traffic! Lois was two seconds away from sticking her head out of the window and yelling a suggestion to get a navigational system installed in the car when the man made a decision to switch lanes. Lois sighed and gunned it, thankful that she would now be able to get to work sometime before next week.

The newsroom, as always, was crackling with energy as Lois stepped off of the elevator and entered in. She was anxious to get back to work, and she hoped the buzz of activity in the Planet’'s bullpen would work to channel her edginess in a positive way. She scanned the floor, stealing a glimpse at Clark’s empty desk. She couldn’t help it. She was anxious to see Clark, too.

“Ms. Lane! Hi!”

Lois spun around to see Jimmy Olsen grinning at her and holding a cup of coffee.

“I saved you a cup,” he told her, handing her a mug bearing the team logo of the Metropolis Monarchs.

“Thanks, Jimmy,” Lois said. She took a sip and tried not to cringe. The coffee was lukewarm, at best, and tasted as if Jimmy had laced it with at least five packets of sugar. She gulped down the mouthful of coffee and smiled. “Have you seen Clark around?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, glancing back at Clark’s desk and furrowing his brow. “He was there just a second ago…”

Lois shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. If you see him…”

“I’ll tell him you were looking for him.”

When Jimmy was out of sight, Lois stashed the cup of coffee behind Ned Winston’s computer monitor, then made her way to her desk. Two days off, and work was piled a mile high. She leafed through several files, glanced at her emails, and returned a call to a representative of the transport workers union before Perry finally barked across the room that he needed to speak with her.

“And you, too, Kent!” he added.

Lois jerked her head up and saw Clark meandering from his desk to Perry White’s office.

“Sure, chief,” he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Lois bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling at him. She followed Clark into Perry’s office and felt the skin at the back of her neck begin to tingle. She couldn’t look at him, for fear she’d give everything away to Perry with a single glance, but not looking didn’t seem to be doing any good. He was telling Perry about a judge’s threat to fine the transit workers if they went ahead with the strike, but Lois couldn’t really decipher all of what he was saying. She kept remembering him crooning her name in her ear last night. She kept remembering his hands on her skin, his mouth there, as well…

“Lois? What do you think about that?”

“What do I think, chief?” Lois spluttered. Shit. “I agree with Clark,” she said finally, hoping that whatever Clark told Perry was indeed agreeable.

“You do?” Perry asked, sounding surprised.

Shit.

“Can you repeat the question?” Lois asked. She could practically feel the heat from Clark’s stare reach her from across the room, but she refused to turn to look at him.

“Listen, I know what happened with Jason unnerved you, Lois,” Perry said. “But he’s OK now?”

Lois nodded, and felt riddled with guilt that Perry thought her behavior was due to concern over Jason. She guessed it should have been, but Jason was fine now… She felt her face flush.

“Then let’s get your head back in the game. You and Kent get down to the courthouse. Justice Klein is growling about how those workers will be violating state law if they strike. If he slaps a million-dollar-a-day fine on the transit workers of Metropolis, I need you two down there covering it. Got it?”

“Yeah, chief,” muttered Lois. “We’re on it.”

She exited Perry’s office and hurried over to grab her bag from her desk. She turned to Clark and looked him in the eye for the first time since he left her house earlier that morning.

“Are we ready?” she said quickly, trying to fight off several of the involuntary reactions she was experiencing as a result of standing in such close proximity to him.

He smiled and nodded.

She led the way to the elevator, feeling perspiration begin to bead up on her forehead as she felt the weight of his stare on her back. The elevator ride was no easier. Packed twenty people deep, they had to cram themselves in like sardines in a can. Lois tried to hum along to the music as a distraction, but couldn’t stop thinking about how good it felt to be crammed in there beside him.

During the taxi ride to the courthouse, she fidgeted in her seat so much, Clark reached out and set a hand upon her knee in an attempt to get her to calm down. Unfortunately, this caused her to kick the back of the driver’s seat, inspiring him to fiercely yell out a profanity in a foreign language – was it Bengali, or perhaps Pakistani? – that she thankfully could not interpret.

“Are you OK?” Clark asked her quietly.

Lois slumped down in her seat and looked at him. “Why do I suddenly feel I like I’m in high school again?” she asked in an urgent whisper, reaching across the seat of the cab for his hand as she spoke. “All morning long, I’ve felt like I’m waiting for the class bell to ring just so that I can hurry off to find an empty classroom to meet my boyfriend in….this is crazy…I can’t focus…”

“Did you do that kind of thing a lot in high school?” Clark asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.

“You’ve completely missed my point,” Lois said, snatching her hand back.

“No, I haven’t,” said Clark, reaching to take it back.

Lois felt her heart pounding against her ribcage.

The cab slowed to a stop. They had reached the courthouse.

***

“It’ll be at least thirty minutes before the Justice Klein can speak to you,” said the woman sitting at a desk outside the judge’s office. She looked like she was juggling ten different problems at the moment. Seeing Lois and Clark waiting expectantly for an interview with her boss only seemed to make matters worse for her.

“Thirty minutes,” Clark replied. “Thank you. We’ll be back then.”

Lois followed him back into a corridor adjacent the office. She paced the marble floors like a caged animal. “Thirty minutes,” she said. She needed a task, a goal. Interviewing State Justice Klein was her mission. That mission had been thwarted. Now she was wandering the halls of justice with Clark Kent, and her mind was back to wandering and daydreaming about last night…

“God, is it hot in here?” she said, fanning herself with a notebook.

“You seem distracted,” he said in a low voice. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Come over here.” He motioned to a door, a few steps away from the landing of the grand staircase.

“What’s in there?” hissed Lois, painfully curious.

“An empty classroom,” Clark replied.

Lois felt her pulse quicken.

Another storage room? she thought as she followed Clark into what appeared to be a janitor’s closet. This was an interesting habit they were developing. The strong, peculiar aromas of Borateem and Pine-Sol filled her nose as Clark closed the door behind them.

“Your heart’s racing,” he told her. “I’ve been listening to it pounding ever since Perry’s office.”

“I’m a little…preoccupied,” she said, trying to keep a reasonable amount of space between them. It was strange to her that, not all that long ago, she could stand near Clark Kent and feel nothing akin to attraction or desire; but as the veil of secrecy had been lifted, everything about the way she perceived things had shifted. If she had to put it into any sort of terms, she’d have said, prior to this shift, it was like she had been trapped in a world of suspended animation. Not remembering had been like asphyxia, but when the truth had come out, she was suddenly brought back to life. And last night seemed to have awakened all of her senses…

“I can tell,” Clark said. “What are you thinking?” He politely respected the neutral zone she was trying to establish, and stood by the janitor’s washbasin, while she leaned against the cold brick wall across the small room.

She was wringing her hands as she spoke. “I’m thinking we’re trying to work here, but your partner is…someplace else…” She lowered her voice to hardly a whisper. “I’m still on that damn rug in my office at home. I can’t focus here to save my life. How are you so calm?”

Clark shook his head. “Only on the outside,” he told her. He took a small step into the neutral zone.

Lois felt her airway constrict.

“You can focus on this, Lois” he said quietly. “On being at work…on getting the job done. You’re the strongest person I know.”

“You’re the strongest person you know!” she said with a smile.

Clark grinned. “You’ve completely missed my point.”

“Maybe,” she said, still smiling. “Can I get just one thing out of my system before we get back that judge and the transit story?”

Clark took another step closer, then another, closing the gap. “What’s that?” he asked.

She slipped her arms around his neck and brushed her mouth against his. “This…”

Her back was pressed firmly against the cold wall of the closet, as Clark’s body sandwiched her there in place. The coolness at her back and his warmth against her front made for a dizzying paradox of sensations. Hopefully, this would get her through the interview, and if she was lucky, the rest of the day.

***

Lois’s luck held out, or rather, her journalistic integrity had kicked back in after leaving the janitor’s closet, and she managed the interview with Justice Klein with hardly a wandering thought and barely a hint at loss of concentration. Except for a brief moment when Clark held the door for her walking in and her hand brushed his leg as she passed him by, but she didn’t count that since the interview hadn’t yet begun.

“If the workers union OKs a new contract, a big mess will be avoided here,” Lois commented as she and Clark stood on the sidewalk outside of the courthouse, trying to hail a cab. “We’re gonna need to get some union voices in on this…we’ll have to contact somebody from the executive board.”

