Fic: Superman: Aftermath | DCU/SR | Clark/Lois | PG-13 | 23/56
Title: Superman: Aftermath
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairings: Lois/Richard, Clark/Lois
Rating - This Chapter: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 8,532
Summary: In the days following the events of Superman Returns, both Clark and Lois are reeling from events that have changed their lives forever, and the city of Metropolis is in shambles. Things only get worse as Lois's relationship with Richard takes a nosedive, the US government wants to send a survey and potential mining mission to New Krypton, and vast amounts of kryptonite show up in the hands of criminals on the streets of Metropolis.
Chapter Summary: Clark makes a startling discovery about a thug on Luthor's first crew. After Perry has a talk with him about Lois, Clark takes her and Jason back to his apartment. Dinner and chaos ensues, and Jason makes his own discoveries.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction. Superman and the DC Comics universe are property of DC Comics and Warner Brothers. No money has been made or will be made from the production of this work. Darn it.
Author's Notes: This chapter only took me 2 months to really get done. But whatever. My beta on this one is awesome. Thanks for the encouragement, Anissa! :D I was so worried that I'd overcooked this one. :p
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Chapter 23
By mid-afternoon, neither Lois nor Clark had made much more progress in trying to make the connections between the names on Danny's list, Luthor, and Intergang while the whirlwind of the bullpen raged around them. Even the little tip Clark had gotten from Sawyer hadn't been nearly enough to declare the investigation a success, by any measure. The bulk of what they'd uncovered up to this point included a handful of under-the-table transactions between Fedorov and Luthor, and a three-year-old charge of tax evasion against Fedorov for his involvement in one such dealing. From what the pair of reporters could tell, the Russian's ties to Intergang rested on the few international contracts Clark had discovered the previous afternoon, while Mindy Church's hands remained miraculously clean.
It didn't add up. Worse yet, Clark's search for employees that Church's contacts might have had in common had come up empty, despite-regrettably-bypassing their network security to get at their personnel files. From what he could tell, there simply were none. So what exactly did Sawyer's tip mean, then?
Rubbing the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses out of mild frustration, Clark decided to look deeper into Church's employees specifically, then set to work searching through Metropolis PD's arrest files with an-also regrettably-hijacked password. They couldn't officially use anything he found here, but at least he might find something useful, to get their investigation back on track.
So in he went. Searching the files for Church Multiworld Enterprises specifically, his results came back with nothing more serious than a DUI on one of her bodyguards. Damn. For the most part, they all looked squeaky clean. Digging a little further, he hoped against hope that something, anything, would pop up.
But at the far end of an hour, Clark still had nothing. Nada. Zero.
Heaving a sigh, he sat back in his chair and glared at his screen, listening peripherally to Lois, still going full-throttle across the center aisle as if nothing short of a national disaster could stop her. Truly a force of nature herself. But on Clark's part, he was beginning to feel the drag of the day, far too mentally exhausted to keep at this for another two hours. Maybe it was time to call it a day so he, Lois, and Jason could duck out early.
With that plan in mind, he sat forward again to run one last search through the system, looking for the names of several of Church's smaller businesses. He frowned as he waited to the results to come up. No chance he'd find anything now, but....
The screen finished loading, and right there, staring at him in all their full-colored glory were the file and mug shots of a man arrested for beating a woman to death in an alley in Suicide Slum. A man that had worked security for one of Church's nightclubs, and had spent only two and a half years of a twenty-five-year prison sentence behind bars for his transgression. Clark checked the date of his prison release, and-
Stopping abruptly, he drew his hands back from the keyboard and sat up straight in his chair. The man's release date coincided with Luthor's release date exactly. They'd been represented by the same law firm and had even spent their terms in the same prison block. Clark wasn't sure how, but this man, Randall “Brutus” Staneck, was a solid connection between Luthor and Intergang.
His heart thundering with sudden excitement at the find, he turned to rise and cross the bullpen to show Lois what he'd found, but he was stopped as Perry swooped in out of nowhere. “Kent, I need to see you in my office,” the editor said, uncharacteristically quiet. “Now.” He stabbed Clark's desk with a finger to make his point, then moved away before he could reply.
With a glance at Lois, whose eyes were narrowed in concentration at her own computer screen as she typed furiously, Clark rose and followed the Chief into his office, shutting the door behind him. Perry was already seated behind the enormous desk, and motioned for him to have a seat.
“Um, yes, Chief?” he asked as he sat.
“Kent, I need you to do a quick write-up for me. I just got this-” he passed a folder across the desk to the reporter, “-from Garvin. Looks to me like it ties in well with everything you and Lois have been working on. Garvin's swamped, so I want you on it instead.”
Clark flipped quickly through the file, noting that these were the police files on the kryptonite they had seized over the past two nights from suspects in a variety of criminal incidents. The files also included the specifics from each of the incidents, information that hadn't been made public yet, and he hadn't thought to check up on when he was in the system. “Wow, um, Chief, this should help us out a lot. Thanks.”
“Hmph. Just get me an article laying out the details. You two got anything else for me yet?” Perry eyed him with a calculating look, and Clark remembered that that look meant the editor was in a firing mood. Exactly what he didn't need this afternoon.
“Um, well, we're finally starting to make some headway connecting Luthor to Intergang. I think we might even have something solid for tomorrow afternoon's edition.”
“Good. Now-” Perry folded his hands together in front of him, leaned forward against his desk, and lowered his voice, “What the hell is wrong with Lois today?”
“Oh, um....” he started, realizing with a start that he'd completely forgotten to let the editor know about that call this morning-
“I take it this has something to do with the unexpected police detail in the lobby?”
-or that Sawyer was sending a unit out. Crap. “Uh... yeah,” he nodded slowly. “I'm sorry, Chief. We got so busy that I completely forgot to tell you.” The rising of heat on his face made him all the more uncomfortable under Perry's scrutiny. “Lois got a call from Katherine Kowalski this morning.”
Perry's eyes widened in surprise. “That woman tied up with Luthor?”
“Um, yes. She tried to warn Lois that Luthor was planning something against her, but something happened and the line went dead. I let Metro PD know, and I guess they sent the protective detail. I'm sorry,” he shook his head, feeling the weight of the day all over again. “We should have told you, Chief.”
“Goddammit, Kent! You should have said something immediately after Lois got that call!” the editor yelled, rising from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at him. “Instead, all I got was a note from Terrence, down in the lobby, that the cops were here, with no explanation beyond an unspecified threat against the Planet! Now you'd better tell me they've got a detail ready to escort her home, too,” he finished with a threatening glare, leaning on his desk.
Clark's pulse double-timed it at that, and he briefly clenched his jaw. How could he explain that having a detail on Lois and Jason was tantamount to giving Luthor a bead on their every move? “It was decided that she and Jason would be safer if they lay low for a while and even the police don't know where they're staying. I'm going to do everything I can to keep them off Luthor's radar.” Was that a hint of Superman in his voice? For his identity's sake, he hoped not, but at this point, he knew it probably couldn't be avoided.
“Oh, really?” Perry countered, crossing his arms.
Clark swallowed, forcing himself calm. “They'll be staying with me for a few days,” he explained. “And actually, I was hoping you wouldn't mind if we left a bit early today, so I can take them to get their things together.” Finishing with an adjustment to his glasses, he smiled weakly.
With a long, frustrated sigh, Perry uncrossed his arms, finally sitting back down. He gave Clark a decidedly stern look, leveling a finger at him again. “You'd better not let Luthor get within a hair's breath of those two, Kent. I mean it. If I find out you've run off to God-knows-where and left them to look after themselves, and something happens to them, you're out of a job. Period. You got it?”
Nodding, Clark swallowed again, hard, his eyes wide. Beneath the surface, though, he knew that if anything were to happen to Lois and their son, losing his job would be the last thing he'd worry about. No, he wasn't going to let anything happen to them, ever again.
* * * * *
Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, Lois nearly jumped from her chair.
“Lois? Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to....” Clark looked down at her apologetically and pushed his glasses up with an index finger.
“Dammit, Clark,” she hissed, “Don't ever do that. Ever.” She'd been on edge all day, trying not to look too closely at Clark, trying not to think about all the implications of her suspicions about him, trying not to tremble in fear that somehow Luthor might get to her and Jason. Her stomach had been pulled into tiny knots that refused to budge, instead threatening to strangle her insides if she didn't get everything straightened out, and soon.
Clark simply stood there, his expression begging her not to kill him for his mistake, and Lois let out a slow breath, trying to calm herself. He was the last person she needed to alienate right now.
“Sorry, Clark. It's just.... Sorry,” she said, looking way up at him.
He offered her a soft, lopsided smile. “Oh, um, it's okay. I know today's been kind of weird for you,” he replied calmly, quietly.
“You don't know the half of it,” she muttered under her breath, looking away from him.
“Sorry?”
Lois shook her head, “Nothing.”
“Oh, well, anyway, I found something that might give us a link between Luthor and Intergang.” He passed her the printout of Randall Staneck's criminal record. “This guy was an employee of Mindy Church's. Low level, but still. He went to prison for murder, served two and a half years, and was released the same day as-”
“Clark,” she cut him off, holding the papers in her hands and standing quickly. A chill worked its way down her spine as she stared at Staneck's photos: two traditional mug shots and a shot of the ugly tattoo covering the back of his head.
“What's wrong?” he asked firmly.
“He was, um, he was on Luthor's yacht,” she stammered. Her hands started to shake again and her breathing quickened. “He was there. He tried to kill me. He-” Breaking off, she turned to glance at Jason, who was busily coloring.
“Lois?” Clark asked, concerned. But he understood immediately. This was the man that Jason had killed. He hadn't been on New Krypton because he was already dead.... “Lois,” he prodded her, gently pulling the printouts from her quivering hands. Dropping it on her desk, he clasped her hands in his to try to get her attention. “Lois, look at me.”
She turned back to him, her eyes wide with fear. It was clear to Clark that she'd reached her breaking point for the day.
