Fic: Superman: Aftermath | DCU/SR | Clark/Lois | PG-13 | 11/56
Title: Superman: Aftermath
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairings: Lois/Richard, Clark/Lois
Rating - This Chapter: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 3,321
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: An emergency at the Lane/White household demands Clark's attention. More discoveries are made.
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 is the shortest chapter you will ever see in this story. :p I just felt that this one should stand alone. Next chapter is - truly, really - the conclusion of the first arc. :D Oh, and apparently neither Clark nor Lois knows a damn thing about CPR. O_o *facepalm*
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Chapter 11
One unhappy hour later, Lois sat out on the patio mulling over her situation, cradling a mug of coffee. The morning had gone exactly as she had suspected it might, even if she hadn't wanted to admit it before, with Richard, true to nature, caving to Perry's demands and ending what chance they had for a family weekend. He'd always been a workhorse, though, at least as long as Lois had known him, so it was no surprise that he'd folded so easily. Work ethic, yet another quality that endeared her to him. Heh, she rolled her eyes bitterly. Between them, they'd logged an average of nearly one hundred thirty hours a week at the Planet over the past five years, and the monetary benefits kept them comfortable, allowing Jason to attend an exclusive private school in the north end of the city. Their lives were carefully choreographed to meet the demands of a sickly child and keep up with work, often forcing the pair to pass like ships in the night, one coming, one going. Lois had often wondered if that was healthy for their relationship, but always managed to rationalize that it was necessary, and as long as Jason was happy then everything would be okay.
The trade-off had to be worth it, right? House on the river with a private docking slip for Richard's very expensive sea plane, this year's model Audi, top label clothes for the entire family, the best medical care available for Jason... it was a huge package. So what if it meant they ate take-out more often than real home cooked meals? So what if it meant they only made it up to the lake once a year anymore?
Lois thought of the way things used to be, before she and Richard had decided to move out of the city. Everything was somehow... simpler. In truth, she missed city living, but that wasn't something she'd ever tell her fiancé. The package wasn't worth worrying over the details.
But that was the problem, wasn't it? Monetary success, appearances, and all that came with it... they'd become so much more important than actually functioning as a family. How many times had vacation plans been thwarted by some important press conference that just couldn't wait? It suddenly seemed so clear how much of their lives revolved around the paper, around making the deadline and collecting a paycheck.
God, were we ever even a couple!?
Lois didn't have an answer. Somehow it felt more like a business arrangement at times. No - a lot of the time. She thought of the photo she kept on her desk at work, one of the few times they'd actually been able to spend more than a day at the lake. Happy couple, shining family. But it wasn't true, was it? She wasn't sure it was ever true. Now... hindsight laid it all out in blatant Technicolor. They'd never been that family, had they? She'd managed to ignore it this long, but that didn't stop it from being true. The rare weekend trip or lazy Sunday didn't make it not true.
She wasn't happy.
Am I even supposed to be happy? she wondered sourly. Just look how well things turned out with Superman. Now there's a workaholic... She looked up at the cloud covered sky, suddenly lost in memories, despite herself. Why can't I just get you out of my head for five minutes?
Feeling a small hand on her arm, Lois glanced down to see her son, a look of concern on his face that she recognized as one she'd been all too familiar with...
“Mommy, is Daddy coming home soon? I wanna go to the park.”
“He'll probably be a while, kiddo. Why don't you get out your crayons and draw Daddy a picture for when he gets home?” she smiled at him faintly.
“Okay, Mommy,” Jason nodded, and padded back inside.
“I'll be in in a minute, sweetie,” she reassured her son before he disappeared into the house. Turning her attention back to the sky, she closed her eyes and let the cool autumn breeze wash over her. The feeling of air moving gently past her reminded her of what it felt like to fly; the city far below, no ground beneath her feet, his warmth beside her...
“Mommy, I don't feel so good.” Lois's eyes snapped open and she immediately switched into 'mommy' mode. Standing beside her again with wide eyes, Jason's face had gone ghostly.
“What is it, Jason?” She checked him over, scrutinizing his eyes, his ears, his arms, alarm kicking her into overdrive.
“Mommy, I can't-” he wheezed. Without warning, his eyes rolled up and he slumped to the ground, limp like a dishrag.