Clark nodded in agreement and checked his watch.

“Hey, what time is it?” she asked. She had a hunch that they’d be working on this piece well past the time when Jason’s day camp closed down for the day and, if her luck continued to hold out, she might be able to swing by the zoo to fetch him there instead of the school, then bring him back to the Planet until the story was finished.

“Almost noon,” Clark said.

“Hmm,” Lois said. “We’ll have a little bit of time to kill, but…”

A taxi slowed and pulled to the curb where they stood waiting.

Lois slid into the backseat, followed by Clark.

She leaned forward and told the cabbie, “Metropolis Zoo, please.”

TBC

lois and clark are hysterical. i love them like this. drama but its like. superman to man has always had some litness to it. *i mean come on, the man crashes here as a baby. raised on a farm. and grows up to use his powers, not for his on selfish gain..oh no to help mainkind. and he's a gentleman to boot. yeah yeah i know all about them dark comics, but he's the lite to batman's dark. you know there is this awesome crossover fic...but i digress* lois all muddled up about clark. i love it when something gets under that lane wall. and the zoo...why the zoo?

Why the zoo, Roselle? Well, let's see...

***

FIFTEEN

No sooner had the words tumbled out of Lois’s mouth than Clark had them repeated.

“Metropolis Zoo?” He peered through the lenses of his glasses at her with a look of mild confusion painted on his face. “Is the executive board for the transit workers union meeting at the zoo these days?”

Lois chuckled. “No, but Jason’s summer day camp is…I thought we could swing by and get him when his field trip ends…at two, if I remember the time on the permission form correctly. It’ll save me a trip to his school later, and then he can play in the office while we work.” God knew Jason was used to visits to the Daily Planet; he’d been spending all sorts of time there since before he could toddle.

Clark nodded as the cab merged into the stream of cars. He gave Lois a peculiar look; an expression that was half-smile and half…she wasn’t sure what.

Then it struck her. They weren’t going to pick her child up from the zoo. They were going to pick their child up from the zoo. Did he look queasy? Surely Clark didn’t get queasy. But, she realized, this was a first for him. The first time he’d get to pick his son up from an event as simple as a trip to the zoo. An event of any kind, actually. She grabbed his hand and slid a bit closer to him on the seat. She didn’t care if the cabbie saw.

“Are you OK?” she asked, feeling as though the tables had turned on them since their morning cab ride together.

Clark nodded again. He definitely looked queasy. She squeezed his hand.

“He’ll be glad to see you,” she said. “He likes being with you.”

Clark managed a weak smile.

How could she convince him that his presence wasn’t intrusive? That it was wanted?

“Hey, we’ll have some time before the kids are finished with their tour…we could walk around, look at the exhibits, maybe get an ice cream…”

Clark’s smile strengthened.

Their cab breezed along through the busy streets of the city, their driver skillfully navigating through traffic and around pedestrians alike. They crossed the bridge and looked at the sunlight glinting off of the waters of the river as it peeked through the clouds up above. Lois kept hold of Clark’s hand the whole time, keeping him anchored, letting him know without speaking that he was no intruder on this trip.

When they arrived in the parking lot, the cabbie drove past a large placard that read: Welcome to the Metropolis Zoo, the world’s greatest zoo! Lois could see – past the sea of cars, SUVs, and mini-vans – several rows of parked tour buses and school buses. She recognized the green-and-white one bearing the name of Jason’s school on its large side-panel.

At the admission gate, the man behind the window looked at the press passes they still wore from the courthouse and asked if there was something happening inside that he didn’t know about. Lois assured him there wasn’t, so he requested twenty-four dollars, admission for two. Clark reached for his wallet, but Lois tried to stop him.

“You took care of the cab fare!” she argued.

He pulled out three ten-dollar bills and handed them to the man. “And you can get the ice cream,” he said with a grin. He pocketed his change and walked with Lois through the gates.

“You know,” he said. “I’ve never paid to get in here before.”

Lois raised an eyebrow. Two children ran past them, young boys, both with orange-and-black painted faces, like a pair of tiger cubs. Their laughter filled the air as they went by. “Free admission with a cape?” she whispered.

Clark grinned again. “Works better than a press pass,” he said.

Lois enjoyed seeing him smile. He’d relaxed a bit since they’d exited the cab and entered the zoo, as had she, since leaving the courthouse.

She searched for her cell phone in her bag, and informed Clark that she was going to contact Mrs. Murphy, to let the woman know what her plans for Jason were. Mrs. Murphy carried a phone at all times, whether at the school, or on the various trips she took with her students, making it easy for parents to get in touch with her when needed.

“…yes, of course,” said Lois. “By the east gate? Sounds great…that’s where we came in…see you then. ‘Bye.” She tossed the phone back in her bag and turned to Clark. “All set,” she informed him, and they began to stroll.

Just outside of an exhibit with a sign marked “Birds of Prey,” Lois spotted an ice cream vendor’s stall.

“So, what’ll it be? Chocolate? Vanilla?”

“Before lunch?” Clark said, feigning disapproval. “Ms. Lane…we really shouldn’t.”

He sounded just like…

Well, then, Lois thought. She smirked at him and said, “Yes, before lunch.”

They stood behind the two tiger cubs and their parents. The cub wearing a Monarchs baseball cap was begging for two scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough. His younger brother called out, “Superman! Superman!”

Lois practically felt Clark go rigid at her side.

“One scoop or two?” the vendor asked the little cub’s father.

When Lois heard the boy’s father reply that one would be fine, she noticed on the menu of flavors that “Superman” was positioned between “Strawberry Cheesecake” and “Vanilla.” Three great ice cream flavors swirled together into one super snack: Strawberry, Banana and Blue Moon!

Clark was visibly cringing. “What is Blue Moon?” he asked dolefully.

Lois peered at the menu again, suppressed a fit of laughter as she did, then said, “It says here it’s blue vanilla ice cream with oranges and pineapples.”

Clark made a face and shook his head slowly.

“What’ll it be for you, folks?” the vendor asked them as the tiger family walked away.

“For me?” Lois said. “Oh, I think I’ll most definitely have Superman. Two scoops, please!” She was smiling from ear to ear.

“And for you, sir?”

“Vanilla,” Clark muttered.

Lois paid the vendor and they walked to a bench outside of the bird exhibit. She took a spoonful of the ice cream into her mouth and let it melt on her tongue. “Hmm, not bad,” she said. “Not as good as the real thing, though.” She nudged him gently with her elbow. She watched as a smile wrenched the corners of his mouth, despite his apparent attempt at trying to keep up his sullen expression.

They finished eating in affable silence, watching as they did, families of all sizes and varieties ambling past their park bench. Dads with children perched on their shoulders, moms pushing toddlers in strollers, grandparents trying hard to keep up with younger, sprightlier grandkids. Lois recalled the numerous times she and Richard took Jason here, when Jason was younger. She also thought of Clark, who’d never been to the zoo in any normal capacity. Appearances as Superman, certainly; to dedicate new exhibits or to show up suddenly to avert danger? Yes. But as a zoo patron? No. Clark Kent had never before walked through the gates or paid for a ticket or enjoyed an ice cream here. He’d never held his child high on his shoulders and pointed to the animals in the African Plains exhibit to ask, “What do you think of those lions, son?”

She took the last bite of ice cream and looked at him. She saw it there, buried not-so deeply in his beautiful blue eyes.

Longing.

***

They wandered past exhibits of cold-blooded reptiles, multi-feathered birds, and sharp-toothed predators before coming to a large building boasting a plethora of nocturnal beasts.

“Boa constrictors, glow-in-the-dark scorpions…bats,” said Clark, reading from a list of species posted on a sign just outside of the building. “Are you up for that?”

“Do we have time?”

Clark glanced at his watch and nodded.

“Then, I’m up for it.” The building was surely air-conditioned, and the weather outside was balmy, despite the cloud cover that had been hanging around since they’d gotten there. Jason’s breakfast had been right about the weather.

They entered the building and Lois blinked her eyes as they adjusted from the light outside to the darkness inside. The cool, dark environment was a sharp contrast to what it had been like just on the other side of the doors. As they looked through glass-enclosed displays of naked mole-rats (“Good God! A face only a mother could love!”) and flying foxes (“It looks like a dog…with wings!”), Lois found that – by the time they’d gotten to the leopard cat display – she and Clark were comfortably walking along hand-in-hand. The walkway through the exhibit curved around like a large horseshoe, and Lois could see the gleam of the exit sign just beyond the boa constrictor’s huge glass display window.