“He's gone, and he can't hurt you, Lois,” he assured her, still holding her hands. “I won't let anyone hurt you.”
Lois looked up into his eyes, her thoughts repeating the same pattern that they'd worked at all day, but this time with a new addition. He won't let anything happen to us. If Clark was Kal-El, Lois knew he wouldn't let anything happen to them. The sudden urge to cry and melt into Clark's chest overcame her, but at that, “Mad Dog Lane” resisted. No. Not here. Not like this. Not in front of Jason, Perry, and the entire damn staff. Keep it together, girl.
“I really need to get out of here,” she barely whispered as she pulled her hands free of Clark's.
“Okay,” he nodded, running a hand through his hair. “We should go and pack some things for you and Jason. Then I can make you guys some dinner, and we can get some more work done, without all the distractions here.”
“Right,” she nodded weakly in reply, “Um, yeah. That sounds good.” Quickly, she set to gathering her files and stuffing Jason's papers, crayons, books, and random toys back into his backpack. “Jason, come on, sweetie, it's time for us to go.”
“Okay, Mom,” the little boy said as he finished packing up his crayons and papers, still quietly taking in the interactions between Clark and his mom.
In a few moments the trio were headed out of the bullpen, Jason once again cradled in Clark's grasp, with his little arms thrown around his neck. But just as they reached the doors, a news bulletin hit every TV station in Metropolis. Lois and Clark stopped dead in their tracks as the newscasters read a statement issued by the Metropolis Chief of Police.
“...issued this statement just moments ago. 'Although it is clear that the crime wave that has hit the city of Metropolis is far from over, I want to assure the public that it is nothing the Metropolis Police Department can't handle. The involvement of the mineral kryptonite, also known as 'K', as a weapon directed against Superman, is a sad commentary on the motives of the suspects in these incidents. That said, I want to caution Superman to leave this situation to the Metropolis PD. We are more than equipped to deal with this, and there is no reason for him to put himself at risk at this time. Thank you.' Again, that statement was issued by....”
Lois watched Clark throughout the newscaster's speech, noticing how his eyes narrowed at the mention of Superman. At the end of the statement, she saw his shoulders relax and his expression soften, as if he were... sad? Relieved? Oh, God, what if it really is true? Clutching the strap of her purse tightly, she stood there until he turned to her.
His eyes met hers briefly, and he looked away quickly when he realized she'd been watching him. “Um,” he said, “we should get going.” Pushing through the doors, Clark strode almost elegantly to the elevators, despite the thirty-five pound child in his arms.
Lois followed, unable to comprehend why she had never seen him walk that way before.
* * * * *
The journey from the Daily Planet to Lois's house and then back to Clark's apartment passed in an awkward blur. She barely spoke to him or looked at him in the car, and while she hurriedly packed her and Jason's things, Clark only hovered in the background, trying to stay out of her way. He watched her stuff clothes into suitcases and unceremoniously dump toiletries and medicines into smaller travel bags, as if fear had completely undone her composure.
During the ride from her house back into the city Lois began acting even more strangely. Clark caught her giving him brief sideways glances, and each time he did, he gave her a small, soft smile in return. She looked away quickly each time, almost guiltily, and by the time the trio exited the elevator in Clark's building and reached the front door of his apartment, he was convinced something was up. She had to have figured everything out, and if she had, then she was waiting for him to spill it. He had promised to tell her, after all. The look on her face every time he noticed her watching him was proof enough. Her expression read, What the hell? in very large, unmistakable letters.
At that, Clark began to feel his own anxiety mounting. Tonight was the night. It was all going to come out tonight, exhaustion and investigations be damned.
Now, standing in the hallway, his hand almost began to tremble as he unlocked the door to his-Lois's-his apartment, and he wondered if this was really such a good idea after all. Once he told her everything, there would be no going back. It would all be out there, for better or for worse, and he would have to live with the consequences. But what would those consequences be? A hundred possible scenarios flashed through his mind in an instant, everything from Lois accepting the truth and loving him for it, which he had to admit held only the slimmest probability, to Lois hating him and never forgiving him for the lies he had told her for so long. And what if she became so angry she decided to leave? As much as he needed them here so he could protect them from whatever Luthor had planned, if Lois decided to take Jason and go home, well... he couldn't he stop her. If she chose to go, then she would go, and that would be the end of it.
His stomach began to cartwheel. No going back.
With a turn of the knob, he opened the door and waved them inside.
Walking in first, Lois shed her coat and hung it up next to the door, then stepped in further and looked around, scrutinizing the place. When she'd been here the previous week to let Clark move in, it had been nearly bare, with only what little furniture she'd left behind occupying space in the small apartment. The walls had been bare and the air had been settled into a quiet dormancy. Over a week later, very little had changed. The still-bare walls and the lack of any form of clutter told her Clark hadn't spent much time here at all. But at least he'd brought in a TV and a stereo, and had partially filled the built-in bookshelves with a wide variety of books, including a whole shelf of old classics, a few paperbacks, and a smattering of textbooks, ranging the gamut from the hard sciences, to social anthropology, to women's studies. Talk about a liberal arts education....
But Lois wondered whether Clark spent his evenings reading, or doing something else, something more... heroic....
Catching her examining his makeshift library after he shrugged off his coat and suit jacket and hung them on the hook, Clark slid up beside her while Jason wandered around, inspecting the new space with a contemplative air. When he realized she hadn't registered his presence yet, Clark watched her fingers move over the bindings of a dozen different texts. Her expression seemed to change from interested to confused as she passed by some old favorites of his from college and his world travels, and he noticed the wrinkle above her nose as she tried to work out what he could possibly be doing with books that were so obviously left of center. Feeling his anxiety abate just a bit, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at her expense.
Lois jumped, then whipped her head around to glare at him once more. “God, Clark! Stop that!” she scolded him.
He smiled softly in return, murmuring, “Sorry.”
“And stop apologizing,” she added. Taking a quick breath, she turned back to the bookshelf. “You have really strange taste in books, you know that?”
“Well... yes,” he admitted sheepishly. “I traveled a lot before college and between semesters, and picked up some interesting stuff along the way.”
“Really?” she asked slowly, looking at him sideways with a raised eyebrow.
Clark nodded, shoving his hands down into his pockets, “Mm-hmm.”
“Bet you got a lot of these over the last few years, then.”
Her question struck him with the force of a meteor, and his mouth fell open, his chest tightening unexpectedly. “Um... I guess,” he said quietly, suddenly unable to avert his eyes, even as he couldn't bear the lie.
In that quiet moment their eyes met, Lois feeling the color rise in her cheeks as a rush of adrenaline spread out from her solar plexus. Had she... had she just caught him at something? She... didn't know exactly what it was, but... he wasn't being honest. He.... Oh, God, were you even here!? she thought wildly, her pulse racing. This wasn't happening. No way this was happening. Say something, damn you!
Completely unnerved, she tore her gaze from his and moved away, leaving him standing by the bookshelves looking as off-kilter as she felt, and she scooped Jason up as she crossed his path.
“All right, Munchkin. Enough exploring. I believe someone still has some math to work on?” she prodded him as she set him down on the couch, forcing her momentary shock down, for Jason's sake, at least.
A groan escaped him as she began to rummage through his backpack for the appropriate folder. “Can't I just read some more?” he protested.
“Nope. I promised Miss Kinney you'd do your work at the same pace as everyone else. I bet you can get this done before dinner.”
“Okaaaaaaay....” Jason sighed, drawing up his legs and sitting Indian style on the couch. He looked up at his mom as she handed him his homework and a pencil. “Mom?” he asked.
“Yes, sweetie?” she replied, joining him on the couch and brushing his hair back from his face.
“Is this where you used to live?”
“Yep. We used to live here, when you were a baby,” she explained, drawing him into a hug with one arm.
Jason looked up at her with his big blue eyes, and Lois thought for a moment she might drown in her son's beautiful eyes, so much like his father's.... And again her thoughts returned to Clark, the pit of her stomach tightening at the notion. Were those Clark's eyes? With a suddenly bittersweet taste in her mouth, she glanced around quickly to find that he had disappeared, moving their suitcases into the bedroom.
“Why did we move, Mommy?” Jason asked, still staring up at his mother.
Her attention drawn back, she let out laugh in response, “Oh, honey, we needed room to grow! Besides, where would Daddy have put his plane, huh?”
The little boy giggled at that, then his brow furrowed with question. “Are we gonna stay here for a long time?”
At that, her jaw fell open, her heartbeat loud in her hears, thundering with another unexpected surge of adrenaline-hope?-which the more rational part of her promptly beat down. “We're only staying for a few days at the most,” she explained, more to herself than to her son, “until the police find the bald man and put him back in prison.”
Jason gave her a slightly wounded look, which she couldn't help a slight commiseration with, and sighed. “Where are we gonna sleep?”
“Well....” Lois realized that she'd been so preoccupied with determining whether Clark was Kal-El that she hadn't bothered to work out the sleeping arrangements with him. Somehow, domestic details seemed so less important than the big questions right now. Glancing up as Clark came back into the living room, she raised an eyebrow at him pointedly.
“Oh, uh, you and Jason can have the bedroom, and I'll just sleep on the couch,” he suggested, adjusting his glasses with an index finger.
She wondered if the gesture she'd seen him perform a hundred times a day was really necessary. “Um, sure,” she replied after a moment, shaking off the thought.
Clark smiled lopsidedly at her then, and the expression caught Lois off guard. It was a smile she'd seen a thousand times on him, maybe even more.... Maybe a lot more.... Rising quickly from the couch and leaving Jason to his math homework, she moved to unpack her laptop. “We should really get some work done. Have you had a chance to get internet service set up yet?” she said coolly, her words speeding past in a quivering torrent.
Clark's smile fell away as he realized she was trying her best to either keep her distance from him or keep herself from tearing him a new one. “Oh, um, well....” he tried to answer her through a stammer that he simply couldn't stop. Drawing in a deep breath, he tried again, “I haven't had time to get high-speed internet yet, so, um....” He was screwing this up, and he knew it. She was gonna have his spleen for breakfast, at this rate. Focus, Clark!