“Aaaaaaaiiiiiiieeeeee!!!” Lois shrieked, panic sending adrenaline to every cell in her body. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to do! He'd never passed out before. Pulling him into her arms, she shook him. Nothing. More panic. Call 911, call Richard, oh God, somebody do something! A single thought worked it's way into her consciousness. Is he breathing? Lois checked to see if he was breathing. Oh, God, he's not breathing!!!
Without hesitation she called out the first thing that came to her. “Superman!!! Help!!! Hhhheeeeeeeelllllpppp!!!” She screamed as loud as her lungs would allow her to. “Please, Superman! It's Jason! He's not breathing!!!”
* * * * *
Across the city, Clark lay in bed still, resolute to take the morning off. He'd finally crammed in a solid eight hours of sleep, keeping his TV quietly set to a news station, just in case. Awakening to a dreary day after the previous night's drizzle, he lazily pushed off his covers and sat up. His feet hit the floor and he stood, stretching out his knotted muscles. Sleep might have benefits, but it never failed to kink up every muscle in his body, especially when he was too tall for his bed. Have to remember to get a California king when I have a chance.
Yawning, he considered his itinerary for the rest of the morning. Shower, coffee, walk through Centennial Park, pop in at the Planet, all at a leisurely pace. No super speed. No flight. No tights and cape. No Superman. After last night's discovery at the Vanderworth estate - he shuddered at the thought of General Eiling having a hand in current happenings - he just wanted to spend a morning without worrying about Lex Luthor or New Krypton or, hell, even the mess he'd made with Lo-
The screams filled his ears, clear and sharp, and his head whipped around automatically to determine the direction of the source. Of all the things he could have heard at any given time, he had always heard her voice above all else. Lois. She was screaming for him. Something was wrong with Jason! Oh, God...
In a second he was dressed, another second and he was halfway there. Hold on, Lois! Another second. I'm coming!
* * * * *
Lois sobbed and screamed, her little boy hanging limp from her arms. “Help! Please, God, help!!!” Then she saw him, an angel falling from the sky, a streak of blue and red. She sobbed.
* * * * *
Clark landed, crushing the patio bricks under his feet. “Lois, I'm here.” He knelt beside her and their son.
“He's not breathing! He's not breathing!” she repeated as she sobbed. It was the only thing she could say through the panic, her eyes wild and stricken.
Clark took Jason from her and into his arms. The little boy was pale, almost turning blue. “Is it his asthma?” he tried to ask Lois.
No reply, only sobbing.
“Lois, is it his asthma!?” he demanded.
“Y-yes,” she choked, “he was wheezing and th-then...”
“It's okay, Lois, I've got him.” He looked up at the cloudy sky. “Everything will be okay,” he tried to console her, ignoring the frantic pounding in his own chest. “I'll bring him right back.”
Before he could hear her reply, Clark took to the sky with his son. Instinctively, he knew only sunlight could help. Pure, unclouded sunlight. He broke through the clouds in under a second, wisps of moisture trailing behind him as he ascended higher, Jason cradled tightly to his chest. Finding a perching altitude, Clark presented the boy's face to the full light of the morning sun. Come on, breathe! Breathe! “Jason!” he prodded him. “Jason, breathe!”
* * * * *
Deep inside the little boy's skin, cellular machinery went to work as sunlight poured down upon it. Many of these tiny organelles awoke for the first time, their protein components coming to life as they absorbed the photons from the sun. Millions of photons, all in the yellow portion of the visible light spectrum, traveled down an organic conveyor belt, passed urgently along. Some were diverted to the boy's nervous system, to be converted to electrochemical energy for immediate use, while others moved along their original path. At the end of this line, massive protein complexes began to churn, turbines pumping out energy laden molecules, which were immediately gathered up and sent out in membranous vesicles, to be directed wherever they were needed most. Many found themselves in the air sacs of the child's lungs, working instantly to decrease the inflammation that choked off the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange that needed so desperately to occur. As the inflammation began to subside, more energy molecules rushed in to continue the work, to start to heal the scarring that had for so long limited the required gas transfer. Capillaries, damaged beyond repair for so long, began to function again, and oxygen once again began to flow to the boy's brain and the rest of his small body.