She slowed down.

“This has been nice,” she said, realizing that soon they wouldn’t be strolling along together, her hand in his, any longer. Soon they’d be meeting Mrs. Murphy at the east gate, and they’d have to be “Lane and Kent, reporters” instead of “Lois and Clark, lovers.” Jason would be there, and he’d greet her with a “Hi, Mom!” and a hug (if she was lucky), and he’d greet Clark enthusiastically, too, but there’d be no “Hi, Dad!” and it’d break Clark’s heart.

God, but one day, she thought desperately. She felt the longing, too.

She stepped aside so a mother and her twin daughters could shuffle by towards the exit. Clark stepped aside with her. When they had passed, Lois stood as tall as she could – high-heels and tip-toes doing their best to try to help her reach him – and softly pressed her lips to his in the darkness.

As they stepped back out into the light, she wondered when “one day” would come, and hoped it would be soon.

***

A throng of children gathered around Metropolis Zoo’s east gate, and just as Lois spotted Jason’s head bobbing amongst his classmates, a light drizzle began to fall.

“Just in the nick of time!” Lois said. Jason jogged over to her side through the falling mist.

“Hi, Mom!” he told her, as predicted.

He tolerated a quick squeeze from her, then turned to Clark and beamed a smile. “Hi, Clark!”

“Hi, Jason,” Clark replied. His voice sounded steady, but his body told a different story. She could see it in the way he stood, the way his hands were balled into tight fists, the way a muscle twitched in his jaw…he wanted to bend down and hug his son, too, just as Lois had done.

“Would you be miserable if I made you come back to work with us?” Lois asked Jason.

Jason looked from Lois to Clark and then to Lois again. He shook his head. “Nope.”

“We’re off, then,” Lois called to Mrs. Murphy, who nodded back her approval. They exited the gates and spotted one of the express buses that ran zoo-goers back downtown rounding the corner into the parking lot. As the rain began to fall heavier, the three of them stood there getting soaked.

“So much for the nick of time!” Lois shouted, holding her bag over Jason’s head to shield him from the rain, without much success.

Clark removed his jacket and held it above Lois and Jason like a canopy. Jason shook the rainwater from his hair and looked up, Lois noticed, with an impish grin on his face.

The bus rounded the final bend and pulled to the curb. Clark lowered his jacket as Lois clutched Jason’s hand and began to make a run for it. She felt resistance –quite a bit, actually – as she tried to tug Jason forward.

Jason wasn’t budging as he waited, arm outstretched, for Clark to grab hold of his free hand. When Clark finally did, the three of them dashed – hand-in-hand-in-hand – across the wet pavement to the bus.


TBC

Author’s Note: Superman ice cream is not my invention. I nabbed the flavor from Hershey’s brand ice cream. Also, I used the website for the Bronx Zoo as a reference for exhibits and such in this chapter. I needed an actual metropolitan zoo to refer to, and what better one than the actual “world’s greatest zoo?”

i'm up for icecream but i'm not even sure i would try it. very sweet part. (no pun) jason is taking to clark very nicely. i love how we see how this is playing lois and clrk wiht insights to their thoughts.

Ah, too bad! Hehe! I thought you had invented it. :D Great parts! I have always loved seeing flying foxes on TV. I've never seen one in person, but they intrigue me. They're fruit eating flying poodles. Okay foxes.

I had to laugh at Lois:

“Lois? What do you think about that?”

“What do I think, chief?” Lois spluttered. Shit. “I agree with Clark,” she said finally, hoping that whatever Clark told Perry was indeed agreeable.

“You do?” Perry asked, sounding surprised.

Shit.

I'm sooo behind posting updates here. *turns pink*

Forgive me!

*****

SIXTEEN

The three of them squashed themselves into a single bench seat on the packed-full express bus when it had been parked in the lot at the Metropolis Zoo. Now it was filled only half-full as it zipped through the city, rain pelting its windows as it sped along 5th Street. Jason, sitting in between Lois and Clark, was chattering away about the special insect exhibit Mrs. Murphy had signed them up to visit while at the zoo.

“…there was this goliath tarantula…they grow to be huge…and hissing cockroaches…”

Lois made a face.

“…they were cool, Mom…and they had a real beehive…and ants!”

“Ants?” said Lois.

“Did you know, if ants were the size of mice, they could drive every other organism on the planet to extinction?”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what our tour guide told us, but I told Mrs. Murphy he was insane.”

“You didn’t!” Lois was trying her best to look appalled.

“I did, because even if ants ever do grow to be that big, they wouldn’t have a chance to rule the world.” He looked at Clark. “D’you wanna know why not?”

Clark nodded. “Of course…why not?”

“Because Superman wouldn’t let them,” Jason said quietly.

Lois felt the bus jolt to a stop as the driver called back to the passengers, “Corner of 5th and Concord…Daily Planet building!” A loud clap of thunder boomed in the distance, and Lois grabbed onto the back of the seat just in front of them.

“We’re here,” she announced, giving Jason a little nudge, encouraging him to follow Clark down the aisle.

They sprinted through the driving rain, then pushed through the revolving doors to seek the shelter of the Planet's lobby. Jason’s wet sneakers squeaked on the floor as the three of them walked through the corridor, dripping a trail of water as they went. Jason slipped on the wet tile when they rounded the bend towards the elevators, but Clark reached out a hand and grabbed him before he hit the ground.

“Wow…thanks,” Jason said, looking down at the puddle of water collected on the floor that he'd just avoided diving into, thanks to Clark’s quick reflexes. They climbed aboard the elevator together, Lois following behind.

Lois watched the two of them as the elevator took them higher and higher. Jason and Clark, the two men in her life. Both alike in so many ways, and yet also so different. When her son was younger, Lois would wonder, would Jason ever completely overcome his physical limitations? He was, after all, the smallest kid in his class at school. Smaller even than most of the kids a year younger than him. It didn’t take her long to discover that the other children ran circles around him playing kickball and soccer, but Lois rarely got worked up over that, since she knew Jason could probably pound those same kids to a pulp on an IQ test. But ever since that day on the yacht, when five-year-old Jason’s latent might was revealed, she began wondering…when? He’d never shown her another exhibition of strength since that day, nor had he ever mentioned it. Lois kept it to herself, too. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to do, but it was the action she felt to be the safest, all things considered at the time. Don’t open that Pandora’s box, she always told herself. She kept the lid shut tightly, not wanting to upset the home she and Richard made with Jason. Sealed so tightly, she'd never even broken it to tell Richard the whole truth. An action she regretted now? Certainly. My God, she thought. What a hypocrite I turned out to be.

She looked at Clark, standing there beside his son, holding Jason’s damp book bag so that Jason could wring out a deluge of rainwater from his t-shirt. We all have our own intricate web of secrets, don’t we?

Lois thought back to what happened at the zoo, when Jason had planted himself firmly on the sidewalk, determined not to move until Clark was with them. She tried to tug him along, but felt as though she was trying to tug an 18-wheeler instead of a little boy. And then there was the accident. He’d fallen from a piece of playground equipment and been knocked unconscious, yet the next day he was back to normal, bearing no ill effects from the incident whatsoever…not a single scratch or bruise to be found.

Jason was still the smallest kid in his class, and maybe that would never change, but Lois couldn’t deny it…changes were happening.

“I have clothes in my book bag,” Jason said, jarring Lois’s thoughts back to the here and now. “Can I go change?”

The doors of the elevator slid open, and the three of them stepped out.

“Of course,” replied Lois, thankful that Jason’s book bag was constructed from a waterproof material, and that his stuff inside remained safe and dry from the effects of the rainstorm. She wished she had a change of clothes in her own bag.

Jason jogged off in the direction of the restrooms, and Lois turned to Clark. “Pardon my dripping,” she said, grinning as droplets of water cascaded to the ground from the ends of her soaked hair and clothing.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” whispered Clark. He paused to wait for another group of people disembarking from the second elevator to pass by, then led her to the side of the corridor, behind the refuge of a standing display featuring an old Daily Planet front page bearing the likeness of his superhero doppelganger, which read: Caped Wonder Stuns City!

