Chapter 4: Missing Children

Just outside the busy city of Metropolis were the homes of the more wealthy citizens. The houses there were not as close together, and most of the homes had huge backyards with fancy swing sets and swimming pools. The crime rate there was far less than it was in the big city due to the expensive alarm systems installed in the houses, and the local neighborhood watch program run by the neighborhood's residents, and organized by the police. No one living in those neighborhoods really worried too much about crime, and that was where the problem began.

In front of a huge two storey house, which sat further away from the small winding neighborhood road than most of the houses, a group of children played in the yard running around a red plastic fire hydrant that had green plastic hoses attached to it which moved about spraying water at any passerby. Three young boys no more than 6 or 7 years of age and two girls who were roughly the same age played without a care in the world. As they continued to play, none of the children saw the old beat up red pickup stop in front of the house, and then a boy with red hair and a pair of blue swim trunks spotted the man as he walked over to them.

Nicholas walked over to the children with confidence and a smile on his face. He had a long silver beard and when he asked the children if they had seen his daughter, they all ran over to him. "She was riding her bike around these parts, but she hasn't come home yet," he said, as they all looked at one another. "I have an idea, why don't you," he said pointing to one of the little girls, "come with me just to my car, I have a picture of my Tiffany, and maybe you can help me try and find her.

Julia knew never to go with strangers but this man looked very sad, and she knew that her friends could get help if he tried anything. "Okay, but I can't go in your car," she said.

"Fair enough, I wouldn't want my daughter to do that either," he said, as he stood up.

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In the kitchen which faced the back of the house where the pool was, Angela Collins was fixing lunch for the children playing outside. She had just finished the last sandwich when she heard a commotion in the front of the house. After wiping her hands on her blue apron she hurried to the foyer as the children tried to talk all at once. Angel knelt down, quieting them. "Now what is so important?" she asked, realizing that Julia was not among them.

Benjamin looked at her feeling bad. "A man came looking for his little girl and asked us to help find her. Julia went to his truck and he pushed her in and drove away with her," he said, as he scrubbed at tear making its way down his face.

Angela had only to think about that little girl that had been found by Superman to start to panic, but managed to pull it together. "Get your things ready, I'll take each of you home," she said, running her hands through her thick blond hair. She stood up feeling her knees shake as she went to get her purse and keys, and when all of the children were ready she grabbed her cell phone and began to make calls, the first one to her husband Ronald who worked in Metropolis at the Metro Bank Center.

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News was slow, even with Superman out to save the day. Lois had been in contact with Agent Jones who said that the case was coming to a close, and even though she knew there was more to be found, she didn't try to push the issue. Clark was right about one thing, she had to watch out for herself because of Jason. Now that he was back and she knew that he was only a shout away, she found herself taking more risks, and knew that she couldn't keep that up.

As she was about to phone downstairs and asks for a cup of steaming hot coffee, Perry stuck his head out of his office and called for her and Clark to come inside. Lois could tell by the tone of his voice that something big was afoot and she hoped with all she had that someone had slipped up in the cult. When she and Clark arrived in his office, Perry was sitting at his desk with his hands folded in front of him.

"I just received a call from one of my old contacts on the force. A call came in about an hour ago from a woman living in the Lakeshire Farms area. He said her little girl was taken away by a man in a pickup, in front of a bunch of other kids. I want the two of you over there to see what you can find out, see if this is related to the East Dock Massacres," he said, calmly.

Hearing that a child had been taken away in broad daylight made Clark's mind race and as he and Lois stepped out into the upper lobby area, he turned to her. "I need to go and see what I can find," he said.

Lois knew what he needed to do and wasn't angry or hurt. If he could get over there soon enough he might be able to find the little girl before anything bad could happen. "Be careful," she said, as he pushed the door open to the steps. When the door shut, Lois got in the elevator and headed for the 2nd level leading to the parking structure.

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By the time she pulled her blue Audi in front of the house, the police were already there. Lois made sure she had her press badge handy and after getting her recorder and her purse, she headed off toward the house. There were neighbors there too and as she approached everyone seemed to recognize her which always worked to her advantage. She reported the facts and was respected for it. When she got past the group of people an officer stopped her, and then smiled when he realized who it was.

"What do you got for me Joe?" she asked.