In a miracle fueled by sunlight, his masked Kryptonian physiology finally began to express itself fully.
* * * * *
After what felt like eternity Jason's eyes popped open and he sucked in a lungful of air. He choked and coughed for a moment, all the while Clark stroking his hair and silently thanking whatever gods would listen. “Jason, easy, easy now. Shh. It's okay.”
The small boy breathed in deeply, his eyes wide as he realized who was talking to him.
“There you go,” Clark soothed. “Do you feel better now?” He felt his own heart come back to a normal pace. His son was okay, he was breathing...
“Uh-huh,” Jason nodded. “I couldn't breathe.”
“You had a bad asthma attack,” Clark explained. “Your Mom called me to help you.”
Jason was suddenly aware that he didn't see his Mom. “Where's Mommy?” he asked.
“She's down there,” Clark nodded toward the clouds.
Peering over Clark's arm, the boy looked down at the clouds. “Are we in the sky?” he asked, amazed.
“Yes.”
“It doesn't look like this from the plane.”
Clark laughed, relief and love filling him like sunlight never could. “No, it doesn't look like this from the plane.”
Jason glanced back up at Clark, his cheeks now pink and his face looking warmed in the sun's rays. “Can we go back to Mommy now?”
“Not just yet. I want to make sure you're okay first.” He knew his son needed more sunlight, and with the intense cloud cover, he wasn't likely to get any on the ground.
“Okay,” Jason nodded. Looking pensive for a moment, he studied Clark's face, then asked, “Superman, how come you didn't come back to see me? I wanna know more about Krypton.” All those million questions swirled fresh in his mind.
“Well,” Clark started, surprised by his son's question. “I'm sorry I haven't been back. I guess I've been waiting for your Mom to invite me.”
“Oh, okay. I'll make sure Mommy invites you, then,” the little boy smiled. He continued to gaze up at his hero, then, with a determined expression, asked, “Why does Mommy call you Clark when you wear different clothes?”
Clark nearly faltered in the sky but caught himself before he could slip. “Uh, well...” He wasn't sure what to say, surprised to the point of shock. Jason knew his secret. How long had he known? How did he find out? He shook his head slightly; none of that even mattered. Jason knew. Considering his options, he decided it was best to just tell his son the truth, since there was no point in lying to him. “Clark is my real name. Mommy thinks I'm a different person when I'm Superman. So does everyone else. It's a secret.”
“Oh!” At last, an answer! “How come?” he questioned.
Clark remembered asking his parents the same thing around that age. “Well, I have to keep it a secret for a lot of reasons. For starters, I can't be Superman all the time, because then I'd never get any sleep, or be able to stop to eat, since I'd be so busy. Being Clark gives me time for myself. But as Clark, I have to keep the people I know safe from people that might try to hurt me as Superman. If people knew that Clark was Superman, the bad guys might try to hurt your Mom or Dad, or Uncle Perry, or Uncle Jimmy, or even my Mom. I know that probably doesn't make much sense now, but I'll explain it all when we have more time. For now, can you help me keep my secret?”
“Uh-huh. I'm good at keeping secrets. I won't tell anybody,” the little boy smiled again with a bouncing head shake, thinking it must be hard to pretend all the time just to keep people safe from the bad guys. But he wanted to keep his Mommy and everybody safe, too, so he wouldn't tell anyone Clark's secret.
He even understood most of what Clark said, even if Clark didn't think so. Though it did bring up another hundred questions that he would have to ask later.
Clark smiled down at him. “Thanks, Jason. I promise that someday soon we can tell your Mommy about everything. Okay?”
Jason nodded. “Okay.” He paused, looking pensive once more as he thought about what happened with the suitcases. “I have a secret, too,” he whispered, as if someone could hear them. “I'm not supposed to tell Daddy that I'm strong like you are.”
Clark laughed out loud. His son was so special, so beautiful, so sweet, he thought his heart might burst with love and pride. Sheer radiating joy. “Okay, I won't tell him,” he agreed with a simple nod.
By then he could see that Jason's color had fully returned. The sun had given him his health back, and he glowed like a tiny angel. So beautiful... Clark didn't want this moment to end, this perfect moment with his son, but somewhere below them, Lois waited. “All right, it's time to go back to your Mom,” he said reluctantly.