Lois felt low heat from his eyes warm and dry her, from the tips of her toes, up the length of her body. It was odd standing there, being tended to by the literal heat of his gaze, yet strangely comforting and sensual at the same time. The knowledge that he could touch her physically without actually touching her physically was an exhilarating thing to know.

She felt his heat reach her torso, and the fabric of her blouse quickly felt comfortable again, all signs of cold dampness gone. She instinctively closed her eyes as the warmth rose to her neck, but snapped them back open again when she felt him take her wet hair into one of his hands to dry the sopping strands.

“No!” she choked. “Leave the hair!”

Clark blinked several times, stopping the beams of heat abruptly.

“Jason might be suspicious enough, with my clothes miraculously becoming dry…I don’t…” She stopped. I don’t want to break that seal. Not yet. Not here. Not like this. Their webs, all three converged, seemed very large all of a sudden.

Clark said nothing, but nodded. He let her hair fall back to her shoulders, and she felt the dampness from it seep back into the fabric of her blouse. The warmth from his heat vision had faded away, and she felt a sudden chill in its absence.

“Mom!”

Lois heard Jason’s voice call out from the corridor. She hurried from her sanctuary behind the display and met him at the doors leading to the bullpen.

“Where’s Clark?” Jason asked. He was wearing a fresh set of clothes and held the sodden set at a distance in front of him.

“I don’t know,” said Lois honestly. She turned to look at the display they’d just been hiding behind, and stared for a moment at the old Planet headline. “Clark?” she called out uncertainly.

Jason looked from one end of the corridor to the other. Marge Jones from Editorial was the only one there, scuttling down at the far end of the hall, hugging a stack of files to her chest.

“Oh, I just remembered,” Lois said. “Um, Clark said he had to…go mail a letter. He’ll be back…soon.”

Jason said nothing, but Lois read his expression easily. He wasn’t buying it.

***

Lois led the way through the newsroom, Jason in tow. The mounted television monitors were broadcasting up-to-the-minute coverage of the weather situation in the downtown area, a situation Lois knew was rapidly worsening without a meteorologist’s word for it. Driving rain and hailstones pelted the glass windows in the outer offices, and the sky looked like nighttime, despite the fact that it was still afternoon.

“Can I sit at Clark’s desk ‘til he gets back?” Jason asked Lois.

Lois glanced over at Clark’s workstation. “Yes,” she replied. “But don’t touch anything.”

“I won’t,” promised Jason.

“Give me those wet things,” she said, gesturing to the pieces of clothing he was still holding onto.

He surrendered them to her and she draped them over a filing cabinet and the partition dividing her work space from that of her neighboring coworker. Jason fished through his book bag and came up with his trusty copy of Stuart Little.

“I’m going to read,” Jason announced, as he trod across the aisle. He plopped down in Clark’s chair and sat with his knees tucked up under him. Lois watched him find his page in the book with a smile on her face.

“…some pretty nasty storms are rolling through Metropolis, Bob, with heavy downpours and golf ball-sized hail only being the beginning of what could be a very bumpy afternoon, especially for commuters. Damaging winds and dangerous lightning are going to be a problem, along with flooding, especially in areas near…”

Lois figured she knew what Clark was up to as she listened to the news report on the television.

She grabbed her computer’s mouse and clicked on a search engine, anxious to find some names from the transit workers union to contact for the story. After about ten minutes of searching, she turned to observe Jason. He was peeking over the top of his book, clearly absorbed in something on Clark’s desk. She looked harder to see what exactly was so enthralling, and she discovered that what he was staring at was a medium-sized wooden picture frame sitting between a cup of pens and pencils and Clark’s computer monitor – a picture frame that she’d seen dozens upon dozens of times herself. She knew the image it held well, for Clark had always kept it on his desk, even back when he’d first started working at the Planet, years ago. It was a family portrait; a mother and father – both pushing late-fifties or early-sixties, easily – and their young, black-haired, blue-eyed boy. The parents were kind-looking, and smiled widely for the photographer. The boy looked as if he’d been caught laughing, an expression of genuine joy captured on his face by the camera. Lois remembered one time mocking Clark about the wholesome little family portrait he insisted on keeping at his desk, asking him why the goats and chickens hadn’t posed with them. Of course, this was before she'd begun displaying family portraits of her own.

“Mom?” Jason’s voice called to her from across the aisle. He set his book down and picked up the photo.

Lois got up and walked across to him. She squatted down beside the chair and pushed Jason’s hair out of his eyes. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Is this Clark? When he was little?”

“M-hmm,” she said. She took the photo from him and looked at the image of Clark as a boy. His father was holding him; his mother standing close, a hand resting upon his little shoulder.

“Are those his parents?”

“Yes,” Lois said. “His adoptive parents.” She didn’t know why she added that last part.

“They look nice. Have you ever met them?”

“No, kiddo,” said Lois, handing the frame back to him. “Clark’s mom doesn’t live around here, and his dad’s…passed away.”

Jason studied the photo again for another minute, then said in a hushed voice, “Clark is like me.”

Lois felt a lump take form in her throat.

“Does Clark know where his real dad is?” He added quickly, “And his real mom?”

Lois didn’t think she’d be able to find her voice. She shook her head, and managed to say, “No…I don’t think they’re alive anymore, Jason.” She felt tears stinging her eyes.

The meteorologist on the TV was still giving weather bulletins. “…downtown, midtown, and the central business district are all under a flash flood advisory. And this report just in from Park Ridge, of a family trapped inside a car…they were caught unawares, and the water began rising fast…police are on the scene, and this looks bad, Bob…but, oh my, heavens! Is that? It is! Thank goodness, folks…”

Lois watched the television and saw Clark heaving the trapped car out of the flooded roadway. Jason was transfixed by the TV screen now, too.

“…he makes it look effortless, doesn’t he, Bob?” The meteorologist sounded relieved. Footage of the rescue ran over her voice.

Jason looked back at the photo now that the news channel began replaying the same footage over again. The meteorologist announced that the Man of Steel had flown off as soon as the car had been brought to safety.

Jason’s small hand rested on the image of Clark, and he said very softly, “Like me.”

TBC

Another update, because I was so slack about posting in September! *still feels badly*

*****

SEVENTEEN

The view from Perry White’s broad office window showed a scene that was more like a pyrotechnics display on Independence Day than what one would normally expect to see on an average weekday evening in Metropolis. Lightning bolts ripped through the sky, and the loud explosions of thunder that answered each electric streak with a deep, resonating detonation could be heard for miles and miles. With each flash in the darkening sky, Lois could see the skyline illuminated like broad daylight. The television monitors in the bullpen were still broadcasting news of flooded thoroughfares, damage to bridges, lightning strikes, power outages in the suburban boroughs…you name it, the WGBS news team was reporting it.

The office door swung open, and Perry strode in.

“You seen Kent?” he barked.

Lois glanced through the glass separating the editor-in-chief’s office from the rest of the newsroom to one of the many flat-paneled TV monitors hanging above the room from a perch atop a flared column. A WGBS anchor was standing near the West River, and her video crew was capturing live images of the wind-damaged bridge behind her. A zooming camera-shot revealed a scarlet-and-blue blaze heading towards the bridge’s tower and its series of buckling of cables. The anchorwoman was doing nothing to hide the look of horror on her face as the cables threatened to give way with each violent gust of wind.

“I think he’s out covering the storm, chief,” Lois said.

“We’ve got another storm brewing right now,” Perry replied as he typed something on his laptop’s keyboard. He paused for a moment, then turned the computer so that Lois could see the monitor. Streaming video of Metropolis’s mayor was playing.

“These people are turning their backs on the city and her residents. These are thuggish tactics to be sure, and we will not be negotiating with thugs,” the mayor announced from his office.

Lois looked back to the monitors in the newsroom, and saw the graphic “breaking news” plastered on every screen, every network broadcasting the same new story.

“Heavy fines will be imposed for workers participating in this strike. Three days’ worth of wages will be lost for each day these workers are not on the job. This city will not abide the morally unacceptable ploy of breaking the law to bargain for what is wanted in a labor dispute.” The mayor’s jaw was set and he looked resolute. “I ask all citizens of Metropolis for patience until this situation is resolved. There will most certainly be inconveniences, but the residents of this fine city are known worldwide for their resiliency.”