"Miss Lane, you know I can't release anything unless I have the parents consent, but I think they do want the press involved," he said, as he led her up to the huge house. As she walked with Joe, she looked around the yard. It was a nice place. The grass looked well kept and she saw some sort of sprinkler toy and wondered if that was where the children had been playing when the little girl was taken. When they stepped up on the porch the door opened and a man in his early thirties stepped out with his wife at his side. They stood strong, though Lois could tell that the woman had been crying. "My name is Lois Lane," she said, gently.

Ronald knew who she was and extended his hand. He still had on his suit from work and felt like his world had just fallen in on him. "I'm glad you came first," he said, noticing then a young man making his way toward them.

Lois saw his eyes move past her and turned around seeing Clark on his way. When he was close enough she introduced him. "This is my partner Clark Kent, do you mind telling us what happened to your little girl?" she asked. As he led them inside, Lois glanced to her right and could tell that he had not found any sort of clues as to where the little girl had been taken.

Inside, the house was immense and yet simple. They were led into a room off to the right of the foyer. Couches lined the walls on the right of the entry and the wall straight across from the entryway. A small piano was pressed against the wall to the left, and the wooden floor was covered by a beautiful oriental rug. As Clark sat down next to Lois, he scanned the house, or the parts he could see and could tell that this was a happy family.

"The children were in the front playing with a new sprinkler toy that Ronald bought for Julia," Angela said, as she sat next to her husband holding tight to his hand. "We never worried about letting them play out there and all of them knew not to talk to strangers, but for some reason, Julia did. One of the boys told me that a man came up to the house looking for his little girl, he said that he reminded him of Santa Claus, and maybe that's why she trusted him." As she spoke those last words she broke into sobs, and her husband led her out of the room, leaving the two reporters alone.

Once she was sure they were out of ear shot, Lois turned to face Clark, and could see the worried look in his eyes. "What did you find?" she whispered, after she turned off her recorder.

He had flown over a fifty mile radius but had not been able to find anything other than a few tracks when the roads turned to dirt. "Not one thing," he admitted, feeling sick inside. If he had to watch one more child die he wasn't sure what he would do.

Knowing he was frustrated, Lois reached out and took his hand in hers. "We will find this one," she said, and she would do what she had to in order to find the right leads.

Before he could say anything he pulled his hand away as Mr. Collins came back into the room holding a large framed picture of his daughter. "This was taken a few weeks ago, please find out who has her," he said.

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Later that night, unaware that anything was wrong at all, Jason sat in his playroom zooming his cars around a track he had made out of old puzzle box lids. Jason had cut them and pasted them and then he had drawn a track with his red crayon. "Oh no, look out," he cried, as two cars crashed together. Jason reached out and grabbed an ambulance and made siren sounds as he drove it toward the two cars which had flipped over. He also got a red fire truck and brought that over. "Quick put out the fire before they die," he said, making the sound of water, or what he thought it should sound like coming out of a small plastic hose attached to his fire truck.

It was nearly 9 p.m., and while Lois poured over the information she had compiled about Ronald Collins and his family, Clark had cleaned up another mess in the kitchen Lucky had left, and walked down the hall hearing Jason at play. He stood at the door with his arms folded across his chest watching as Jason crawled across the floor pushing an ambulance car up to his plastic hospital building. Clark hated to interrupt his play, but he and Lois would have a full day tomorrow and Jason still had three more days of school until his spring break.

"Easy they got bad hurt in a crash," Jason said, as he opened the back of the ambulance and pulled two small figures out with a stretcher. He heard his daddy call out his name but Jason chose to ignore him. "Get the operation room ready for him, he will need a new arm and leg and maybe a new brain," Jason said, as he pulled the hospital open exposing little rooms.

It was obvious that Jason wanted to play, but it was time for bed, and Clark stepped over the track and knelt down behind his little boy. "Hey Jason, it's time to put this away for now," he said.

Jason groaned and turned around. "But this guy needs help daddy, and I need to finish this now," he said, as though it were very important to him.

Two weeks ago Clark would have likely granted Jason more play time but now he was beginning to learn the tricks of the trade. "You can finish tomorrow night when we come home," he said, and saw Jason purse his lips. He gently grabbed Jason's hand as he raised it holding one of the cars. "Jason," he said, sternly.