Holding his son, his most precious cargo secure in his arms, Clark descended once again.
* * * * *
On the ground, Lois stared up at the clouds, trying to stop her sobs. Where are they? she cried to herself. It had been what, five, ten minutes? She didn't know. Superman had taken her son, their son, somewhere above the clouds. Jason wasn't breathing. Please let him be okay, please. I can't take this. Where are they?
A blue spot appeared in the sky, trailing red for a long moment. Oh, God! Superman came down from the sky slowly, and when he landed gently on the cracked patio bricks, Jason leapt down from his arms and ran to Lois. “Mommy!”
Lois let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, bending down to scoop up her son. “Jason! Oh, thank God, you're okay,” she breathed, not bothering to hold back the tears of relief. “My baby...”
Jason hugged his Mom as she kissed him on the top of the head. “I'm okay, Mommy. Superman took me up into the sky and made me better!”
“How?” Lois looked up at Superman, blinking tears out of her eyes.
“Sunlight,” Clark explained as he stepped closer to Lois. “He just needed sunlight. I think he'll be okay now.” He stroked Jason's hair lightly and spoke to his son, “Promise me you'll get lots of sun from now on, okay?”
“Mommy says I have to wear sunscreen.”
“That's all right,” Clark chuckled lightly. “Just not too much; you need to let the sunlight in.” He shifted his gaze to Jason's mother, who still clutched her son tightly. “Lois, we should talk.”
She nodded in reply, kissed Jason on the head again, and set him down. “Sweetie, why don't you go color that picture like we talked about?”
“Okay, Mom,” he called behind him as he ran back into the house. “Thanks, Superman!”
Clark waited for him to disappear behind the patio door. “He doesn't know, does he?” He knew the answer, of course, but for some reason... needed to hear it from her.
“No,” she replied, turning back to face him. “He doesn't know.” He was so close to her, she could feel his warmth reaching for her across the chilly October air... No, she wasn't allowed to think about that now. Why does everything have to be so damn convoluted?
“When will you tell him? He needs to know.”
Lois wanted nothing more than to tell her son the truth, all of it, but... the enormity of that truth still scared her. How would he really take it? “I-I don't know. Soon. I know it can't wait for much longer, the way things are changing all of a sudden. It's just - he's going to be so confused,” she shook her head slightly.
Clark put his hands on her shoulders. “It's okay. He'll get past it, I promise.”
“How do you know?” She stepped back from him. They were too close...
“Because I did.” But with that, he stopped. Did he really want to tell her this now? He knew he had to sooner or later, but right after such a terrible scare with Jason? No. Well, not everything, anyway. But some things had to be said; there was simply no alternative. Baby steps, Clark, he cautioned himself. “I didn't just fall from the sky in this outfit, Lois. I had to grow up, too.” Please don't let me say too much... “When I was about eight or so, my parents told me about how they found me as a baby. I wish they'd told me sooner, but I got over it. Jason will be fine. At least he'll have someone who understands what it's like and can teach him how to control his powers. That's something I never had.”
Lois stared up at him, straight into his eyes, a shocking thought occurring to her with his little attempt at reassurance. His parents... A tingle of curiosity worked up her spine and curled around her brain. So he grew up here after all! Probably had another name, too. More secrets. Things he'd never bothered to tell her before, even when they'd...
Fighting down the sudden, fiery urge to call him out on his monumental omission, she turned and looked back toward the house, hugging her arms around herself. Jason was all that mattered now. “Okay, I'll tell him. Soon, I promise. I just - everything is happening so fast.” She turned back to the man she knew only by his Kryptonian name, and pulled Jason's toy car from her pocket. “Here. He did this yesterday, I think.”
Clark held out his hand and she placed the toy in his palm, and scrutinized it in every detail. Die cast metal, not exactly malleable, but crushed all the same. Jason's strength wasn't too far behind where his had been at that age.
Lois noticed the awe with which he regarded the toy, her heart involuntarily leaping. “Keep it,” she told him.
“Thank you, Lois,” he smiled faintly at her, feeling for the very first time like he was truly a father.