“You mean all I have to work with is dial-up? Great. Just great,” she groused, propping her laptop up on the coffee table and opening it, not even chancing a look at him and trying to not curse in front of her son.
When Clark's apologetic smile was resolutely ignored, he sighed softly. “Sorry, Lois.” Turning to Jason, who was still sitting on the couch, taking in the conversation with a critical expression, he suggested, “Hey, Jason, when you get finished with that you can help me make dinner. We can give your Mom some time to work.”
“Great!” the little boy smiled. “What are we gonna have to eat?”
Lois sat up straight and glanced at Clark quickly, not daring to look up at his face. “Yeah, what do you have to eat around here, anyway?” As if on cue, her stomach growled in agreement, easing the worst of the tension in the apartment.
Clark smiled more brightly. “How does spaghetti sound?”
* * * * *
Clark had to force himself to clean up from dinner at a normal pace. Though he wanted to rush through and be done with it, he didn't want to make the evening any more awkward than it had already been. After Jason had finished his homework, Clark had been ecstatic to have his son as his assistant in the kitchen. He showed the little boy the proper way to chop vegetables without getting his tiny fingers in the way of the knife-potential partial invulnerability or no-and let him stir the spaghetti sauce. It hadn't been the most imaginative meal, but Clark hadn't had the opportunity to do any proper grocery shopping before insisting that Lois and Jason come to stay with him, and he certainly wasn't about to call for takeout or fly off to bring back something more interesting. No, they deserved a proper effort from him and a normal meal, at the very least.
While they ate, Clark had tried to keep the talk of their investigation to a minimum, not wanting to scare Jason any more than they already had. The intense look on Jason's face throughout dinner almost began to make Clark feel uncomfortable, as if Jason knew darn well what was going on and he wished they would just stop tiptoeing around it all. Clark knew the look and the feelings that came with it well, as he'd given his own parents that same look hundreds of times as a child, wanting them to just tell him why he was different and just what was happening. Undoubtedly, Jason was as observant and as curious as both of his parents, and with any luck, Clark and Lois would be able to talk to him openly and honestly soon, so he wouldn't have to be confused or frustrated anymore.
Lois had also given him odd, intense looks throughout dinner, looking away whenever she came close to meeting his eyes. Though she did her best to keep the conversation light, it was clear to Clark that she had far more important things on her mind. Every once in a while he caught her staring at his tie, as though she were wondering why he hadn't taken it off and loosened the collar of his shirt, like any normal man might have done. He would have changed as soon as they got in, but he knew if she didn't see him in the suit-both suits-she still might not believe it fully. Of course, that didn't stop him from thinking, She knows, every minute or so, and he tried not to tip his hand that he knew she probably knew. A few times he wondered if she had any idea that he knew she was on to him, but that line of thought only started to give him a slight headache, adding to the exhaustion of the day. It didn't matter. In a little while it would all be out there.
Now, standing in front of the sink washing dishes, while Lois had returned to work on her laptop, he again resisted the urge to speed things along a little. Anxiety began to eat at his stomach again, or was that the spaghetti sauce? He didn't know. It didn't matter. All he knew for sure was that the moment of truth was coming. His mother's words drifted through his mind as he considered exactly what to say to Lois. She can handle whatever you decide to tell her. And that had better be everything! His Ma was right. No matter what he said or how he said it, Lois could handle it. She might be-no, she would be-angry, but she could handle it.
Finally, Clark dried the last dish and put it away, but instead of moving back into the living room, he stood for a moment more at the sink, leaning against the counter top and absently watching the last of the water drain away. He didn't know whether he was trying to gather his courage or was simply stalling, trying to put off the inevitable, but he knew that what he was about to do would be the hardest thing he'd ever done or would ever do. He could stop bullets, trains, and buses, lift up jumbo jets and islands, blow out fires with a single breath, and even burn a hole through a hundred feet of rock if he had to, but this-this-made him feel weak, unsure of himself, and utterly terrified. Kryptonite could make him sick, make him feel pain that no person should have to endure, but Lois, a woman little more than half his size, could bring him to his knees with a single look.
With a steadying breath, he stepped away from the counter and walked out into the living room. Lois sat hunched before her laptop, papers spread all over the coffee table, her fingers flying deftly over the keyboard as she prepared a summary of their findings for Perry. Jason, sitting next to her, was utterly engrossed by an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants on TV. For a moment, Clark was thrown off. He didn't remember cartoons being so... weird before he left. Well, okay, he'd grown up with talking robots that turned into cars, tiny blue people that were constantly chased by a balding wizard who wanted to eat them, and a guy who could shoot spider webs from his wrists, but a talking yellow sponge? Now that was strange.
Smiling at the sudden feeling of comfort and nostalgia, Clark felt the acid in his stomach ease a bit. Okay, now or never....
He put his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to the couch. “Um, Lois?” he asked.
“Hmm?” She turned toward him, still not looking him in the eyes, or even at his face.
Clark choked down the sudden rush of adrenaline that threatened to send him running. “Um, can I talk to you for a minute? Privately? Um, out on the balcony, maybe?”
Lois narrowed her eyes at him, finally looking at least at his face, and he heard her heartbeat quickening. “Sure,” she said, almost breathlessly, before turning back to her laptop. “Just give me a minute. I want to finish this up.”
“Oh, um, sure, okay,” he stammered back, again unable to keep his voice steady. With a few steps, he moved out to the balcony, flipping on the bright patio lights and pulling the glass door shut behind him, and as he crossed the nearly empty space to the far ledge, the cool night air washed over him accusingly. Once, this balcony had been crowded with potted plants and flowers, an odd attempt by Lois to bring a little more life into the city, but now the planters were all empty and the little, white patio table and its chairs were rusted over. It was a place that had been neglected, left empty and cold. Clark imagined she must have ripped the plants away and closed the door on this balcony with all the spitting fire of rage that he'd left her with after his disappearance.
He remembered the first night he'd met her here, the awkward interview, their first flight.... By that time he'd already fallen madly in love with her....
Memories of other meetings flashed across his mind, times they'd shared tales of his adventures as well as hers, even though he'd already heard them and in many cases had been a part of them, times they'd shared meals brought from exotic places, that first kiss they'd shared....
And the memory of the first time they were together played like a recording in his mind. They'd been at Niagara Falls on a crazy assignment, and he'd wanted to tell her everything then, but then General Zod and his cronies had shown up, wreaking havoc on the world. He hadn't had a chance to tell her anything, and after it was all over, he'd come to her, let her dress his wounds and soothe his battered pride....
Though he never regained the courage to tell her the truth, he'd been so in love with her, and she'd been in love with him. They were together, in a way, for only a few short months, before it was reported that Krypton had been found. Weighing his options, he'd known that he and Lois could never truly be together as long as she didn't know who he really was. He'd loved her more than anything, more than anything or anyone in the world, and he'd known that if he continued with his juvenile charade that it would be unfair to her. So he'd decided to go. He'd left her without even saying goodbye.
The last time he'd stood here with Lois, he'd kissed her, told her he'd see her in a few days, and flown off. It had been the worst mistake of his life.
Leaning against the ledge, he took a deep breath of the cold night air and slipped his glasses off. He wouldn't be needing them.
The door opened and closed behind him as he stared out over the city.
“Clark?” Lois asked, her tone laden with unspoken challenges. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”
He didn't turn around, instead taking another deep breath while the pounding of his heart echoed in his ears. Here we go.... “Lois, you asked me something two days ago that I haven't answered.”
“I did?” she asked, stepping closer to the ledge. When she saw that Clark was clutching his glasses in his left hand, her stomach twisted again. Oh, God.... She'd never actually seen Clark take off his glasses before.
“Yes.... Lois, I-” he broke off, not sure how to continue.
Impatience swept over her. If this was what she'd been waiting for, he was taking his damn time.... “Just say it, Clark,” she demanded, her voice starting to tremble.
He sighed heavily, clenching his fists unwittingly until the crack of glass and plastic filled the seeming chasm between them, wrenching his confession from him. “Two nights ago you asked me who I really am. I owe you the truth. All of it.” Turning to face her, he stood his full height.
And she saw that his eyes were shining with unshed tears. His brilliant, cobalt eyes....
At that, she took a step back, her mind reeling with confirmed suspicions. Say it, already!
“Lois....” But he didn't know what to say. After another tense silence, he placed the crushed remains of his glasses on the ledge, brushed his hair back from his face, loosened his tie, and slowly undid the top two buttons of his shirt. He pulled the shirt open, exposing the blue of his costume and the top of the red and yellow shield beneath. “I never knew how to tell you,” he murmured slowly.
Lois only stared in shock, her mouth falling open in a horrified gape. “Kal-El?” she finally choked out, her chin quivering.
“Lois, Clark is who I really am. Kal-El is the name my birth parents gave me,” he said, touching the emblem on his chest. “Lois?” he prodded her.
Her mind was spinning too fast for all his words to register. She'd looked into Clark's eyes and seen Kal-El staring back at her. Clark had Kal-El's voice and curled lock of hair over his forehead. Clark opened his shirt and was wearing Kal-El's suit beneath it. Clark was... Clark was Kal-El. Kal-El was Clark. Oh, God... it's really true.... I wasn't being crazy. I was right....
Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she fought the twisting of her insides and the wringing ache in her chest, wishing she could make it all untrue and make the delusion disappear. It was another insane nightmare, it had to be, but she couldn't seem to shake herself awake. It just couldn't be possible.... Clark, Clark Kent, her partner, her friend, the kid from Kansas! The farm boy! Clark was Kal-El!
She felt his warmth move closer to her and his hands come to rest on her arms.
“Lois, I'm sorry,” he offered, knowing he couldn't soothe her now no matter how badly he wanted to. “Say something... please....”
