DC Comics and Bad Hat Harry Productions own the sand box. I just get to play in it. Trish will appear courtsey of Speakfire.

Standing on the roof of the Daily Planet building, Richard White picked up the small led box and opened it. "Kryptonite!"

"Yes," gasped Clark Kent who began back peddling. "And it… makes me… feel weak… and sick to my stomach," he continued, panting between phrases. "Would you close that…please?" When he got to the wall surrounding the roof of the Daily Planet building, he slumped down it.

"Hmmm. Not just yet." Richard stepped over to where Clark half squatted against the wall. He put the open with the exposed Kryptonite in Clark's face and observed for a moment. The blood slowly drained from the Kryptonian's face. His breathing began to grow ragged. "Guess you really are Superman." He closed the lid on the box.

"As if crushing a lump of coal into a diamond with my bare hands wasn't proof enough…"

"I'm an editor. I always want confirmation from multiple sources.

"You know this is all a little sudden," Richard continued. "First you tell me that you're Superman. Then you tell me that you're my son's biological father. What am I meant to do, just walk away from the woman I love? Should I back out of the life of the boy I've raised?"

"Come on Richard, think." Clark straightened up and took off his glasses. He stretched out his arms and basked in the sun. "We have to think our way through this, or we won't arrive at the best decisions for on how to raise our son."

"I'm guessing that you don't want me out of the way. You said our, that tells me that you want both of us to be part of his life."

"Yes." Clark turned to face Richard, "Lois told me that you're a good man." Looking down lightly he added, "And I was gone a long time." He paused for a moment and then looked Richard squarely in the eye, "Above all you are the man Jason knows as Dad. What kind of a man would I be if I just swept in out of no where and demanded to take over as the primary male figure in his life and in his mother's life?"

"That would be selfish and conceited."

"What kind of a man would you be if you just backed away on your own or let me come in and take away from you the family that is yours?"

"That would be cowardly."

"I certainly don't want to set that kind of example for my son. Do you, for yours?"

"No."

"Good, especially since we're talking about the same little boy. If we give him a stable, loving, honorable environment to grow up in, then we can be sure that he will always use any powers he gains for Good."

"If he grows up in broken home, filled with jealousy and regret then he won't be the kind of man who will use his powers wisely."

"I wouldn't think so, no."

"You want to work together on this."

"Yes, absolutely. Besides, if I really wanted you out of the way, there are at least a dozen ways I could get that and no Crime Scene Unit this side of Polaris or Kochab could prove it was me."

"I know that Polaris is the North Star, but refresh me, what's Kochab?"

"It's a star not far from Krypton. That was a joke, Richard. Relax and laugh. Or not. That's why I travel the world as a superhero instead of as a stand up comic."

Richard cracked up. "So why the kryptonite?"

"I gave it to you to equalize things between us, so that you never have to fear me."

"But my son…our… son, Jason, will it hurt him?"

"I don't know for sure. You should ask Lois. I expect Lex Luthor had some on the yacht while she and Jason were there."

"When Jason starts getting his powers…well, My God what will we do?"

"It's a quandary isn't."

"Does Lois know?"

"She knows, but she doesn't remember. I hypnotized her before I left for Krypton," Clark cocked an ear toward the elevator house. "Speak of the angel."

"Is she coming up here, to look for us?"

"Yes, she's on her way up. I can hear her heartbeat and breathing in the elevator, but she hasn't said anything about why she's coming up here, so I don't know."

"Okay. What are we going to say?"

Clark put his glasses back on, buttoned his collar, rolled down his sleeves and pulled a tie out of his pocket.

"So, that's how you want to play it, eh?"

"Yeah. Just follow my lead."

Hinges creaked and Lois Lane stepped out on to the roof of the Daily Planet building with a cigarette in one hand and her Zippo in the other. She had a self absorbed look in her eyes and a devious grin like she was really going to enjoy that Virginia Slim. When she saw Richard and Clark she immediately put both hands behind her back and started whistling.

A slightly worried look passed from Richard to Clark. Clark smiled confidently and rose up just a bit on the balls of his feet.

"He was here, Lois, you just missed him." Clark said.

"Who? Superman?" Lois almost stammered, aghast that the Man of Steel would talk to anyone else in the press but her, especially Clark. "Aw, drat. I mean, wshew" the girl reporter made a sighing sound and wiped some imagined sweat off her brow while her face struggled to express at once relief, curiosity, and the ashen look of someone appalled by what she just heard. Drawing a breath, Lois continued, "That was a close one. Maybe if he gets another contact here I can go back to serious journalism and leave the superhero beat to the likes of Snapper Carr. Did he ask about me?"

Richard looked at Clark, who gestured to him that it was his turn to talk.

"No. Clark and I were talking about my experiences in the war, about my lost patrol."

"He said that he had heard us talking about that and he wanted to talk to us about General Zod. He thought perhaps Richard could understand what he'd had to do tell the world about it in a direct matter of fact way with out sensationalism."

"Oh. So he didn't ask about me. What about Jason, did he ask about Jason?"

"Why would Superman ask about Jason, Lois?" queried Clark with a confused look on his face.

Richard pulled his Palm Pilot out of his pocket and declared, "Great shades of Elvis! Clark, we have a deadline fast approaching if you're going get that Blackout piece in the evening edition."

"Jeepers! Sorry, Miss Lane, I've got to talk to Jimmy and Trish about the art for that piece. Jimmy was supposed to get me some pictures of the shipping magnate's house where the whole thing started."

And with that Clark and Richard made their way to the elevator. "Are you going to fly back up there and talk to her?"

"Yes. I'm not going to tell her until we agree, but it needs to be soon. We have Jason's future to consider."