* * * * *
Author: Saavikam
Fandom: Superman Returns
Pairings: Lois/Richard, Clark/Lois
Rating - This Chapter: PG-13
Chapter Word Count: 3,321
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: An emergency at the Lane/White household demands Clark's attention. More discoveries are made.
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 is the shortest chapter you will ever see in this story. :p I just felt that this one should stand alone. Next chapter is - truly, really - the conclusion of the first arc. :D Oh, and apparently neither Clark nor Lois knows a damn thing about CPR. O_o *facepalm*
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Chapter 11
One unhappy hour later, Lois sat out on the patio mulling over her situation, cradling a mug of coffee. The morning had gone exactly as she had suspected it might, even if she hadn't wanted to admit it before, with Richard, true to nature, caving to Perry's demands and ending what chance they had for a family weekend. He'd always been a workhorse, though, at least as long as Lois had known him, so it was no surprise that he'd folded so easily. Work ethic, yet another quality that endeared her to him. Heh, she rolled her eyes bitterly. Between them, they'd logged an average of nearly one hundred thirty hours a week at the Planet over the past five years, and the monetary benefits kept them comfortable, allowing Jason to attend an exclusive private school in the north end of the city. Their lives were carefully choreographed to meet the demands of a sickly child and keep up with work, often forcing the pair to pass like ships in the night, one coming, one going. Lois had often wondered if that was healthy for their relationship, but always managed to rationalize that it was necessary, and as long as Jason was happy then everything would be okay.
The trade-off had to be worth it, right? House on the river with a private docking slip for Richard's very expensive sea plane, this year's model Audi, top label clothes for the entire family, the best medical care available for Jason... it was a huge package. So what if it meant they ate take-out more often than real home cooked meals? So what if it meant they only made it up to the lake once a year anymore?
Lois thought of the way things used to be, before she and Richard had decided to move out of the city. Everything was somehow... simpler. In truth, she missed city living, but that wasn't something she'd ever tell her fiancé. The package wasn't worth worrying over the details.
But that was the problem, wasn't it? Monetary success, appearances, and all that came with it... they'd become so much more important than actually functioning as a family. How many times had vacation plans been thwarted by some important press conference that just couldn't wait? It suddenly seemed so clear how much of their lives revolved around the paper, around making the deadline and collecting a paycheck.
God, were we ever even a couple!?
Lois didn't have an answer. Somehow it felt more like a business arrangement at times. No - a lot of the time. She thought of the photo she kept on her desk at work, one of the few times they'd actually been able to spend more than a day at the lake. Happy couple, shining family. But it wasn't true, was it? She wasn't sure it was ever true. Now... hindsight laid it all out in blatant Technicolor. They'd never been that family, had they? She'd managed to ignore it this long, but that didn't stop it from being true. The rare weekend trip or lazy Sunday didn't make it not true.
She wasn't happy.
Am I even supposed to be happy? she wondered sourly. Just look how well things turned out with Superman. Now there's a workaholic... She looked up at the cloud covered sky, suddenly lost in memories, despite herself. Why can't I just get you out of my head for five minutes?
Feeling a small hand on her arm, Lois glanced down to see her son, a look of concern on his face that she recognized as one she'd been all too familiar with...
“Mommy, is Daddy coming home soon? I wanna go to the park.”
“He'll probably be a while, kiddo. Why don't you get out your crayons and draw Daddy a picture for when he gets home?” she smiled at him faintly.
“Okay, Mommy,” Jason nodded, and padded back inside.
“I'll be in in a minute, sweetie,” she reassured her son before he disappeared into the house. Turning her attention back to the sky, she closed her eyes and let the cool autumn breeze wash over her. The feeling of air moving gently past her reminded her of what it felt like to fly; the city far below, no ground beneath her feet, his warmth beside her...
“Mommy, I don't feel so good.” Lois's eyes snapped open and she immediately switched into 'mommy' mode. Standing beside her again with wide eyes, Jason's face had gone ghostly.
“What is it, Jason?” She checked him over, scrutinizing his eyes, his ears, his arms, alarm kicking her into overdrive.
“Mommy, I can't-” he wheezed. Without warning, his eyes rolled up and he slumped to the ground, limp like a dishrag.