His words echoed in her mind, Will you come with me? Please? And that was it. Clark had lied to her. Kal-El had lied to her. He'd lied to her! He'd been one person here with her at night, and another person at work during the day. He had deceived her since the very first day he walked into the Daily Planet. He'd been by her side every damned day, minus the years he'd been gone, and let her worry and fret and gush over his other self without ever saying a word. With her fury building to a crescendo, her eyes snapped open, and she pulled back from his grasp roughly.
Clark saw the rage burning behind her eyes. This was not the protective tiger. This was a wronged woman, and she was infinitely more terrifying.
Clenching her jaw, she set her stance.
And he had no warning. He should have seen it coming, but was so focused on the flashing of her eyes that he didn't even see her hand until just before it met his face. With a split-second decision, he let the slap deliver its full force to his cheek and drive his head to the right.
Lois had hit him.
In the heated silence that followed, Clark felt ashamed that it didn't hurt. He wished it would hurt....
“How could you!?” she began finally, the words echoing off of the bare concrete with all the violent weight of her outrage. “You let me believe you were two different people. You let me fawn over you as Superman and then treat you like crap as Clark! You let me fall in love with you and you never said a word when I overlooked you at the Planet. Why? Why, Clark? Why couldn't you have just told me? Trusted me!? After everything we've been through together! And you....” She ran her hands through her hair, eying him wildly. “Christ, I went through hell when you left, when both of you left. Don't you know how stupid this makes me look? God, I feel so stupid!” Throwing her arms up in frustration, she spun away from him to stalk to the other side of the balcony, where she sagged against the ledge.
Clark wanted to melt into the concrete and disappear. She'd be well within her right to hate him for the rest of eternity for what he'd done. “I'm sorry, Lois,” he started, voice shaking slightly. “For what it's worth, I just wanted to protect you. I never thought we could really be together. I never thought we'd have a son. I just-”
Lois whipped back around, tears in her own eyes now, and cut him off, “Protect me? From what? Myself? Lex Luthor? Well, congratulations, you failed. You should have told me. Everything. But you didn't. Instead you ran off on a wild goose chase looking for a home that doesn't exist anymore!”
“Don't you think that kills me every day?” he choked. “It kills me to think about what you had to go through, what Jason had to go through....”
Rolling her eyes, she looking away from him and put her hands on her hips, settling into the angry Lois that Clark knew from the newsroom. She shook her head slowly, then stood there for a moment, glaring at him. “You know,” she said after a long while, her voice deadly calm and quiet, “I had it all figured out. I just... I needed proof.”
“I know,” he replied.
“So... you knew that I knew, and you still didn't say anything....”
He shook his head, averting his gaze beneath her scrutiny, “I'm sorry. I wanted to do it right, at the right time, in the right place. I suppose I missed the mark pretty badly.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah. The right time was six years ago. Before....” And her focus was drawn unwittingly back toward the apartment, the full weight of the revelation hitting her. “Dammit. Jason....” He could probably hear every word they said... and... Clark really was his father.
Turning back again, wide-eyed, she felt her heart climb in her throat. “Clark....” she began, but suddenly the world began to tilt. Everything narrowed around her and faded to darkness as Lois felt the concrete floor rise up to meet her.
* * * * *
Inside the apartment, Jason listened to his mom yelling at Clark. She was really angry. She'd never yelled at Daddy like that, and she'd never yelled at him like that, either. Maybe it was because Clark not telling her that he was Superman, too, was a bad secret. That made sense; Jason had felt bad about his mom not knowing something so important. But he hoped his Mommy would stop yelling and cursing soon. It started to scare him, knowing his mom had never been this angry, at anyone.
With Sponge Bob forgotten and left singing gleefully in the background, Jason slid off the couch and went to the door to the balcony. He saw Clark standing in front of Mommy with his glasses off and his shirt open, so she could see the stretchy suit. His mom was saying bad things to Clark, mean things, and he wondered just how much trouble Clark was in. Probably lots.
Then Clark said something weird. He didn't think they would have a son.... What did that mean? Did Mommy and Clark have another kid? Jason already had a Daddy, so Clark couldn't be his Daddy, too.... But Uncle Perry said something about Jason's real father. Confusion began to scare him even more. He had friends who had two dads, so why couldn't he have two dads? He was going to be like Clark, wasn't he? Was Clark really his Daddy, too? Was that why him and Mommy wouldn't tell him what was going on? But, how could Clark be his Daddy if his mom didn't even know who he was?
Frightened by what was happening, the little boy stepped away from the door. He didn't want them to see him standing there. His Mommy had told him it wasn't polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, even if he could hear them without trying. Moving back through the living room, he tried to not hear what his Mommy was saying. But he didn't want to watch cartoons anymore. Sponge Bob was okay, but something more important was going on, and his mom had always told him to pay attention to the things that were more important. Clark had told his mom that he was Superman. And Clark might be his Daddy, too. That was pretty important.
Turning off the TV, he stopped after pressing the button, when something else caught his attention. He didn't know what it was, but something made him want to open the drawer underneath the TV. Something was in there, something important, and Jason suddenly wanted to know what it was more than anything. He listened to find out if Mommy and Clark were still fighting, but didn't hear anything. Maybe Mommy wasn't mad anymore....
Jason opened the drawer slowly and peered into it. Sitting on top of some DVDs was a rock. A long, dark gray rock. He remembered Miss Kinney said rocks that looked like this were called crystals. He wrapped his hand around it and picked it up. It tingled his skin, and he wondered what it was. It felt weird, not like any rock or crystal he'd ever touched. Maybe it was from Krypton.... No, Clark said Krypton was destroyed a long time ago. Maybe it was from that awful place called New Krypton. That place was all rocks, like this one, and it was the same color. But the news people all said that kryptonite came from New Krypton.... If this rock was from New Krypton, then.... But it didn't look like kryptonite, and he didn't feel wheezy. Besides, Clark said kryptonite could hurt him, that it was dangerous, so he knew Clark wouldn't have kryptonite in his apartment!
More confused than ever, and even more scared, Jason put the rock back in the drawer and shut it quickly. He went to his backpack, thinking he should just color for a while until Mommy and Clark came back inside. As he began rummaging around for his crayons and some paper, the door to the balcony opened.
* * * * *
“Lois?” It was too late, as her eyes rolled back in her head, and she slumped to the floor, limp. Clark barely reacted in time, keeping her head from hitting the concrete. “Lois?” he tried to wake her, smoothing her hair back from her face with his free hand. “Lois!” he said, more forcefully. “Wake up!”
Her eyes fluttered for a moment, then stilled. Her breathing had slowed, her heartbeat had slowed. Clark sighed. Medically, she was fine... but she was out cold.
Drawing her up into his arms, he lifted her from the cold floor and cradled her head gently to his chest. He hadn't expected her to pass out, but there was nothing to be done for it now as he took her back inside, closing the door behind him with his foot.
Jason looked up at once from where he seemed to be rummaging through his backpack. “Mommy? What's wrong with Mommy?” His eyes blinked with sudden confusion and fear as he pushed his hair back from his face.
For an instant, Clark panicked. Of course Jason had heard every word they'd said.... “She's okay,” he assured him quickly. “Your mom was just... really angry with me, and, well, she passed out,” he explained, not even knowing whether Jason understood what that meant.
The little boy narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at his mom. “Is she asleep?”
Clark breathed in a sigh of relief. He began to move toward the bedroom as he spoke, “Yes. She's asleep. I'm going to go tuck her into bed, okay?”
Jason nodded, “Okay.”
A few minutes later Clark emerged from the bedroom, having changed Lois out of her work clothes and into a nightgown as quickly and gently as he could and tucking her into the bed. He'd shed his tie, and changed into a white t-shirt and jeans as well. Running a hand through his dark hair, he sat on the couch next to Jason, where the little boy had waited patiently for him to return. This next conversation would be even more frightening than the one he'd just had with Lois.
“Um, Jason,” he started. “What did you hear me and Mommy say when we were outside?”
Jason blinked up at him with his big blue eyes. He sat, quiet for a moment, then asked, “Clark, are you my Daddy, too?”
Clark's gut tightened at the question. He'd slipped when he was talking to Lois, had said he never thought they would have a son. With that, and Perry having mentioned Jason's real father as well, how could Jason not have put it all together? Knowing he had to own up to it, no matter that he and Lois wanted to talk to Jason together, Clark took a deep breath and replied, “Yes.”
“Okay. My friend Billy has two dads, too.” Jason stopped, looking pensive for a moment, before continuing. “Is that why I'm really strong and can hear stuff really loud?”
Clark couldn't help his surprise; Jason seemed absolutely unfazed by this new revelation. “Yes. You'll probably be able to do a lot of the things I can do, maybe not all of them, but most.”
The little boy looked thoughtful again, then asked, “Was that why Daddy was so mad at Mom?”
Clark sighed, realizing he was suddenly on the wrong end of this conversation. “Yes,” he replied again.
“Was it because it was a secret?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Does Daddy know that you're Superman?” His look was serious, and Clark finally realized he'd been cornered into an interview. The thought made him chuckle to himself, gravity of the situation aside. Their son was a born reporter....
“No. He doesn't know that yet. But Mommy and I will probably talk to him about it. Okay?”
“Okay. Does that mean I can't tell him either?”
“Yes. Not until we tell you it's all right.” Clark added a pointed look to emphasize his point.
Nodding, Jason brushed an errant lock of hair back from his face. “Is it a secret from everybody else that you're my Daddy, too?”
“Well, that's sort of a complicated question, that I've got to talk to your mom about first, but for now, yes. You should just call me Clark until me and Mommy tell you it's okay to call me anything else.” He was beginning to wish Lois could give him a little back up; Jason's questions were as fierce as hers....
“Okay.” And with that, the little boy reached up and threw his arms around Clark, hugging him tightly, and the sudden gesture caught him off guard.
With a rapidly warming heart, Clark hugged his son back. “I love you, Jason. Your mom and I both love you very much. Don't ever forget that, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, too, Clark,” his son replied.
Despite the disaster of his talk with Lois, and all the rest of the insanity of their lives at the moment, he could hardly have asked for a more perfect ending to his day.