Jason thought about having to spend time in time out and put his car down. "I don't want to go to bed," he said, as he stood up and walked out of the room. In his room he found his pajamas and shrugged away when his daddy tried to help him. He pulled the shirt over his head backward and tried to get it to turn around but it wasn't working out. "I can do it," he said, as his daddy tried to help again. Finally he got it to turn around the right way and as he was pulling on his blue pajama bottoms his mom came in with his nebulizer. "I don't want that tonight," he said, being grumpy.

As Lois walked over to their little boy, Clark stood up, and watched her as she gently but firmly got Jason to do what was needed. Once he was settled into bed, he was not as grouchy and when Clark reached for a book to read to him Jason made room for his daddy to lie on his bed. His father's voice was soothing as he began to read the story by C.S. Lewis called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and when he said the title, Jason asked, "What is a wardrobe?"

Clark smiled as he put the book down. "It is sort of like your closet but it stands out on its own, like your dresser, only you can hang cloths inside of it," he tried. When Jason seemed satisfied with the answer he began to read again only to hear a scream and then metal grinding against metal. Clark looked at Lois, who was picking up Jason's cloths and toys, and gave her a knowing look.

"No," Jason said, as his daddy started to get up.

These were the moments he hated and as he knelt down, Jason turned away from him. "I have to help," he said, as he leaned in and gave Jason a kiss on his head. As he spun into his suit and left the house he heard Jason start to cry and hated it, but this accident was a bad one and as he flew out of the city toward the highway he knew that this time he didn't have a choice. Again it came back to balancing, and the smaller things that could be handled by the local law enforcement he was allowing that to happen. As he found the pile up, Superman again had to clear his mind of his son and his sorrow so that he could do his job.

An hour after Superman left, Lois left their son's room and entered the family room. Jason at first told her that he hated his daddy and cried when she admonished him telling him that she never wanted to hear those words from his mouth again. She knew her little boy was hurting, and she knew that all of this was going to take time. As she sat down in the recliner she flipped on the TV and found out what had taken her love away. There was a 15 care pile up with several people already dead and many more injured. Lois watched as Superman worked with rescue crews to save as many lives as he could. As she was about to turn the TV off, a news update flashed on the screen, and a young man came on the screen with a somber look in his eyes.

"Just moments ago we received word that another child has gone missing," the man said, standing behind another one of the houses at Lakeshire Farms.

Lois listened as he made the report and wondered how much worse things were going to get for the city. After the broadcast ended, she phoned down the police station and was glad to find Officer Joe Martinez working the beat. "So, there weren't any witnesses?" she asked, surprised by that. "How did they get in, those people spend a fortune on alarms over there." As she listened, Lois jotted down notes and then looked at the TV as the reporter told the viewers that Superman was now there trying to find the little girl who had gone missing, this time a two year old. When she hung up, Lois sat watching the news for a while longer before she shut the TV off and went down the hall to her room.

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There were no answers or any clues as to why the girls had been taken. Superman spent the better part of the night trying to find something, and had even returned to the docks, but nothing panned out. Some part of him wondered if this was all Lex's doing to cover up something much larger, but all of this wasn't his style. If Lex wanted to hurt him, he would go after the two people The Man of Steel loved most in the world.

As he landed in the back of the house, Lucky greeted him. She had been spending more and more time outside when the family slept due to her horrible habit of chewing things up. As he entered the house he changed back into what he had been wearing before his long night began. Quietly, he entered Jason's room and stood at the door watching him as he slept. After a few moments he shut the door and went into the room he shared with Lois. She was also asleep and after he took off his shirt and pants, he put on a pair of pajama bottoms and slid under the covers. Even in sleep Lois snuggled up into his arms, and while she could sleep, he could not.

It was very dark and very scary, but Christina knew she had to tell someone. The Mansion was 30 miles away from Metropolis and all of the other girls there were being hurt and some of them had even died when they wouldn't do the things the elders asked. Today a baby had been put in the mix, because Lady Sophia wanted a doll to dress up. The little girl was quiet and cooperative, and Christina knew that would save her life. For weeks on end, the nine year old girl had planned on how to get away, and the large bits of meat she had stolen served well to keep the dogs at bay allowing her to leave the grounds. She finally made it to the highway but stayed in the tall grass, knowing that any one of the brothers could come driving by and then she would end up like Lilly and Jessica. As she walked through the wet grass barefooted, her feet began to feel numb and she decided that was better than stepping on sharp objects.