“Aaaaaaaiiiiiiieeeeee!!!” Lois shrieked, panic sending adrenaline to every cell in her body. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to do! He'd never passed out before. Pulling him into her arms, she shook him. Nothing. More panic. Call 911, call Richard, oh God, somebody do something! A single thought worked it's way into her consciousness. Is he breathing? Lois checked to see if he was breathing. Oh, God, he's not breathing!!!
Without hesitation she called out the first thing that came to her. “Superman!!! Help!!! Hhhheeeeeeeelllllpppp!!!” She screamed as loud as her lungs would allow her to. “Please, Superman! It's Jason! He's not breathing!!!”
* * * * *
Across the city, Clark lay in bed still, resolute to take the morning off. He'd finally crammed in a solid eight hours of sleep, keeping his TV quietly set to a news station, just in case. Awakening to a dreary day after the previous night's drizzle, he lazily pushed off his covers and sat up. His feet hit the floor and he stood, stretching out his knotted muscles. Sleep might have benefits, but it never failed to kink up every muscle in his body, especially when he was too tall for his bed. Have to remember to get a California king when I have a chance.
Yawning, he considered his itinerary for the rest of the morning. Shower, coffee, walk through Centennial Park, pop in at the Planet, all at a leisurely pace. No super speed. No flight. No tights and cape. No Superman. After last night's discovery at the Vanderworth estate - he shuddered at the thought of General Eiling having a hand in current happenings - he just wanted to spend a morning without worrying about Lex Luthor or New Krypton or, hell, even the mess he'd made with Lo-
The screams filled his ears, clear and sharp, and his head whipped around automatically to determine the direction of the source. Of all the things he could have heard at any given time, he had always heard her voice above all else. Lois. She was screaming for him. Something was wrong with Jason! Oh, God...
In a second he was dressed, another second and he was halfway there. Hold on, Lois! Another second. I'm coming!
* * * * *
Lois sobbed and screamed, her little boy hanging limp from her arms. “Help! Please, God, help!!!” Then she saw him, an angel falling from the sky, a streak of blue and red. She sobbed.
* * * * *
Clark landed, crushing the patio bricks under his feet. “Lois, I'm here.” He knelt beside her and their son.
“He's not breathing! He's not breathing!” she repeated as she sobbed. It was the only thing she could say through the panic, her eyes wild and stricken.
Clark took Jason from her and into his arms. The little boy was pale, almost turning blue. “Is it his asthma?” he tried to ask Lois.
No reply, only sobbing.
“Lois, is it his asthma!?” he demanded.
“Y-yes,” she choked, “he was wheezing and th-then...”
“It's okay, Lois, I've got him.” He looked up at the cloudy sky. “Everything will be okay,” he tried to console her, ignoring the frantic pounding in his own chest. “I'll bring him right back.”
Before he could hear her reply, Clark took to the sky with his son. Instinctively, he knew only sunlight could help. Pure, unclouded sunlight. He broke through the clouds in under a second, wisps of moisture trailing behind him as he ascended higher, Jason cradled tightly to his chest. Finding a perching altitude, Clark presented the boy's face to the full light of the morning sun. Come on, breathe! Breathe! “Jason!” he prodded him. “Jason, breathe!”
* * * * *
Deep inside the little boy's skin, cellular machinery went to work as sunlight poured down upon it. Many of these tiny organelles awoke for the first time, their protein components coming to life as they absorbed the photons from the sun. Millions of photons, all in the yellow portion of the visible light spectrum, traveled down an organic conveyor belt, passed urgently along. Some were diverted to the boy's nervous system, to be converted to electrochemical energy for immediate use, while others moved along their original path. At the end of this line, massive protein complexes began to churn, turbines pumping out energy laden molecules, which were immediately gathered up and sent out in membranous vesicles, to be directed wherever they were needed most. Many found themselves in the air sacs of the child's lungs, working instantly to decrease the inflammation that choked off the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange that needed so desperately to occur. As the inflammation began to subside, more energy molecules rushed in to continue the work, to start to heal the scarring that had for so long limited the required gas transfer. Capillaries, damaged beyond repair for so long, began to function again, and oxygen once again began to flow to the boy's brain and the rest of his small body.