* * * * *
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairings: Lois/Richard, Clark/Lois
Rating - This Chapter: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 8,532
Summary: In the days following the events of Superman Returns, both Clark and Lois are reeling from events that have changed their lives forever, and the city of Metropolis is in shambles. Things only get worse as Lois's relationship with Richard takes a nosedive, the US government wants to send a survey and potential mining mission to New Krypton, and vast amounts of kryptonite show up in the hands of criminals on the streets of Metropolis.
Chapter Summary: Clark makes a startling discovery about a thug on Luthor's first crew. After Perry has a talk with him about Lois, Clark takes her and Jason back to his apartment. Dinner and chaos ensues, and Jason makes his own discoveries.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction. Superman and the DC Comics universe are property of DC Comics and Warner Brothers. No money has been made or will be made from the production of this work. Darn it.
Author's Notes: This chapter only took me 2 months to really get done. But whatever. My beta on this one is awesome. Thanks for the encouragement, Anissa! :D I was so worried that I'd overcooked this one. :p
* * * * *
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Chapter 23
By mid-afternoon, neither Lois nor Clark had made much more progress in trying to make the connections between the names on Danny's list, Luthor, and Intergang while the whirlwind of the bullpen raged around them. Even the little tip Clark had gotten from Sawyer hadn't been nearly enough to declare the investigation a success, by any measure. The bulk of what they'd uncovered up to this point included a handful of under-the-table transactions between Fedorov and Luthor, and a three-year-old charge of tax evasion against Fedorov for his involvement in one such dealing. From what the pair of reporters could tell, the Russian's ties to Intergang rested on the few international contracts Clark had discovered the previous afternoon, while Mindy Church's hands remained miraculously clean.
It didn't add up. Worse yet, Clark's search for employees that Church's contacts might have had in common had come up empty, despite-regrettably-bypassing their network security to get at their personnel files. From what he could tell, there simply were none. So what exactly did Sawyer's tip mean, then?
Rubbing the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses out of mild frustration, Clark decided to look deeper into Church's employees specifically, then set to work searching through Metropolis PD's arrest files with an-also regrettably-hijacked password. They couldn't officially use anything he found here, but at least he might find something useful, to get their investigation back on track.
So in he went. Searching the files for Church Multiworld Enterprises specifically, his results came back with nothing more serious than a DUI on one of her bodyguards. Damn. For the most part, they all looked squeaky clean. Digging a little further, he hoped against hope that something, anything, would pop up.
But at the far end of an hour, Clark still had nothing. Nada. Zero.
Heaving a sigh, he sat back in his chair and glared at his screen, listening peripherally to Lois, still going full-throttle across the center aisle as if nothing short of a national disaster could stop her. Truly a force of nature herself. But on Clark's part, he was beginning to feel the drag of the day, far too mentally exhausted to keep at this for another two hours. Maybe it was time to call it a day so he, Lois, and Jason could duck out early.
With that plan in mind, he sat forward again to run one last search through the system, looking for the names of several of Church's smaller businesses. He frowned as he waited to the results to come up. No chance he'd find anything now, but....
The screen finished loading, and right there, staring at him in all their full-colored glory were the file and mug shots of a man arrested for beating a woman to death in an alley in Suicide Slum. A man that had worked security for one of Church's nightclubs, and had spent only two and a half years of a twenty-five-year prison sentence behind bars for his transgression. Clark checked the date of his prison release, and-
Stopping abruptly, he drew his hands back from the keyboard and sat up straight in his chair. The man's release date coincided with Luthor's release date exactly. They'd been represented by the same law firm and had even spent their terms in the same prison block. Clark wasn't sure how, but this man, Randall “Brutus” Staneck, was a solid connection between Luthor and Intergang.
His heart thundering with sudden excitement at the find, he turned to rise and cross the bullpen to show Lois what he'd found, but he was stopped as Perry swooped in out of nowhere. “Kent, I need to see you in my office,” the editor said, uncharacteristically quiet. “Now.” He stabbed Clark's desk with a finger to make his point, then moved away before he could reply.
With a glance at Lois, whose eyes were narrowed in concentration at her own computer screen as she typed furiously, Clark rose and followed the Chief into his office, shutting the door behind him. Perry was already seated behind the enormous desk, and motioned for him to have a seat.
“Um, yes, Chief?” he asked as he sat.
“Kent, I need you to do a quick write-up for me. I just got this-” he passed a folder across the desk to the reporter, “-from Garvin. Looks to me like it ties in well with everything you and Lois have been working on. Garvin's swamped, so I want you on it instead.”
Clark flipped quickly through the file, noting that these were the police files on the kryptonite they had seized over the past two nights from suspects in a variety of criminal incidents. The files also included the specifics from each of the incidents, information that hadn't been made public yet, and he hadn't thought to check up on when he was in the system. “Wow, um, Chief, this should help us out a lot. Thanks.”
“Hmph. Just get me an article laying out the details. You two got anything else for me yet?” Perry eyed him with a calculating look, and Clark remembered that that look meant the editor was in a firing mood. Exactly what he didn't need this afternoon.
“Um, well, we're finally starting to make some headway connecting Luthor to Intergang. I think we might even have something solid for tomorrow afternoon's edition.”
“Good. Now-” Perry folded his hands together in front of him, leaned forward against his desk, and lowered his voice, “What the hell is wrong with Lois today?”
“Oh, um....” he started, realizing with a start that he'd completely forgotten to let the editor know about that call this morning-
“I take it this has something to do with the unexpected police detail in the lobby?”
-or that Sawyer was sending a unit out. Crap. “Uh... yeah,” he nodded slowly. “I'm sorry, Chief. We got so busy that I completely forgot to tell you.” The rising of heat on his face made him all the more uncomfortable under Perry's scrutiny. “Lois got a call from Katherine Kowalski this morning.”
Perry's eyes widened in surprise. “That woman tied up with Luthor?”
“Um, yes. She tried to warn Lois that Luthor was planning something against her, but something happened and the line went dead. I let Metro PD know, and I guess they sent the protective detail. I'm sorry,” he shook his head, feeling the weight of the day all over again. “We should have told you, Chief.”
“Goddammit, Kent! You should have said something immediately after Lois got that call!” the editor yelled, rising from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at him. “Instead, all I got was a note from Terrence, down in the lobby, that the cops were here, with no explanation beyond an unspecified threat against the Planet! Now you'd better tell me they've got a detail ready to escort her home, too,” he finished with a threatening glare, leaning on his desk.
Clark's pulse double-timed it at that, and he briefly clenched his jaw. How could he explain that having a detail on Lois and Jason was tantamount to giving Luthor a bead on their every move? “It was decided that she and Jason would be safer if they lay low for a while and even the police don't know where they're staying. I'm going to do everything I can to keep them off Luthor's radar.” Was that a hint of Superman in his voice? For his identity's sake, he hoped not, but at this point, he knew it probably couldn't be avoided.
“Oh, really?” Perry countered, crossing his arms.
Clark swallowed, forcing himself calm. “They'll be staying with me for a few days,” he explained. “And actually, I was hoping you wouldn't mind if we left a bit early today, so I can take them to get their things together.” Finishing with an adjustment to his glasses, he smiled weakly.
With a long, frustrated sigh, Perry uncrossed his arms, finally sitting back down. He gave Clark a decidedly stern look, leveling a finger at him again. “You'd better not let Luthor get within a hair's breath of those two, Kent. I mean it. If I find out you've run off to God-knows-where and left them to look after themselves, and something happens to them, you're out of a job. Period. You got it?”
Nodding, Clark swallowed again, hard, his eyes wide. Beneath the surface, though, he knew that if anything were to happen to Lois and their son, losing his job would be the last thing he'd worry about. No, he wasn't going to let anything happen to them, ever again.
* * * * *
Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, Lois nearly jumped from her chair.
“Lois? Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to....” Clark looked down at her apologetically and pushed his glasses up with an index finger.
“Dammit, Clark,” she hissed, “Don't ever do that. Ever.” She'd been on edge all day, trying not to look too closely at Clark, trying not to think about all the implications of her suspicions about him, trying not to tremble in fear that somehow Luthor might get to her and Jason. Her stomach had been pulled into tiny knots that refused to budge, instead threatening to strangle her insides if she didn't get everything straightened out, and soon.
Clark simply stood there, his expression begging her not to kill him for his mistake, and Lois let out a slow breath, trying to calm herself. He was the last person she needed to alienate right now.
“Sorry, Clark. It's just.... Sorry,” she said, looking way up at him.
He offered her a soft, lopsided smile. “Oh, um, it's okay. I know today's been kind of weird for you,” he replied calmly, quietly.
“You don't know the half of it,” she muttered under her breath, looking away from him.
“Sorry?”
Lois shook her head, “Nothing.”
“Oh, well, anyway, I found something that might give us a link between Luthor and Intergang.” He passed her the printout of Randall Staneck's criminal record. “This guy was an employee of Mindy Church's. Low level, but still. He went to prison for murder, served two and a half years, and was released the same day as-”
“Clark,” she cut him off, holding the papers in her hands and standing quickly. A chill worked its way down her spine as she stared at Staneck's photos: two traditional mug shots and a shot of the ugly tattoo covering the back of his head.
“What's wrong?” he asked firmly.
“He was, um, he was on Luthor's yacht,” she stammered. Her hands started to shake again and her breathing quickened. “He was there. He tried to kill me. He-” Breaking off, she turned to glance at Jason, who was busily coloring.
“Lois?” Clark asked, concerned. But he understood immediately. This was the man that Jason had killed. He hadn't been on New Krypton because he was already dead.... “Lois,” he prodded her, gently pulling the printouts from her quivering hands. Dropping it on her desk, he clasped her hands in his to try to get her attention. “Lois, look at me.”
She turned back to him, her eyes wide with fear. It was clear to Clark that she'd reached her breaking point for the day.
“He's gone, and he can't hurt you, Lois,” he assured her, still holding her hands. “I won't let anyone hurt you.”