“This story has broken wide open, Lois,” Perry said, snapping the laptop closed. “The union leaders sure picked a helluva time to announce their strike. We’ve got a goddamn hurricane tearing the city apart—”

“It’s not exactly a hurricane, chief…”

“—and now, when that blows over, we’ll have a billion commuters stuck wading through ponds downtown, waiting for public transportation that unfortunately will not be coming to take them to their dry homes tonight.”

“A billion is a bit of an exaggeration, ch—”

“Did you drive in today, perchance?” Perry asked, ignoring her comments.

Lois nodded.

“Good. Get in your car, get a hold of Kent, and the two of you get down to city hall.”

Piece of cake, Lois thought. She’d float her car down the flooded streets and avenues, searching for Clark as he puts the finishing touches on an afternoon of storm repairs and dramatic rescues. And Jason could ride along shotgun.

Perry seemed to know what she was thinking. Well, at least in regards to Jason.

“Leave Jason here. I’ll make sure he gets fed.” He growled this statement, but Lois knew it was a put-on. Perry loved the kid.

“And Lois?” he added as she turned to leave.

“Yeah, chief?”

“Take an umbrella.”

***

“You hungry?” Lois asked Jason as she checked to see how much life was left in her cell phone’s battery. Not much, she mentally noted.

Jason shrugged.

“Uncle Perry will get you whatever you’d like for dinner.”

“OK,” was Jason’s response. He was still at his post at Clark’s desk. Bentley the stuffed bear had joined him from the deep recesses of his book bag, and was sitting on the desk next to the photo of the three Kents.

“I won’t be gone long,” Lois promised him. She picked up the bear and made-believe to have it blow Jason a kiss good-bye, a game they’d played since he was very young. Jason seemed to be in no mood for games, however. She knelt down to look him in the eye. “Is everything OK?”

Jason shrugged again.

“Is it the storm? If that’s it, look—” She pointed to the windows. “It’s dying down,” she said, trying to reassure him. “It’s practically over—” A loud clap of thunder interrupted her.

“I don’t want you to go,” he said quietly.

Lois touched his cheek. “Sweetie, Mom has a job to do.”

“Can’t you wait until Clark gets back, and you can go together?”

“I don’t know when Clark is going to get back, kiddo…and Uncle Perry can’t wait for this story.”

“I’ve been watching the news,” Jason said. “Bad things have been happening…”

“I know,” Lois whispered, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. “But I’ll be OK.”

“Can I come with you?” he asked desperately. The tone of his voice nearly brought tears to her eyes. He’d never pled like this before, and this certainly wasn’t the first time she’d had to leave him in pursuit of a story.

“No, baby,” she whispered, and tugged him into a tight embrace. “Be good, OK?” she said in his ear.

She kissed him again, told him she loved him, and bid him good-bye.

***

The weather was beginning to die down just a bit, it was true, but Perry was right when he said a new storm was brewing. If anyone could get to city hall, the place was probably swamped by now. And speaking of swamped…

Lois eased her car down Concord and watched as throngs of damp and weary pedestrians crowded the sidewalks on either side of the water-logged street. She came to a standstill near the intersection, behind a line of other vehicles. The traffic light turned from red to green, yet no one moved. She tapped her fingers anxiously against the steering wheel as she watched the light turn from green to yellow, then back to red again. She put the window down and shouted to one of the pedestrians nearby.

“What’s happening up there? Is it flooded?”

“Nah, but the road’s blocked off past the light,” the man shouted from the sidewalk. “A marquee blew off the hotel and came crashing down on a couple cars about a half hour ago…I hear it’s a mess, but I can’t see a thing.”

Lois nodded. In her mind she was trying to figure out how to backtrack to get around the barricade. It didn’t seem like anyone was bothering to redirect the traffic. She was pretty sure the crews had their hands full with the clean-up in the street, without having to play traffic cops, too. She checked her mirrors and waved to the motorist behind her, trying to motion her intent to get her car out of the queue. She inched backwards as far as she could go, then cut the steering wheel tightly to the left, praying she’d given herself enough room to clear the pickup truck in front of her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she made it into the opposite lane. Several other cars followed her lead and began turning around. Car horns filled the air as some of the drivers weren’t so lucky in their attempts at clearing bumpers and fenders.

“Sonofa—” Lois heard one man shout out. He was standing in the rain, swearing up a storm as he observed the damage a Jeep had done to his sedan. The owner of the Jeep was shouting as well. Soon, blue lights were flashing and Lois was pulling into the lagoon of rainwater by the curb to allow two police cruisers passage by.

She headed back towards the corner of 5th, back past the Planet building, detouring several blocks that would’ve been completely out of the way if this had been a typical trip to city hall…

“Nothing like going around your elbow to get to your ass,” said Lois, still driving and observing the insane amount of people walking the city’s sidewalks at this time of day, and in the rain, no less. At least the winds had died down. And the thunder-and-lightning show had taken its final curtain call. Still, the rain was relentless, no longer coming down in torrents, but persisting nonetheless.

***

Lois hoped to still have a car once she finished up at city hall. She had to abandon it a few blocks away and take the rest of the journey on foot, the streets near the administrative building blocked off by police barricades. Perry’s advice to tote an umbrella along was excellent, but the umbrella did nothing to help the condition of her feet, which were soaked from trudging three blocks through puddles the size of lakes.

As she neared the building, she slowed down. A large crowd had gathered outside. Ranks of police officers stood across the expanse of the wide concrete steps leading to the entrance of the building. The voices shouting from the crowd were angry, frustrated…it gave Lois an edgy feeling. Trouble was looming like the storm clouds had earlier in the day.

But this is the stuff dreams are made of, for a reporter, she thought. She felt a jolt of adrenaline course through her. She picked up steam again and marched through another collection of enormous puddles to get a better view of what was going on, and to listen in.

“We’re tired of the disrespect! We’re tired of not being appreciated!”

“I can’t afford to send my kid to college!”

“College? My kid needs to go to the dentist! I can’t even afford to get his teeth cleaned!”

Another voice was shouting, this time from another group.

“You lousy shits! Do you know how much money you’re costing this city?”

Lois intended to grab someone from the crowd for a statement. She discarded the umbrella once she worked her way closer to the scene. Elbows jabbed her and someone from the crowd stepped on her wet feet.

Scratch that, she thought. Not a crowd…a mob.

And an angry mob, at that. The voices were growing louder and more irritated. And the people standing amidst the horde were getting rough, getting physical…

“Lois Lane, from the Daily Planet,” she blurted to someone she suspected was from the transit workers union, though it was hard to tell under the light of the street lamps, and with what seemed like a couple hundred people closing in around her. “Can I get a—”

Lois felt a sharp pain in her side. Someone had crashed into her from the left. She staggered. Someone just ahead of her was pushed backwards. Someone big. Someone heavy. She felt her body go limp as he made contact. It seemed an eternity before she hit the pavement. She heard the delicate sound of water splashing in her ears as she landed in one of those massive puddles. It was so peculiar in comparison to the angry snarls coming from the rabble.

I’m going to drown. Or get trampled to death. She was being kicked and stepped on, and it amazed her that her face hadn’t been crushed in by someone’s thick boots yet. She immediately thought of Jason, afraid to let her go.

Bad things have been happening…

And everyone knows, Mommy is a bad thing magnet, she thought. A searing pain tore through her arm as a foot came crashing down upon it.

She thought of Jason, afraid to let her go…unaccompanied. He’d asked her to wait for Clark. He’d asked if he could come along.

Bad things have been happening…

Lois strained to turn to her side. She couldn’t pinpoint the source of pain in her body any longer. Everything hurt.

She figured most people – most normal people, anyhow – faced with the same horrifying circumstance she was experiencing at the moment, would see their lives flash by. Happy times, sad times, momentous occasions, and the like. But what Lois saw played like a montage of spectacular rescue footage from the WGBS news archives.

There she was, plummeting over the side of the Daily Planet building, dropping from the confines of an out-of-control helicopter...

Down the lift shaft of the Eiffel Tower...

From the sky in a doomed Boeing 777.

Or shrinking in fear on-board a luxury yacht, awaiting the death blow to come, when suddenly…

Lois felt her body rise from the pool of rainwater she’d been wilting in. He was trying to be gentle, but no amount of gentleness was going to keep her from crying out in pain as she was being moved. He set her to rest on the concrete steps, away from the mass of people, and brushed a hand lightly against her cheek.