In a miracle fueled by sunlight, his masked Kryptonian physiology finally began to express itself fully.
* * * * *
After what felt like eternity Jason's eyes popped open and he sucked in a lungful of air. He choked and coughed for a moment, all the while Clark stroking his hair and silently thanking whatever gods would listen. “Jason, easy, easy now. Shh. It's okay.”
The small boy breathed in deeply, his eyes wide as he realized who was talking to him.
“There you go,” Clark soothed. “Do you feel better now?” He felt his own heart come back to a normal pace. His son was okay, he was breathing...
“Uh-huh,” Jason nodded. “I couldn't breathe.”
“You had a bad asthma attack,” Clark explained. “Your Mom called me to help you.”
Jason was suddenly aware that he didn't see his Mom. “Where's Mommy?” he asked.
“She's down there,” Clark nodded toward the clouds.
Peering over Clark's arm, the boy looked down at the clouds. “Are we in the sky?” he asked, amazed.
“Yes.”
“It doesn't look like this from the plane.”
Clark laughed, relief and love filling him like sunlight never could. “No, it doesn't look like this from the plane.”
Jason glanced back up at Clark, his cheeks now pink and his face looking warmed in the sun's rays. “Can we go back to Mommy now?”
“Not just yet. I want to make sure you're okay first.” He knew his son needed more sunlight, and with the intense cloud cover, he wasn't likely to get any on the ground.
“Okay,” Jason nodded. Looking pensive for a moment, he studied Clark's face, then asked, “Superman, how come you didn't come back to see me? I wanna know more about Krypton.” All those million questions swirled fresh in his mind.
“Well,” Clark started, surprised by his son's question. “I'm sorry I haven't been back. I guess I've been waiting for your Mom to invite me.”
“Oh, okay. I'll make sure Mommy invites you, then,” the little boy smiled. He continued to gaze up at his hero, then, with a determined expression, asked, “Why does Mommy call you Clark when you wear different clothes?”
Clark nearly faltered in the sky but caught himself before he could slip. “Uh, well...” He wasn't sure what to say, surprised to the point of shock. Jason knew his secret. How long had he known? How did he find out? He shook his head slightly; none of that even mattered. Jason knew. Considering his options, he decided it was best to just tell his son the truth, since there was no point in lying to him. “Clark is my real name. Mommy thinks I'm a different person when I'm Superman. So does everyone else. It's a secret.”
“Oh!” At last, an answer! “How come?” he questioned.
Clark remembered asking his parents the same thing around that age. “Well, I have to keep it a secret for a lot of reasons. For starters, I can't be Superman all the time, because then I'd never get any sleep, or be able to stop to eat, since I'd be so busy. Being Clark gives me time for myself. But as Clark, I have to keep the people I know safe from people that might try to hurt me as Superman. If people knew that Clark was Superman, the bad guys might try to hurt your Mom or Dad, or Uncle Perry, or Uncle Jimmy, or even my Mom. I know that probably doesn't make much sense now, but I'll explain it all when we have more time. For now, can you help me keep my secret?”
“Uh-huh. I'm good at keeping secrets. I won't tell anybody,” the little boy smiled again with a bouncing head shake, thinking it must be hard to pretend all the time just to keep people safe from the bad guys. But he wanted to keep his Mommy and everybody safe, too, so he wouldn't tell anyone Clark's secret.
He even understood most of what Clark said, even if Clark didn't think so. Though it did bring up another hundred questions that he would have to ask later.
Clark smiled down at him. “Thanks, Jason. I promise that someday soon we can tell your Mommy about everything. Okay?”
Jason nodded. “Okay.” He paused, looking pensive once more as he thought about what happened with the suitcases. “I have a secret, too,” he whispered, as if someone could hear them. “I'm not supposed to tell Daddy that I'm strong like you are.”
Clark laughed out loud. His son was so special, so beautiful, so sweet, he thought his heart might burst with love and pride. Sheer radiating joy. “Okay, I won't tell him,” he agreed with a simple nod.
By then he could see that Jason's color had fully returned. The sun had given him his health back, and he glowed like a tiny angel. So beautiful... Clark didn't want this moment to end, this perfect moment with his son, but somewhere below them, Lois waited. “All right, it's time to go back to your Mom,” he said reluctantly.