Lois looked up into his eyes, her thoughts repeating the same pattern that they'd worked at all day, but this time with a new addition. He won't let anything happen to us. If Clark was Kal-El, Lois knew he wouldn't let anything happen to them. The sudden urge to cry and melt into Clark's chest overcame her, but at that, “Mad Dog Lane” resisted. No. Not here. Not like this. Not in front of Jason, Perry, and the entire damn staff. Keep it together, girl.
“I really need to get out of here,” she barely whispered as she pulled her hands free of Clark's.
“Okay,” he nodded, running a hand through his hair. “We should go and pack some things for you and Jason. Then I can make you guys some dinner, and we can get some more work done, without all the distractions here.”
“Right,” she nodded weakly in reply, “Um, yeah. That sounds good.” Quickly, she set to gathering her files and stuffing Jason's papers, crayons, books, and random toys back into his backpack. “Jason, come on, sweetie, it's time for us to go.”
“Okay, Mom,” the little boy said as he finished packing up his crayons and papers, still quietly taking in the interactions between Clark and his mom.
In a few moments the trio were headed out of the bullpen, Jason once again cradled in Clark's grasp, with his little arms thrown around his neck. But just as they reached the doors, a news bulletin hit every TV station in Metropolis. Lois and Clark stopped dead in their tracks as the newscasters read a statement issued by the Metropolis Chief of Police.
“...issued this statement just moments ago. 'Although it is clear that the crime wave that has hit the city of Metropolis is far from over, I want to assure the public that it is nothing the Metropolis Police Department can't handle. The involvement of the mineral kryptonite, also known as 'K', as a weapon directed against Superman, is a sad commentary on the motives of the suspects in these incidents. That said, I want to caution Superman to leave this situation to the Metropolis PD. We are more than equipped to deal with this, and there is no reason for him to put himself at risk at this time. Thank you.' Again, that statement was issued by....”
Lois watched Clark throughout the newscaster's speech, noticing how his eyes narrowed at the mention of Superman. At the end of the statement, she saw his shoulders relax and his expression soften, as if he were... sad? Relieved? Oh, God, what if it really is true? Clutching the strap of her purse tightly, she stood there until he turned to her.
His eyes met hers briefly, and he looked away quickly when he realized she'd been watching him. “Um,” he said, “we should get going.” Pushing through the doors, Clark strode almost elegantly to the elevators, despite the thirty-five pound child in his arms.
Lois followed, unable to comprehend why she had never seen him walk that way before.
* * * * *
The journey from the Daily Planet to Lois's house and then back to Clark's apartment passed in an awkward blur. She barely spoke to him or looked at him in the car, and while she hurriedly packed her and Jason's things, Clark only hovered in the background, trying to stay out of her way. He watched her stuff clothes into suitcases and unceremoniously dump toiletries and medicines into smaller travel bags, as if fear had completely undone her composure.
During the ride from her house back into the city Lois began acting even more strangely. Clark caught her giving him brief sideways glances, and each time he did, he gave her a small, soft smile in return. She looked away quickly each time, almost guiltily, and by the time the trio exited the elevator in Clark's building and reached the front door of his apartment, he was convinced something was up. She had to have figured everything out, and if she had, then she was waiting for him to spill it. He had promised to tell her, after all. The look on her face every time he noticed her watching him was proof enough. Her expression read, What the hell? in very large, unmistakable letters.
At that, Clark began to feel his own anxiety mounting. Tonight was the night. It was all going to come out tonight, exhaustion and investigations be damned.
Now, standing in the hallway, his hand almost began to tremble as he unlocked the door to his-Lois's-his apartment, and he wondered if this was really such a good idea after all. Once he told her everything, there would be no going back. It would all be out there, for better or for worse, and he would have to live with the consequences. But what would those consequences be? A hundred possible scenarios flashed through his mind in an instant, everything from Lois accepting the truth and loving him for it, which he had to admit held only the slimmest probability, to Lois hating him and never forgiving him for the lies he had told her for so long. And what if she became so angry she decided to leave? As much as he needed them here so he could protect them from whatever Luthor had planned, if Lois decided to take Jason and go home, well... he couldn't he stop her. If she chose to go, then she would go, and that would be the end of it.
His stomach began to cartwheel. No going back.
With a turn of the knob, he opened the door and waved them inside.
Walking in first, Lois shed her coat and hung it up next to the door, then stepped in further and looked around, scrutinizing the place. When she'd been here the previous week to let Clark move in, it had been nearly bare, with only what little furniture she'd left behind occupying space in the small apartment. The walls had been bare and the air had been settled into a quiet dormancy. Over a week later, very little had changed. The still-bare walls and the lack of any form of clutter told her Clark hadn't spent much time here at all. But at least he'd brought in a TV and a stereo, and had partially filled the built-in bookshelves with a wide variety of books, including a whole shelf of old classics, a few paperbacks, and a smattering of textbooks, ranging the gamut from the hard sciences, to social anthropology, to women's studies. Talk about a liberal arts education....
But Lois wondered whether Clark spent his evenings reading, or doing something else, something more... heroic....
Catching her examining his makeshift library after he shrugged off his coat and suit jacket and hung them on the hook, Clark slid up beside her while Jason wandered around, inspecting the new space with a contemplative air. When he realized she hadn't registered his presence yet, Clark watched her fingers move over the bindings of a dozen different texts. Her expression seemed to change from interested to confused as she passed by some old favorites of his from college and his world travels, and he noticed the wrinkle above her nose as she tried to work out what he could possibly be doing with books that were so obviously left of center. Feeling his anxiety abate just a bit, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at her expense.
Lois jumped, then whipped her head around to glare at him once more. “God, Clark! Stop that!” she scolded him.
He smiled softly in return, murmuring, “Sorry.”
“And stop apologizing,” she added. Taking a quick breath, she turned back to the bookshelf. “You have really strange taste in books, you know that?”
“Well... yes,” he admitted sheepishly. “I traveled a lot before college and between semesters, and picked up some interesting stuff along the way.”
“Really?” she asked slowly, looking at him sideways with a raised eyebrow.
Clark nodded, shoving his hands down into his pockets, “Mm-hmm.”
“Bet you got a lot of these over the last few years, then.”
Her question struck him with the force of a meteor, and his mouth fell open, his chest tightening unexpectedly. “Um... I guess,” he said quietly, suddenly unable to avert his eyes, even as he couldn't bear the lie.
In that quiet moment their eyes met, Lois feeling the color rise in her cheeks as a rush of adrenaline spread out from her solar plexus. Had she... had she just caught him at something? She... didn't know exactly what it was, but... he wasn't being honest. He.... Oh, God, were you even here!? she thought wildly, her pulse racing. This wasn't happening. No way this was happening. Say something, damn you!
Completely unnerved, she tore her gaze from his and moved away, leaving him standing by the bookshelves looking as off-kilter as she felt, and she scooped Jason up as she crossed his path.
“All right, Munchkin. Enough exploring. I believe someone still has some math to work on?” she prodded him as she set him down on the couch, forcing her momentary shock down, for Jason's sake, at least.
A groan escaped him as she began to rummage through his backpack for the appropriate folder. “Can't I just read some more?” he protested.
“Nope. I promised Miss Kinney you'd do your work at the same pace as everyone else. I bet you can get this done before dinner.”
“Okaaaaaaay....” Jason sighed, drawing up his legs and sitting Indian style on the couch. He looked up at his mom as she handed him his homework and a pencil. “Mom?” he asked.
“Yes, sweetie?” she replied, joining him on the couch and brushing his hair back from his face.
“Is this where you used to live?”
“Yep. We used to live here, when you were a baby,” she explained, drawing him into a hug with one arm.
Jason looked up at her with his big blue eyes, and Lois thought for a moment she might drown in her son's beautiful eyes, so much like his father's.... And again her thoughts returned to Clark, the pit of her stomach tightening at the notion. Were those Clark's eyes? With a suddenly bittersweet taste in her mouth, she glanced around quickly to find that he had disappeared, moving their suitcases into the bedroom.
“Why did we move, Mommy?” Jason asked, still staring up at his mother.
Her attention drawn back, she let out laugh in response, “Oh, honey, we needed room to grow! Besides, where would Daddy have put his plane, huh?”
The little boy giggled at that, then his brow furrowed with question. “Are we gonna stay here for a long time?”
At that, her jaw fell open, her heartbeat loud in her hears, thundering with another unexpected surge of adrenaline-hope?-which the more rational part of her promptly beat down. “We're only staying for a few days at the most,” she explained, more to herself than to her son, “until the police find the bald man and put him back in prison.”
Jason gave her a slightly wounded look, which she couldn't help a slight commiseration with, and sighed. “Where are we gonna sleep?”
“Well....” Lois realized that she'd been so preoccupied with determining whether Clark was Kal-El that she hadn't bothered to work out the sleeping arrangements with him. Somehow, domestic details seemed so less important than the big questions right now. Glancing up as Clark came back into the living room, she raised an eyebrow at him pointedly.
“Oh, uh, you and Jason can have the bedroom, and I'll just sleep on the couch,” he suggested, adjusting his glasses with an index finger.
She wondered if the gesture she'd seen him perform a hundred times a day was really necessary. “Um, sure,” she replied after a moment, shaking off the thought.
Clark smiled lopsidedly at her then, and the expression caught Lois off guard. It was a smile she'd seen a thousand times on him, maybe even more.... Maybe a lot more.... Rising quickly from the couch and leaving Jason to his math homework, she moved to unpack her laptop. “We should really get some work done. Have you had a chance to get internet service set up yet?” she said coolly, her words speeding past in a quivering torrent.
Clark's smile fell away as he realized she was trying her best to either keep her distance from him or keep herself from tearing him a new one. “Oh, um, well....” he tried to answer her through a stammer that he simply couldn't stop. Drawing in a deep breath, he tried again, “I haven't had time to get high-speed internet yet, so, um....” He was screwing this up, and he knew it. She was gonna have his spleen for breakfast, at this rate. Focus, Clark!