Something behind her a good ways away snapped, and Christina flattened herself on the ground, remembering what Lilly had told her, pray, and so she did. As she said her prayer she thought of something, and wondered if it would work for her. "Superman, if you can hear me, my name is Christina Jones, and I need you to save me now." She heard a growl and knew Damien had gotten out. Suddenly the huge dog was on top of her growling and Christina cried as loud as she could, praying as she said his name over and over that he would find her. The large Bull Terrier sank his teeth into her throat and then he yelped and ran away.

A voice, unlike any she had ever heard, told her she would be safe, and Christina tried to talk and began to choke. She was suddenly warm and it wasn't as hard to breath for some reason. It was like a dream as she looked up and saw Superman's face, and she knew she was flying. Something warm was being held over her throat, and as she shut her eyes she hoped that he would find the other girls in time.

The child in his arms was dying, and Superman would move time and space to stop it this time around. The Dog had punctured her throat, and as he flew, Superman had to hold her so that her body was more up right, and had her head leaned over one arm to keep her from choking on her own blood. When he got her to the hospital he found a doctor who led him up to surgery when he realized what was happening with the little girl. Now Superman stood outside the doors watching them as they worked on her. He knew he should go back and try to find out where she had come from, but decided for now that he needed to stay where he was.

It was close to sunrise when they finally finished with her, and as the doctor who had done the surgery came out, he looked tired but hopeful. "She was lucky, and you saved her. We won't know until she wakes up if she will still have the use of her voice, but there is a good chance she will," he said, and then left. When the nurses wheeled her bed out of recovery, Superman went with them to the room she had been assigned to and waited. He knew he needed to call Lois but also knew that he couldn't risk exposing his secret. As he thought about her and Jason, the little girl began to move. Superman walked from the window to her bed, and when she opened her eyes and saw him, she smiled.

Even though her throat hurt like it was on fire, Christina knew she had to tell him about her father and the Cult. She opened her mouth and tried to speak but she couldn't and when she began to panic she found her hand in his. She put her hand on her throat and shook her head wanting to tell him what he needed to know.

Superman knew she wanted to tell him something and after looking around the room he got her clip board and let her write on a blank page. When he looked at it he read, my name is Christina Jones, don't let my father take me out of here no matter what he tries. He is Agent Jones and that man in jail didn't have anything to do with what happened. He could hardly believe what he was seeing and knew she needed to rest. "Are they close to where I found you?" he asked gently, and when she nodded her head he knew he had to get out there. "No one will hurt you now, but I need to go and search for the other children," he said, and she nodded her head again

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It was a little past five when the phone began to ring, and Lois picked it up still half asleep. "Yeah," she managed.

Dressed in the clothes he stored in the pocket of his cape Clark knew Lois likely wasn't even aware he had left again. "Lois, it's me," he said, waiting for his voice to register. "Superman found a little girl claiming to be Agent Jones daughter. She is here at the hospital and Superman needs to go look for the other children, but he doesn't want to leave her alone. He doesn't trust anyone else to be with her."

On the other end Lois knew what he wanted from her, thought about Jason, and then decided that the hospital staff would let her in with him as they had done the last time. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Be careful," she said, as she hung up and got out of bed. Lois dressed in a long dark skirt and a warm top and ran the brush through her hair pulling it back as she found her shoes and slipped them on her feet a moment before she realized that she hadn't put on her panty hose. Once she was dressed she went across the hall to Jason's room and packed his back pack, and then she headed to the kitchen and got his breakfast put into zip lock bags. After she got the car started and all of their things were in the front passenger seat, she went back into Jason's room and got him out to the car without a peep.

Christina had gone back to sleep, and Superman was standing by the window when Lois arrived with their sleeping son in her arms. He cleared off the sofa and let her get him settled, knowing that he couldn't act like a father around a place such as this. Once Jason was settled, he saw the worried look in her eyes. "I contacted Officer Martinez, and he should be here soon." He walked away wanting to kiss her and once he was in the elevator he flew off to find the others and stop this madness.