Holding his son, his most precious cargo secure in his arms, Clark descended once again.
* * * * *
On the ground, Lois stared up at the clouds, trying to stop her sobs. Where are they? she cried to herself. It had been what, five, ten minutes? She didn't know. Superman had taken her son, their son, somewhere above the clouds. Jason wasn't breathing. Please let him be okay, please. I can't take this. Where are they?
A blue spot appeared in the sky, trailing red for a long moment. Oh, God! Superman came down from the sky slowly, and when he landed gently on the cracked patio bricks, Jason leapt down from his arms and ran to Lois. “Mommy!”
Lois let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, bending down to scoop up her son. “Jason! Oh, thank God, you're okay,” she breathed, not bothering to hold back the tears of relief. “My baby...”
Jason hugged his Mom as she kissed him on the top of the head. “I'm okay, Mommy. Superman took me up into the sky and made me better!”
“How?” Lois looked up at Superman, blinking tears out of her eyes.
“Sunlight,” Clark explained as he stepped closer to Lois. “He just needed sunlight. I think he'll be okay now.” He stroked Jason's hair lightly and spoke to his son, “Promise me you'll get lots of sun from now on, okay?”
“Mommy says I have to wear sunscreen.”
“That's all right,” Clark chuckled lightly. “Just not too much; you need to let the sunlight in.” He shifted his gaze to Jason's mother, who still clutched her son tightly. “Lois, we should talk.”
She nodded in reply, kissed Jason on the head again, and set him down. “Sweetie, why don't you go color that picture like we talked about?”
“Okay, Mom,” he called behind him as he ran back into the house. “Thanks, Superman!”
Clark waited for him to disappear behind the patio door. “He doesn't know, does he?” He knew the answer, of course, but for some reason... needed to hear it from her.
“No,” she replied, turning back to face him. “He doesn't know.” He was so close to her, she could feel his warmth reaching for her across the chilly October air... No, she wasn't allowed to think about that now. Why does everything have to be so damn convoluted?
“When will you tell him? He needs to know.”
Lois wanted nothing more than to tell her son the truth, all of it, but... the enormity of that truth still scared her. How would he really take it? “I-I don't know. Soon. I know it can't wait for much longer, the way things are changing all of a sudden. It's just - he's going to be so confused,” she shook her head slightly.
Clark put his hands on her shoulders. “It's okay. He'll get past it, I promise.”
“How do you know?” She stepped back from him. They were too close...
“Because I did.” But with that, he stopped. Did he really want to tell her this now? He knew he had to sooner or later, but right after such a terrible scare with Jason? No. Well, not everything, anyway. But some things had to be said; there was simply no alternative. Baby steps, Clark, he cautioned himself. “I didn't just fall from the sky in this outfit, Lois. I had to grow up, too.” Please don't let me say too much... “When I was about eight or so, my parents told me about how they found me as a baby. I wish they'd told me sooner, but I got over it. Jason will be fine. At least he'll have someone who understands what it's like and can teach him how to control his powers. That's something I never had.”
Lois stared up at him, straight into his eyes, a shocking thought occurring to her with his little attempt at reassurance. His parents... A tingle of curiosity worked up her spine and curled around her brain. So he grew up here after all! Probably had another name, too. More secrets. Things he'd never bothered to tell her before, even when they'd...
Fighting down the sudden, fiery urge to call him out on his monumental omission, she turned and looked back toward the house, hugging her arms around herself. Jason was all that mattered now. “Okay, I'll tell him. Soon, I promise. I just - everything is happening so fast.” She turned back to the man she knew only by his Kryptonian name, and pulled Jason's toy car from her pocket. “Here. He did this yesterday, I think.”
Clark held out his hand and she placed the toy in his palm, and scrutinized it in every detail. Die cast metal, not exactly malleable, but crushed all the same. Jason's strength wasn't too far behind where his had been at that age.
Lois noticed the awe with which he regarded the toy, her heart involuntarily leaping. “Keep it,” she told him.
“Thank you, Lois,” he smiled faintly at her, feeling for the very first time like he was truly a father.
* * * * *