“You mean all I have to work with is dial-up? Great. Just great,” she groused, propping her laptop up on the coffee table and opening it, not even chancing a look at him and trying to not curse in front of her son.
When Clark's apologetic smile was resolutely ignored, he sighed softly. “Sorry, Lois.” Turning to Jason, who was still sitting on the couch, taking in the conversation with a critical expression, he suggested, “Hey, Jason, when you get finished with that you can help me make dinner. We can give your Mom some time to work.”
“Great!” the little boy smiled. “What are we gonna have to eat?”
Lois sat up straight and glanced at Clark quickly, not daring to look up at his face. “Yeah, what do you have to eat around here, anyway?” As if on cue, her stomach growled in agreement, easing the worst of the tension in the apartment.
Clark smiled more brightly. “How does spaghetti sound?”
* * * * *
Clark had to force himself to clean up from dinner at a normal pace. Though he wanted to rush through and be done with it, he didn't want to make the evening any more awkward than it had already been. After Jason had finished his homework, Clark had been ecstatic to have his son as his assistant in the kitchen. He showed the little boy the proper way to chop vegetables without getting his tiny fingers in the way of the knife-potential partial invulnerability or no-and let him stir the spaghetti sauce. It hadn't been the most imaginative meal, but Clark hadn't had the opportunity to do any proper grocery shopping before insisting that Lois and Jason come to stay with him, and he certainly wasn't about to call for takeout or fly off to bring back something more interesting. No, they deserved a proper effort from him and a normal meal, at the very least.
While they ate, Clark had tried to keep the talk of their investigation to a minimum, not wanting to scare Jason any more than they already had. The intense look on Jason's face throughout dinner almost began to make Clark feel uncomfortable, as if Jason knew darn well what was going on and he wished they would just stop tiptoeing around it all. Clark knew the look and the feelings that came with it well, as he'd given his own parents that same look hundreds of times as a child, wanting them to just tell him why he was different and just what was happening. Undoubtedly, Jason was as observant and as curious as both of his parents, and with any luck, Clark and Lois would be able to talk to him openly and honestly soon, so he wouldn't have to be confused or frustrated anymore.
Lois had also given him odd, intense looks throughout dinner, looking away whenever she came close to meeting his eyes. Though she did her best to keep the conversation light, it was clear to Clark that she had far more important things on her mind. Every once in a while he caught her staring at his tie, as though she were wondering why he hadn't taken it off and loosened the collar of his shirt, like any normal man might have done. He would have changed as soon as they got in, but he knew if she didn't see him in the suit-both suits-she still might not believe it fully. Of course, that didn't stop him from thinking, She knows, every minute or so, and he tried not to tip his hand that he knew she probably knew. A few times he wondered if she had any idea that he knew she was on to him, but that line of thought only started to give him a slight headache, adding to the exhaustion of the day. It didn't matter. In a little while it would all be out there.
Now, standing in front of the sink washing dishes, while Lois had returned to work on her laptop, he again resisted the urge to speed things along a little. Anxiety began to eat at his stomach again, or was that the spaghetti sauce? He didn't know. It didn't matter. All he knew for sure was that the moment of truth was coming. His mother's words drifted through his mind as he considered exactly what to say to Lois. She can handle whatever you decide to tell her. And that had better be everything! His Ma was right. No matter what he said or how he said it, Lois could handle it. She might be-no, she would be-angry, but she could handle it.
Finally, Clark dried the last dish and put it away, but instead of moving back into the living room, he stood for a moment more at the sink, leaning against the counter top and absently watching the last of the water drain away. He didn't know whether he was trying to gather his courage or was simply stalling, trying to put off the inevitable, but he knew that what he was about to do would be the hardest thing he'd ever done or would ever do. He could stop bullets, trains, and buses, lift up jumbo jets and islands, blow out fires with a single breath, and even burn a hole through a hundred feet of rock if he had to, but this-this-made him feel weak, unsure of himself, and utterly terrified. Kryptonite could make him sick, make him feel pain that no person should have to endure, but Lois, a woman little more than half his size, could bring him to his knees with a single look.
With a steadying breath, he stepped away from the counter and walked out into the living room. Lois sat hunched before her laptop, papers spread all over the coffee table, her fingers flying deftly over the keyboard as she prepared a summary of their findings for Perry. Jason, sitting next to her, was utterly engrossed by an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants on TV. For a moment, Clark was thrown off. He didn't remember cartoons being so... weird before he left. Well, okay, he'd grown up with talking robots that turned into cars, tiny blue people that were constantly chased by a balding wizard who wanted to eat them, and a guy who could shoot spider webs from his wrists, but a talking yellow sponge? Now that was strange.
Smiling at the sudden feeling of comfort and nostalgia, Clark felt the acid in his stomach ease a bit. Okay, now or never....
He put his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to the couch. “Um, Lois?” he asked.
“Hmm?” She turned toward him, still not looking him in the eyes, or even at his face.
Clark choked down the sudden rush of adrenaline that threatened to send him running. “Um, can I talk to you for a minute? Privately? Um, out on the balcony, maybe?”
Lois narrowed her eyes at him, finally looking at least at his face, and he heard her heartbeat quickening. “Sure,” she said, almost breathlessly, before turning back to her laptop. “Just give me a minute. I want to finish this up.”
“Oh, um, sure, okay,” he stammered back, again unable to keep his voice steady. With a few steps, he moved out to the balcony, flipping on the bright patio lights and pulling the glass door shut behind him, and as he crossed the nearly empty space to the far ledge, the cool night air washed over him accusingly. Once, this balcony had been crowded with potted plants and flowers, an odd attempt by Lois to bring a little more life into the city, but now the planters were all empty and the little, white patio table and its chairs were rusted over. It was a place that had been neglected, left empty and cold. Clark imagined she must have ripped the plants away and closed the door on this balcony with all the spitting fire of rage that he'd left her with after his disappearance.
He remembered the first night he'd met her here, the awkward interview, their first flight.... By that time he'd already fallen madly in love with her....
Memories of other meetings flashed across his mind, times they'd shared tales of his adventures as well as hers, even though he'd already heard them and in many cases had been a part of them, times they'd shared meals brought from exotic places, that first kiss they'd shared....
And the memory of the first time they were together played like a recording in his mind. They'd been at Niagara Falls on a crazy assignment, and he'd wanted to tell her everything then, but then General Zod and his cronies had shown up, wreaking havoc on the world. He hadn't had a chance to tell her anything, and after it was all over, he'd come to her, let her dress his wounds and soothe his battered pride....
Though he never regained the courage to tell her the truth, he'd been so in love with her, and she'd been in love with him. They were together, in a way, for only a few short months, before it was reported that Krypton had been found. Weighing his options, he'd known that he and Lois could never truly be together as long as she didn't know who he really was. He'd loved her more than anything, more than anything or anyone in the world, and he'd known that if he continued with his juvenile charade that it would be unfair to her. So he'd decided to go. He'd left her without even saying goodbye.
The last time he'd stood here with Lois, he'd kissed her, told her he'd see her in a few days, and flown off. It had been the worst mistake of his life.
Leaning against the ledge, he took a deep breath of the cold night air and slipped his glasses off. He wouldn't be needing them.
The door opened and closed behind him as he stared out over the city.
“Clark?” Lois asked, her tone laden with unspoken challenges. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”
He didn't turn around, instead taking another deep breath while the pounding of his heart echoed in his ears. Here we go.... “Lois, you asked me something two days ago that I haven't answered.”
“I did?” she asked, stepping closer to the ledge. When she saw that Clark was clutching his glasses in his left hand, her stomach twisted again. Oh, God.... She'd never actually seen Clark take off his glasses before.
“Yes.... Lois, I-” he broke off, not sure how to continue.
Impatience swept over her. If this was what she'd been waiting for, he was taking his damn time.... “Just say it, Clark,” she demanded, her voice starting to tremble.
He sighed heavily, clenching his fists unwittingly until the crack of glass and plastic filled the seeming chasm between them, wrenching his confession from him. “Two nights ago you asked me who I really am. I owe you the truth. All of it.” Turning to face her, he stood his full height.
And she saw that his eyes were shining with unshed tears. His brilliant, cobalt eyes....
At that, she took a step back, her mind reeling with confirmed suspicions. Say it, already!
“Lois....” But he didn't know what to say. After another tense silence, he placed the crushed remains of his glasses on the ledge, brushed his hair back from his face, loosened his tie, and slowly undid the top two buttons of his shirt. He pulled the shirt open, exposing the blue of his costume and the top of the red and yellow shield beneath. “I never knew how to tell you,” he murmured slowly.
Lois only stared in shock, her mouth falling open in a horrified gape. “Kal-El?” she finally choked out, her chin quivering.
“Lois, Clark is who I really am. Kal-El is the name my birth parents gave me,” he said, touching the emblem on his chest. “Lois?” he prodded her.
Her mind was spinning too fast for all his words to register. She'd looked into Clark's eyes and seen Kal-El staring back at her. Clark had Kal-El's voice and curled lock of hair over his forehead. Clark opened his shirt and was wearing Kal-El's suit beneath it. Clark was... Clark was Kal-El. Kal-El was Clark. Oh, God... it's really true.... I wasn't being crazy. I was right....
Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she fought the twisting of her insides and the wringing ache in her chest, wishing she could make it all untrue and make the delusion disappear. It was another insane nightmare, it had to be, but she couldn't seem to shake herself awake. It just couldn't be possible.... Clark, Clark Kent, her partner, her friend, the kid from Kansas! The farm boy! Clark was Kal-El!
She felt his warmth move closer to her and his hands come to rest on her arms.
“Lois, I'm sorry,” he offered, knowing he couldn't soothe her now no matter how badly he wanted to. “Say something... please....”