He turned away, and she tried hard to focus on his voice. It was difficult. Her head was throbbing.

He was telling the mob something. No, not telling them. Reprimanding them? He sounded angry. Was he talking to the officers now? He said something about the hospital. Taking someone there?

Taking me there.


“Cl—” she began to say, but stopped herself just in time. She felt him cradle her in his arms. Cold air and raindrops stung her wounds as he carried her through the air, but being close to him was a soothing balm.

Their flight was short. Once she was safely in the emergency room of Metropolis General, he disappeared, but not for long.

“Clark!” she said, feeling blissful – even in her state of discomfort – at his return. Of course, he would’ve attracted everyone’s attention sitting there with her, dressed in superhero garb, but not as Clark. As Clark Kent, he only held her rapt.

The pain meds the nurse had administered were working. Lois felt her eyelids grow terribly heavy. “Clark,” she murmured. He was holding her hand. She wanted to tell him how awfully sweet that was. She wanted to ask the doctor if there was some sort of family discount for frequent ER visits. She felt like her eyelids were made of lead. She couldn’t hold them open any longer.

She needed to call Perry. She needed him to tell Jason she was OK. Thanks to Clark, she was OK.

But she couldn’t will her eyes back open.

Couldn’t will her mouth to form the words.

Couldn’t fight the sleep from taking over.

The last thing she remembered was the feel of her hand nestled safely in his, and then she slept.


TBC

EIGHTEEN

The world gradually started to come into focus, and though the deep fog of unconsciousness was slowly lifting, Lois felt as if a thin layer of haze still clung about her. She blinked a few times, straining to recall the events which led her to this point. She tried to moisten her dry lips to speak, but she discovered her mouth was too parched.

Clark sat close to the bed, and his brilliant blue eyes were the first thing she saw clearly. He pressed a warm palm against her cheek and she silently thanked him for everything with an earnest yet weak smile.

“You’re awake,” he breathed, stroking her face gently with his hand. “I was so worried…the doctor said…” His expression spoke volumes. Anxiety was etched in his features, fear apparent in his eyes.

She tried to speak again, but her words came out raspy, indecipherable…

Clark reached for a pitcher of water on the nightstand and poured some into a paper cup.

“Can you sit up?” he asked.

She thought she might be able to, with help. She nodded her head just slightly to let him know this – she was sure moving it more than a fraction of an inch would cause her brain to come oozing out of her ears. As it was, the tiny movement made her feel like she was spinning in a whirlpool.

Clark propped her up just enough so that he could offer her a sip of the water. The cool liquid brought life back to her dry mouth, and she ran a freshly-hydrated tongue over her lips, satisfied to feel the cracked skin smooth once again.

“I should call a nurse,” Clark said, setting the cup back down on the nightstand.

“OK,” Lois said in a hoarse voice.

Lois didn’t recognize the nurse when she arrived in the room to examine her, but clearly the nurse recognized Lois.

Lois cringed as the nurse shined a bright light into her left eye.

“How’s that little boy of yours doing?” she asked, examining Lois’s pupils.

“Jason?” Lois said. She glanced over to Clark.

“Jason’s doing fine,” Clark answered.

“Good,” said the nurse. “Let’s hope we can get his mother up and at ‘em just as quickly as we did him. So tell me, your vision…are you experiencing any blurriness or having trouble focusing?”

“No,” Lois answered.

“Are you feeling dizzy or lightheaded?”

“Yes.”

“Any ringing in your ears?”

“No.”

The nurse poked the tip of a probe tool into each of Lois’s ears to take a look around.

“Can you tell me what happened last night, before you were brought here?”

Lois thought hard. She glanced at Clark for some sort of clue, but he was looking at her expectantly, just as the nurse was. Lois tried to jog her memory back into action.

This is great, she thought. Like I need one more hole up there…

She pinched her eyes shut and remembered the rain. Rain…a storm…yes, and a bad one, too…

“There was a storm,” she said slowly. “I went out in the rain…”

Clark nodded as Lois spoke, his eyes looking larger than usual, seemingly trying to urge her along as she wrestled with her memories from the night before.

“There was a crowd…I fell, didn’t I?”

Clark didn’t seem to like that she needed to ask. Lois saw his brow furrow beneath his mop of dark hair.

The nurse spoke. “It’s not unusual for patients to experience difficulty recalling events after a head trauma. To put it bluntly, your brain was jarred inside your skull, Ms. Lane. Patients find that their memories return…just give it a little time while your body heals itself.”

Lois nodded.

“How’s that arm feeling?”

Lois looked at her left arm. It was wrapped in a thick bandage from her wrist to her elbow. She shrugged. She couldn’t feel much of anything at the moment. Whatever was in the cocktail of pain meds they’d brewed up for her was clearly working wonders.

“OK, I guess…”

“You have a nasty cut under there,” the nurse said, patting the bandage gently. “There was plenty of bleeding, and Dr. Evans had to stitch it up good…and thank heavens for Superman! He brought you in, you know…”

Lois’s eyes darted to Clark before she could stop them. “That I remember.”

“That’s not something I’d be likely to forget, either, if you know what I mean!” The nurse smiled sheepishly, then nudged Clark to the side to grab something from the table. “Excuse me, sir,” she said absently, perhaps still daydreaming about the man she’d unwittingly just pushed right past.

Lois averted her eyes from Clark’s gaze quickly, trying to avoid giving anything away to the love struck nurse. When the nurse finally left them – promising a visit from the doctor soon – Clark returned to Lois’s bedside, a fresh look of concern on his face.

He took one of Lois’s hands into his own and gently traced circles on her palm with his thumb.

“You know, you nearly got trampled to death last night,” he said in a shaky voice. “For a story?”

Lois pouted her bottom lip slightly, involuntarily, at his words. Instead of scolding her for taking the risk, however, he leaned in closely and pressed his mouth against hers. An effective method to end her sulking, Lois yielded to his kiss.

“I could’ve lost you,” he whispered, his voice nearly breaking.

“But you didn’t,” she whispered back.

For a story…

“You know what they say,” Lois said, managing a smile. “About fools rushing in…”

“You’re no fool,” Clark said, his expression quite serious.

Lois drew in a breath, then…

A memory of falling to the pavement…

Seeing the feet of many strangers surrounding her – kicking, stomping, trampling – unaware that she was even there...

It was foolish, charging into the middle of an angry mob for a lousy interview. Her seven-year-old son had more common sense than she did sometimes. A lot more sense. Which reminded her…

“Jason,” she said suddenly. “I left him with Perry—”

“Jason’s safe and sound,” Clark assured her. “I spoke with Perry last night, and again this morning.”

“He must be scared to death,” Lois said, feeling cold all of a sudden. “God, he’s already—” She stopped.

“Lost one parent?” finished Clark.

Lois nodded.

“I know how much Jason loved Richard, and how much Richard loved—” He paused for just a moment, but then finished resolutely, “—his son.”

“Your son,” Lois murmured. She lifted a hand to touch his face.

“He left some pretty big shoes to fill.”

“He had some pretty big shoes to fill,” Lois said. “Yours.”

She wanted to pull Clark close and wrap her arms around him, but her bruised ribs prevented her from even trying.

“I love you, you know,” she said quietly.

“I know.” He smoothed a few stray strands of hair away from her forehead. He leaned in closely again and brushed a kiss against her cheek. He echoed the words, “I love you,” softly into her ear. He leaned back, then said, “You should get some more rest.”

“I want to see Jason,” she said. “Can you—”

“I’ll make a phone call,” Clark said. “I’ll fly him here myself if I have to…don’t worry…just rest.”

***

When Lois awoke, Clark was gone. But before she could wonder if his other duties had called while she slept, he returned holding a Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee.

“Is that for me?” Lois asked hopefully.

“Nope,” he said, taking a sip, then grimacing. “And be thankful it’s not. I think that nurse at the station outside was trying to drum up more business for the hospital by offering this to visitors.”

Lois laughed, and then promptly regretted doing so. “Ouch,” she moaned. “That hurt.” She placed a hand to her ribcage and winced. “I can’t believe nothing’s broken in there.”

Clark focused his eyes on her torso for a moment. “Nothing,” he confirmed. He set the cup of coffee down and took a seat beside her again. He guided his hand across the fabric of her hospital gown, feeling the bandages beneath. “But you were still pretty beaten up.”