Jason and Christina were still asleep when Agent Jones barged into the room. Lois stood up from the sofa and walked over to the bed. "She stays here," she said, daring him to try and take her away.

"You see that is where you are wrong Miss Lane," he said, as he pulled out a gun and pointed it at her first and then Jason who had just begun to wake up. "She has to be punished, under the laws of our God she betrayed the lot of us, and we can't have that," he said, as he readied his gun to fire. "Now you go over there and take care of your son, and I'll take care of what is mine," he said, keeping his gun trained on them, while he sided up to his daughter's bed.

As soon as he saw the man with the gun, Jason hid his face with his hands and started to sob. He felt his mommy sit down, and when he was in her arms, he held on to her as tight as he could.

Lois watched as Agent Jones lifted his daughter into his arms, and then when he was ready he pointed his gun at the door. As she stood up, Jason began to really cry, and she hated herself for even bringing him, in hindsight she should have left him at Perry and Alice's house, knowing they would have been up. They were early birds, and when she had gone back to work full time, Jason had stayed with his Aunt Alice until either she or Richard could go by and get him.

When they stepped out into the hall she saw Officer Martinez slumped over in his chair with a spilled cup of coffee on the floor. Superman had underestimated the Agent as she had, and as Jason continued to cry, Lois did her best to calm him down.

The feeling of someone holding her too tight woke Christina, and when she saw her dad with the gun, she did the only thing she could think of. Before he could respond, she shut her eyes, reached up and put her fingers in his eyes, pushing as hard as she could. Christina found her voice as his gun went off and screamed, even though it made her throat hurt.

Lois had seen Christina stir and as the girl had reached up to stop her father, she had thrown herself and Jason to the floor. When the gun went off, Jason went into hysterics and rightly so. "Jason, I'm right here, baby. I won't let anything happen," she said, as she heard foot fall on the floor ahead of them, as well as other voices.

In a matter of moments it was all over. Christina was safe in the arms of a woman who had to be her mother the way the two of them were crying, and Lois sat up holding Jason cradled in her arms and then she stood up with the help of another agent. Her eyes searched the halls but she didn't see Superman and knew that he was likely still trying to help the other children.

A young nurse named Sara Martin approached Lois with a nebulizer for Jason who was still sobbing and in the throws of an asthma attack. She had known them for a long time and led Lois with Jason to Christina's room. Once Jason was calm, she asked him if he wanted a Ginger Ale and smiled when she saw him smile. "You just keep doing what you are doing and I'll be right back," she said. Jason was special because she had gotten to know him, and as she went to get him his drink she remembered the first time she had seen him when he was two years old and had Pneumonia. That was when she figured out that giving him little sips of ginger ale helped when one of the doctors wanted to examine him.

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The children he found at the mansion had been abused, but they were all safe, being taken to safe houses until the parents could be found. Among them were the two children taken from The Lakeshire Farms area, and the two little girls were among the few who had not been abused. Superman had just seen the last van of children away when one of the officers ran to him.

"There was an incident at the hospital with Christina and her father Agent Jones, as well as Lois Lane," Officer Sams said and then he found that he was standing alone next to the entrance of the huge Mansion.

Superman flew as fast as he could toward the city, cursing himself for leaving Lois at the hospital. He should have known that it was Agent Jones, because of the conversation he had with Lois just a few days before. She kept saying how odd it was that he was always gone and how odd it was that he wouldn't return her messages, almost as if he had a secret to hide. Now it all made sense and as he landed on top of the hospital and spun around putting his normal clothes on, he continued to walk toward the entry to the stair well.

When he reached the pediatrics ward there were tons of FBI agents and officers, all of whom seemed to recognize him, and when he reached Christina's room he only saw her and a woman sitting beside her bed. Clark turned around and found Sara, the woman who had helped Jason the last time he was here. "I'm looking for Lois Lane," he said, and got a smile from her. When she asked him to follow her, he did and two doors down in a hospital bed he found both Lois and Jason asleep. Without anyone's knowledge he scanned both of them finding that they were unharmed and then he went over to the side of the bed Lois was on and leaned over her placing a feather light kiss on her lips.

Something touching her lips woke her and as Lois opened her eyes she managed a small smile to the man she loved. She saw the pained look in his eyes and shook her head reaching up to touch his cheek. When she did that he turned his head and brought his hand up holding her hand while he kissed it. "You didn't know," she whispered, as Jason continued to sleep.