His words echoed in her mind, Will you come with me? Please? And that was it. Clark had lied to her. Kal-El had lied to her. He'd lied to her! He'd been one person here with her at night, and another person at work during the day. He had deceived her since the very first day he walked into the Daily Planet. He'd been by her side every damned day, minus the years he'd been gone, and let her worry and fret and gush over his other self without ever saying a word. With her fury building to a crescendo, her eyes snapped open, and she pulled back from his grasp roughly.
Clark saw the rage burning behind her eyes. This was not the protective tiger. This was a wronged woman, and she was infinitely more terrifying.
Clenching her jaw, she set her stance.
And he had no warning. He should have seen it coming, but was so focused on the flashing of her eyes that he didn't even see her hand until just before it met his face. With a split-second decision, he let the slap deliver its full force to his cheek and drive his head to the right.
Lois had hit him.
In the heated silence that followed, Clark felt ashamed that it didn't hurt. He wished it would hurt....
“How could you!?” she began finally, the words echoing off of the bare concrete with all the violent weight of her outrage. “You let me believe you were two different people. You let me fawn over you as Superman and then treat you like crap as Clark! You let me fall in love with you and you never said a word when I overlooked you at the Planet. Why? Why, Clark? Why couldn't you have just told me? Trusted me!? After everything we've been through together! And you....” She ran her hands through her hair, eying him wildly. “Christ, I went through hell when you left, when both of you left. Don't you know how stupid this makes me look? God, I feel so stupid!” Throwing her arms up in frustration, she spun away from him to stalk to the other side of the balcony, where she sagged against the ledge.
Clark wanted to melt into the concrete and disappear. She'd be well within her right to hate him for the rest of eternity for what he'd done. “I'm sorry, Lois,” he started, voice shaking slightly. “For what it's worth, I just wanted to protect you. I never thought we could really be together. I never thought we'd have a son. I just-”
Lois whipped back around, tears in her own eyes now, and cut him off, “Protect me? From what? Myself? Lex Luthor? Well, congratulations, you failed. You should have told me. Everything. But you didn't. Instead you ran off on a wild goose chase looking for a home that doesn't exist anymore!”
“Don't you think that kills me every day?” he choked. “It kills me to think about what you had to go through, what Jason had to go through....”
Rolling her eyes, she looking away from him and put her hands on her hips, settling into the angry Lois that Clark knew from the newsroom. She shook her head slowly, then stood there for a moment, glaring at him. “You know,” she said after a long while, her voice deadly calm and quiet, “I had it all figured out. I just... I needed proof.”
“I know,” he replied.
“So... you knew that I knew, and you still didn't say anything....”
He shook his head, averting his gaze beneath her scrutiny, “I'm sorry. I wanted to do it right, at the right time, in the right place. I suppose I missed the mark pretty badly.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah. The right time was six years ago. Before....” And her focus was drawn unwittingly back toward the apartment, the full weight of the revelation hitting her. “Dammit. Jason....” He could probably hear every word they said... and... Clark really was his father.
Turning back again, wide-eyed, she felt her heart climb in her throat. “Clark....” she began, but suddenly the world began to tilt. Everything narrowed around her and faded to darkness as Lois felt the concrete floor rise up to meet her.
* * * * *
Inside the apartment, Jason listened to his mom yelling at Clark. She was really angry. She'd never yelled at Daddy like that, and she'd never yelled at him like that, either. Maybe it was because Clark not telling her that he was Superman, too, was a bad secret. That made sense; Jason had felt bad about his mom not knowing something so important. But he hoped his Mommy would stop yelling and cursing soon. It started to scare him, knowing his mom had never been this angry, at anyone.
With Sponge Bob forgotten and left singing gleefully in the background, Jason slid off the couch and went to the door to the balcony. He saw Clark standing in front of Mommy with his glasses off and his shirt open, so she could see the stretchy suit. His mom was saying bad things to Clark, mean things, and he wondered just how much trouble Clark was in. Probably lots.
Then Clark said something weird. He didn't think they would have a son.... What did that mean? Did Mommy and Clark have another kid? Jason already had a Daddy, so Clark couldn't be his Daddy, too.... But Uncle Perry said something about Jason's real father. Confusion began to scare him even more. He had friends who had two dads, so why couldn't he have two dads? He was going to be like Clark, wasn't he? Was Clark really his Daddy, too? Was that why him and Mommy wouldn't tell him what was going on? But, how could Clark be his Daddy if his mom didn't even know who he was?
Frightened by what was happening, the little boy stepped away from the door. He didn't want them to see him standing there. His Mommy had told him it wasn't polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, even if he could hear them without trying. Moving back through the living room, he tried to not hear what his Mommy was saying. But he didn't want to watch cartoons anymore. Sponge Bob was okay, but something more important was going on, and his mom had always told him to pay attention to the things that were more important. Clark had told his mom that he was Superman. And Clark might be his Daddy, too. That was pretty important.
Turning off the TV, he stopped after pressing the button, when something else caught his attention. He didn't know what it was, but something made him want to open the drawer underneath the TV. Something was in there, something important, and Jason suddenly wanted to know what it was more than anything. He listened to find out if Mommy and Clark were still fighting, but didn't hear anything. Maybe Mommy wasn't mad anymore....
Jason opened the drawer slowly and peered into it. Sitting on top of some DVDs was a rock. A long, dark gray rock. He remembered Miss Kinney said rocks that looked like this were called crystals. He wrapped his hand around it and picked it up. It tingled his skin, and he wondered what it was. It felt weird, not like any rock or crystal he'd ever touched. Maybe it was from Krypton.... No, Clark said Krypton was destroyed a long time ago. Maybe it was from that awful place called New Krypton. That place was all rocks, like this one, and it was the same color. But the news people all said that kryptonite came from New Krypton.... If this rock was from New Krypton, then.... But it didn't look like kryptonite, and he didn't feel wheezy. Besides, Clark said kryptonite could hurt him, that it was dangerous, so he knew Clark wouldn't have kryptonite in his apartment!
More confused than ever, and even more scared, Jason put the rock back in the drawer and shut it quickly. He went to his backpack, thinking he should just color for a while until Mommy and Clark came back inside. As he began rummaging around for his crayons and some paper, the door to the balcony opened.
* * * * *
“Lois?” It was too late, as her eyes rolled back in her head, and she slumped to the floor, limp. Clark barely reacted in time, keeping her head from hitting the concrete. “Lois?” he tried to wake her, smoothing her hair back from her face with his free hand. “Lois!” he said, more forcefully. “Wake up!”
Her eyes fluttered for a moment, then stilled. Her breathing had slowed, her heartbeat had slowed. Clark sighed. Medically, she was fine... but she was out cold.
Drawing her up into his arms, he lifted her from the cold floor and cradled her head gently to his chest. He hadn't expected her to pass out, but there was nothing to be done for it now as he took her back inside, closing the door behind him with his foot.
Jason looked up at once from where he seemed to be rummaging through his backpack. “Mommy? What's wrong with Mommy?” His eyes blinked with sudden confusion and fear as he pushed his hair back from his face.
For an instant, Clark panicked. Of course Jason had heard every word they'd said.... “She's okay,” he assured him quickly. “Your mom was just... really angry with me, and, well, she passed out,” he explained, not even knowing whether Jason understood what that meant.
The little boy narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at his mom. “Is she asleep?”
Clark breathed in a sigh of relief. He began to move toward the bedroom as he spoke, “Yes. She's asleep. I'm going to go tuck her into bed, okay?”
Jason nodded, “Okay.”
A few minutes later Clark emerged from the bedroom, having changed Lois out of her work clothes and into a nightgown as quickly and gently as he could and tucking her into the bed. He'd shed his tie, and changed into a white t-shirt and jeans as well. Running a hand through his dark hair, he sat on the couch next to Jason, where the little boy had waited patiently for him to return. This next conversation would be even more frightening than the one he'd just had with Lois.
“Um, Jason,” he started. “What did you hear me and Mommy say when we were outside?”
Jason blinked up at him with his big blue eyes. He sat, quiet for a moment, then asked, “Clark, are you my Daddy, too?”
Clark's gut tightened at the question. He'd slipped when he was talking to Lois, had said he never thought they would have a son. With that, and Perry having mentioned Jason's real father as well, how could Jason not have put it all together? Knowing he had to own up to it, no matter that he and Lois wanted to talk to Jason together, Clark took a deep breath and replied, “Yes.”
“Okay. My friend Billy has two dads, too.” Jason stopped, looking pensive for a moment, before continuing. “Is that why I'm really strong and can hear stuff really loud?”
Clark couldn't help his surprise; Jason seemed absolutely unfazed by this new revelation. “Yes. You'll probably be able to do a lot of the things I can do, maybe not all of them, but most.”
The little boy looked thoughtful again, then asked, “Was that why Daddy was so mad at Mom?”
Clark sighed, realizing he was suddenly on the wrong end of this conversation. “Yes,” he replied again.
“Was it because it was a secret?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Does Daddy know that you're Superman?” His look was serious, and Clark finally realized he'd been cornered into an interview. The thought made him chuckle to himself, gravity of the situation aside. Their son was a born reporter....
“No. He doesn't know that yet. But Mommy and I will probably talk to him about it. Okay?”
“Okay. Does that mean I can't tell him either?”
“Yes. Not until we tell you it's all right.” Clark added a pointed look to emphasize his point.
Nodding, Jason brushed an errant lock of hair back from his face. “Is it a secret from everybody else that you're my Daddy, too?”
“Well, that's sort of a complicated question, that I've got to talk to your mom about first, but for now, yes. You should just call me Clark until me and Mommy tell you it's okay to call me anything else.” He was beginning to wish Lois could give him a little back up; Jason's questions were as fierce as hers....
“Okay.” And with that, the little boy reached up and threw his arms around Clark, hugging him tightly, and the sudden gesture caught him off guard.
With a rapidly warming heart, Clark hugged his son back. “I love you, Jason. Your mom and I both love you very much. Don't ever forget that, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, too, Clark,” his son replied.
Despite the disaster of his talk with Lois, and all the rest of the insanity of their lives at the moment, he could hardly have asked for a more perfect ending to his day.
* * * * *