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s a good thing I have nine lives, huh…which one do you think I’m on now?”

“Don’t joke, Lois,” Clark said somberly. “Not about that…I don’t know what I’d do without—”

Clark wasn’t able to finish his sentence. The door to the hospital room swung open and…

“Mommy!”

Jason rarely reverted back to calling his mother anything besides “Mom” anymore, claiming that only babies called their mothers “Mommy” and causing Lois to shed a few tears in private over the fact that her baby was beginning to grow up. But today, Jason cast aside his big kid, growing-up-too-quickly persona. He darted from Perry White’s side to Lois’s, dropping his book bag to the floor along the way. Some of its contents spilled from the unzipped opening at the top and littered the gray tile. He boosted himself onto the bed and snuggled in beside her.

Lois tried not to whimper in pain as she eased her injured left arm around him, her pain relief cocktail having worn off a bit. Jason said nothing as he hugged her close. Lois noticed Clark had taken a few steps back, his old instinct to not interfere kicking back in again. It was actually Perry who broke the silence.

“You look like hell, Lane.” But there was a hint of warmth in his gruff timbre. “And I can’t help but feel responsible—”

Lois shook her head. “Chief—”

“I shouldn’t have—”

“Listen, Chief…I need little encouragement when it comes to running headlong into trouble. This is me we’re talking about. It comes naturally.” Perry White was not one for apologies or acts of contrition. It made Lois feel uncomfortable to even hear him starting down that path. Sure, he’d sent her out on the assignment, but he also told her to take Clark along. Knowing Clark had other things to contend with in the storm-ravaged city, it never occurred to her to wait for the story. Waiting would’ve cost her the scoop, and covering a story like the transit strike was a walk in the park…unless said park was occupied by an angry mob of union workers and protesters, that is. But that was Lois’s mistake, not Perry’s.

“Incorrigible, to be sure.” Perry offered her a crooked smile and said, “Glad you’re OK, Lois.” He looked to Clark, who was silently keeping watch at the back corner of the hospital room. “Kent?”

Lois thought she felt a reprimand coming on. Something along the lines of “And where were you when all of this was happening?” But it never came.

“Am I going to see you in the office today?” was all Perry said to Clark.

Clark opened his mouth to speak, but Lois answered for him. “Only long enough to grab my laptop and our notes…we’ll work here.”

Clark shot her a look, perhaps to protest her unwavering work ethic, perhaps not. But Lois had an ulterior motive…and she knew one thing for certain. She wasn’t going to be languishing away in a hospital bed without his company. She’d let him off the hook to stop an asteroid plummeting towards the planet or maybe to help clog up an erupting volcano or to blow out a wildfire. But to spend an afternoon at the office? Not a chance.

“I suppose all the nurses in Metropolis General couldn’t stop you,” Perry said.

“I’d like to see them try,” Lois said.

“Uncle Perry?” Jason said, finally releasing his grip on Lois. “I want to stay with Mom, too. I don’t want to leave her.”

Perry looked at Lois for direction.

“Fine by me,” she said.

Perry departed, almost tripping over Jason’s abandoned book bag on his way out.

Lois was about to ask Jason to pick it up when he hopped off the bed and jogged over to Clark’s side. He tugged on the sleeve of Clark’s jacket. Clark crouched down so that he and Jason were eye-to-eye.

“Thank you,” Jason said. “For taking care of Mom.” He flung his arms around Clark’s neck and squeezed. Lois had been the recipient of countless Jason hugs over the course of his lifetime, but could not have imagined the emotion Clark was feeling in that moment even if she tried.

Clark first registered a look of shock as Jason collided with him, then slowly, as he brought his arms around Jason to embrace him in return, his expression softened. Lois heard Clark take in a sharp breath, and she watched him clench his eyes closed, appearing to hold back an outright sob. He was holding his little boy in his arms.

Finally.

Lois knew what this meant to Clark.

Tears stung her eyes as she watched the pair of them, frozen in this crucial moment. She wished that her body wasn’t racked with pain, that she could get up and join the embrace. But yet, somehow she felt as if she’d be intruding.

This was their moment.

Father and son.


TBC

Author’s Note: Sometimes it really pains me that I’m not writing from Clark’s POV. You just know his father’s words are echoing through his head as he’s hugging Jason: “Were it not for vanity, at this very moment - I could embrace you in my arms. My son.” Finally, after so many years, Clark is able to do what Jor-El never could. Give his boy a hug.

There is so much more to this scene that just couldn’t be covered in this part. We’ll see what transpires after the hug in part nineteen. Stay tuned!

and its letting me leave feedback. very nicely done these last several parts. i had tears in my eyes by the end. that boy knows something. how could he not with the two of them as parents. and i have to say. i loved clark before this, but the line where he calls jason richard's son and talks about shoes to fill is awesome. comepletly awesome. and who knows maybe it is eased by the fact the man is dead.

reading lois get trampled by a crowd reminds of the epie on lois and clark when they try to adopt and they are told no cause she is always dangling before the jaws of death.

NINETEEN

Lois feigned ignorance when Jason asked her if she was crying.

“Crying?” she said, quickly blinking her eyelids to get rid of the evidence. “No, sweetie. It’s just…these bandages are awfully uncomfortable.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

Jason stared at her gravely. “Does it hurt?” he asked quietly, eyeing the dressing on her arm, and the scrapes and bruises visible on her face.

He wasn’t about to be fooled. In fact, it would’ve been an affront to even try to pull the wool over his eyes.

“It does,” she said simply. She didn’t want to frighten him with details.

“I didn’t hurt at all, when I was in here,” Jason continued. “I just slept…until I was better.” His expression changed. He looked distant all of a sudden. Lois wished Clark would say something, but she noticed he too had that same distant look…

She was at a loss. How was she to respond to Jason’s comment? Kids tend to be quick healers, honey, especially when they have the inherent propensity to be super-healers. Just ask your dad…

In the next moment, however, before anyone could think to ask Clark anything, Lois noticed a transformation in his expression; his look changing from the indistinct, distant one he wore after hearing Jason’s reflections, to a serious and much more focused one. He was tuned into something, and Lois knew she’d soon be making excuses for his absence.

“Lois…Jason,” Clark said, stammering. “There’s something I need to…I’ll be…”

“Oh, that’s right, Clark,” Lois said, trying to help him recover. “You mentioned before…that thing you needed to do.”

Clark shot her a grateful smile, bid them both a regretful good-bye, then bolted from the room.

After Clark departed, Jason stared at the door for a moment, then looked back at Lois, his eyebrow raised suspiciously. “Did Clark have to mail another letter?”

Lois swallowed. She had the feeling she and Clark were about to be busted. “Uh,” was all Lois managed to say.

“I know things, Mom,” he said plainly. “I’m not a baby anymore.”

Lois suddenly got a flashback to her own youth, seeing herself as a precocious yet puckish 12-year-old girl, hands on her hips, shouting to her father, “I’ll probably never live to see the day when you stop treating me like an infant!” That incident, however, had been about wearing eye shadow and mascara to a school dance; this incident, Lois knew, was far more complicated.

“I know you’re not, Jason,” Lois finally managed to say. “Tell me…what things do you know?”

“Well…I know I’m different,” he said, examining the patterns in the gray tile flooring as he spoke. He retreated back to his thoughts for a moment, appearing to be uncertain if he wanted to say anything more on the subject or not.

“Different?” Lois echoed. “Different how?” She held her breath, both anxious and afraid to hear his explanation.

“You won’t be mad, if I tell you? Will you?”

The very fact that he thought he needed to ask broke her heart.

“No!” she assured him. “Sweetheart, no!” She should have talked to him about this a long time ago. She shouldn’t have left things unsaid. If she had, he wouldn’t have grown to believe, as time passed by, that he would upset her by being different. She felt sick at the thought of Jason worrying about this, at the thought that he was afraid he would disappoint or even – God forbid – disgust her by being the exceptional child he was.

“Well…I can do things,” he said quietly.

Lois knew he wasn’t going to describe being able to speak fifteen phrases in Italian or play America the Beautiful on the piano.

“When Uncle Perry told me you were in the hospital, I wanted to run all the way here.”

“But Uncle Perry drove you, didn’t he?”