Clark looked behind him and pulled up a chair. "I should have, if anything would have happened to either of you, I would never have forgiven myself," he said, softly.

Not willing to let him take the blame, Lois again shook her head. "If I would have thought about it, I would have left Jason with Alice and Perry, they are early risers and Alice used to keep him after I returned to work," she said.

Beside her Jason shifted and when he opened his eyes and saw his daddy he reached his arms out. In a quick movement, his father's strong arms were holding him, and Jason hid his face against his neck. "The bad man had a gun daddy," he said, softly. As Jason rested safe in his father's arms, he listened, or tried not to, as his mommy told about the bad man and his gun.

Clark wanted to make sure Agent Jones never saw the light of another day, and then he pushed those thoughts away thinking of what his father had taught him, violence was not the way to solve the world's problems and there had already been far too much of that as it was. "How about we go home," he said finally as Jason nodded his head in agreement. Clark stood up and helped Lois out of the bed and as they were getting ready to leave her cell rang. It was Perry who agreed they needed to take the rest of the week off, and he smiled as Lois told him that they had one heck of a story for the Monday addition.

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When they arrived home, Jason didn't want to leave their sight, and both of them had expected that. Clark helped him bring some of his toys out in the family room, and as Jason began to play, the house phone rang. This time Clark picked it up and found his mother on the other end. He and Lois had talked it over, and both of them were hopeful that she and Ben could come down next week to keep Jason, who would be on his spring break. "No, we are all ready for a relaxing weekend," he said, as he sat on the sofa next to Lois.

As Clark talked to his mom, Lois looked over her emails seeing one from her parents who were back in Spain. When she read it she wasn't surprised when they said they had purchased a Time Share out there, and a part of her was glad. She loved them despite all of their faults, but after the way the past few weeks had gone she wasn't ready to handle them. After replying to their email, leaving out the big news of the year, she shut her computer down and got down on the floor with Jason. "What are you doing there?" Lois asked, as Jason played with his little hospital.

"This man got hurt in the car crash at the race track, so he's got to get a new leg and arm, and a brain too," Jason said, as he continued to play. "If you want to, you can help me, you hold this guy, he's the doctor, and when the man gets out of the operation room you have to make sure he is getting better," Jason said.

Lois held the plastic figure in her hand and did what her son wanted. When they finished taking care of the man, Jason gave her a car and she played with him enjoying some quiet time away from the world and all of its problems.

After he hung up the phone with his mom confirming that she could get a flight out of Montana on Sunday, Clark joined his wife and son on the floor, and as they played together, he too felt this is where he needed to be. He heard a few cries for help but none of them were urgent enough for Superman and by mid afternoon, Jason had fallen asleep on the floor, leaving his parents some time alone. Now as he and Lois sat on the sofa, he considered moving Jason, but knew that given what he had been through being alone in his room would likely upset him.

Lois loved being where she was, settled in Clark's arms watching Jason as he slept. She had gotten his pillow and the blanket from his bed and covered him up, and she felt guilty and sad about what had taken place today. "How did I get him into all of this, first the Gertrude, and now today," she said, softly.

He knew she felt guilty and pulled her closer. "We just have to be more careful, and as you said, if there is someplace where there might be danger, we leave him with Alice or even Jimmy," he said, and felt her chuckle.

"Jimmy said that the night he babysat, Jason barely gave him a chance to play on his game system, I think next time he might just leave it behind," Lois sighed, and shut her eyes thankful for having her family safe and sound at home.

A few minutes later with Lois asleep in his arms, Clark managed to get up off of the sofa and carried her into their room without waking her. Once she was settled in their bed he went back to the family room and got Jason and put him in the bed next to his mother. As he was about to join them he heard an emergency that needed Superman, and reluctantly he left the room to change into his suit and took off for the sky, ready to keep the world safe as he had always done. Now however, he found it was more difficult to leave with all that had gone on this day, but he also knew he had this obligation and had already trained his mind to the task of helping the people of a small village in South America escape a mud slide.

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Once again I have to thank Mr. Firenze for helping me Beta this, and thank the rest of you for reading and reviewing, hope you like the rest of what is to come.