“Yes, but Mom…” Jason said furtively, lowering his voice to a whisper. “I felt like I really could have run all the way here.”

“You were upset, weren’t you? When you heard I’d been hurt?” she asked him, already knowing the answer. She was beginning to understand. She was seeing an emotional connection between Jason and his emerging powers.

Jason nodded. “When I fell at the playground, I didn’t get hurt,” he continued. “Sarah Steinmeyer in my class at school asked me why I didn’t get a cast or anything at the hospital and why I didn’t even get scraped up. I told her I didn’t know why, and then she called me weird…”

Lois secretly wanted to boil Sarah Steinmeyer in oil and feed her to the boa constrictor at the Metropolis Zoo.

“And sometimes, I’m really…” Jason paused and looked down at his hands. “…strong. But sometimes I’m not.”

Lois recalled his sudden and quite powerful resistance to being tugged along in the parking lot the other day.

“I never told you this, Mom, but when Dad…” He paused and drew in a deep breath. “When Dad died, I broke the window in my bedroom.” He looked utterly ashamed of himself.

“Your Aunt Lucy told me she…”

“It wasn’t Aunt Lucy…I broke it,” Jason confessed. “I lied to her and said I was playing with a baseball and I hit the window on accident, and she didn’t want to bother you about it, so she made something up to tell you…but it was me. And it wasn’t an accident. I missed Dad, and was mad that he was gone, so I picked up the ball and threw it as hard as I could. I never did find that baseball…”

Lois imagined he couldn’t have found it, that it was probably deep at the bottom of the river all this time.

“And…” He looked up at her with desperate little eyes. “Remember the piano?”

How could she forget?

“I was afraid,” Jason admitted. “I wanted to stop that man from hurting you, Mom, but I was so afraid…then I felt something – weird – inside me. Like my stomach hurt at first, but then it didn’t. And like my feet were stuck to the floor and my hands were stuck to the piano keys. The whole time I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and like my heart was getting really jumpy…and I knew I had to help you, but I was just a little kid back then and that man was really big…and my feet felt really heavy and hard to move, and even if I got them to move, I didn’t think I could get them to move fast enough, because I always used to run really slow – remember how I used to always get touched first in freeze tag? – but my hands came unstuck from the piano keys before I could even stop them, and then…”

Lois remembered vividly what happened once Jason’s hands became ‘unstuck.’ She recalled clenching her eyes tightly shut, her brute of an attacker poised to deal her a deathblow. But instead of feeling the impact from the blunt object the man held in his hand, she felt the whoosh of the grand piano, speeding past her as fast as a bullet. When she opened her eyes, she found the instrument laid in ruins in front of her, its keyboard broken apart, a jumble of black and white keys mingled amongst a pile of wooden shards. Standing stock-still across the length of the room was her son – his arms still outstretched and wearing a look of absolute astonishment on his face. Had she multiplied his astonishment by a million, it might have come close to what she was feeling at the time.

Jason told her how much more afraid he felt after it was all over with. She immediately recalled his apology on the yacht. “I’m sorry,” he told her meekly at the time. Just now he told her that he didn’t know why or how it had happened, and that doing what he’d done frightened him. But Jason also explained how – once Superman had come to rescue them – his fear subsided. His fear disappeared once he saw Superman lifting the huge yacht from the water, high up into the sky…and then, as the boat dropped back into ocean, effortlessly carrying all three of them – Richard, Lois and Jason – single-handedly.

“He was so strong, just like I’d been…and after it was all over, I even thought one day I could be like him,” Jason said quietly, reminiscing.

Lois felt her heart lurch just a bit. Jason never once shared these thoughts, yet now they were pouring out of him.

“I think I was too little to know better back then,” said Jason, trying on the manner of a grown-up once more. “But I started thinking about things again at school this summer.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lois. “What made you start thinking again…about things?”

“Barrett Nolan.”

Lois shot him a look of utter confusion.

“Barrett lives with his mom and dad,” Jason said. “Except Barrett’s dad isn’t his real dad. His real dad lives in Tacoma. That’s in Washington.”

“I know where Tacoma is, sweetheart…”

“The state, not D.C.”

“I know, honey…”

“Barrett’s dad – the one that lives with him – is a doctor, but Barrett says his mom calls his real dad a deadbeat, but I don’t know what that means.”

Lois stared blankly, mildly dazed over the conversations her son was having with his schoolmates.

“Barrett’s dad – the one that lives with him – is really cool, and he taught him all about fly fishing and how to start a fire with a magnifying glass. But Barrett looks a lot like his real dad, and his mom told him he was temperamental sometimes, just like his real dad—”

Nice, thought Lois scornfully.

“What’s temperamental mean? It’s not like being a deadbeat, is it?”

Lois cleared her throat. “No, Jason. Temperamental means…well, it’s kind of like being moody. Cheerful one minute, grumpy the next.”

“A deadbeat doesn’t sound like that. A deadbeat sounds worse.”

“Well…” Lois began. “It’s not a very nice thing to call someone – a dad – who doesn’t really care about taking care of his family.”

Jason screwed up his face and pondered this for a moment.

“Dad wasn’t my real dad, was he?” he asked quietly.

“Listen, kiddo,” Lois said, beckoning him to come sit closer at her side. “Richard White was as real a father to you as any man ever was to any child. He loved you very much.”

“I know,” he said solemnly. He hopped off the bed and retrieved Bentley the bear from the clutter that had fallen out of his book bag when he dropped it to the floor earlier. It was a babyish thing – at least by Jason’s standards – to be holding onto, but it was a tie to Richard. And a testament to the fact that Jason still held Richard’s memory close to his heart. “I loved him, too.” He held the toy bear in his hands and studied its tattered fur. “I miss him sometimes, but sometimes I feel bad because…”

“Because why, sweetheart?”

“Because I think I might like to get to know my real—” He stopped, then corrected himself. “—my other dad…better.”

Lois was trying to find the right words to say.

“You said a deadbeat is a dad who doesn’t care about taking care of his family?” he asked.

Lois nodded.

“My dad’s not a deadbeat like Barrett’s mom says his dad is,” Jason said earnestly. “He may not live with us, but he takes care of us.” He set Bentley down at the foot of Lois’s bed and stooped over to pick up the book that was peeking out from the top of the book bag. It was his trusty copy of Stuart Little. He turned around and locked eyes with Lois. “Clark wasn’t mailing a letter yesterday, was he, Mom?”

“No, Jason,” Lois said softly. She held out her injured arm to him, summoning him back to her side. “And he’s not mailing one now, either.” She planted a light kiss on his forehead. “How did you know…about Clark, I mean?”

“Well, when I was little” – and by ‘little,’ he meant nearly three years ago, just after Clark’s return – “I thought that Clark looked an awful lot like Superman…but nobody else seemed to think so, so I didn’t say anything. And now…now I just know it’s true, even without anyone else saying so. Clark cares a lot about us…and I can tell you care a lot about him, too, Mom.”

“I do, sweetie,” Lois breathed, pulling him close and hugging him as much as her wounded arm allowed. “I do.”

“So, it’s true, Mom?”

“Yes,” she said, sighing.

“It’s not that Clark didn’t want to be my dad, right?”

She kissed his forehead again and said, “It would be very complicated to explain things from the very beginning. I know you’re not a baby anymore, and I don’t want to treat you like one, but sometime when you’re just a little bit older, maybe you’ll be able to understand why things happened the way they happened. Just know this for now, Jason: There was never an instant when Clark did not want to be your dad.”

“And…” Jason was almost hesitant to speak his next thought. “Is it okay for me to want him to be my dad?” His brow was knitted, and his eyes were full of concern. He was clearly torn over betraying Richard’s memory, but the very fact that he worried about it proved that he could never betray that memory. Richard would always have a place in the boy’s heart.

“It’s okay, Jason,” she said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

It was most certainly okay. She cuddled her son gently, wondering just how very surprised Clark would be when he returned.


TBC

Ah! So much emotion! That was great, Bisty!

And I liked this comment, too! Actually, I think you do a great job of showing Clark's feelings!

Author’s Note: Sometimes it really pains me that I’m not writing from Clark’s POV. You just know his father’s words are echoing through his head as he’s hugging Jason: “Were it not for vanity, at this very moment - I could embrace you in my arms. My son.” Finally, after so many years, Clark is able to do what Jor-El never could. Give his boy a hug.