A/N: If you get a second you might want to check out the note in my profile regarding the future of this story. All I can say is I'm sorry and I'm trying.

Chapter 10

Metropolis, Day 1, 3:18 am. He shifted in his seat while a little line of drool went dribbling down the side of his chin. The open book on his lap fell and it's weighty thud as it hit the floor roused him sharply from his slumber. Clark peered up blearily at the lamp beside him; he couldn't remember falling asleep and for a moment forgot where he was. Once he realized he was sitting fully dressed in the living room he took a quick look at the cable box clock and discovered it was almost 3:30 in the morning.

He must have snuck in while I dozed, and Clark frowned at the thought. He rose up out of the chair and stretched, then hovered over the floor and proceeded down the hall to check on his son. There was no reason why he should have to wake the whole house up traipsing down the hallway at this hour; Jason's punishment would keep 'til later in the morning. Still, something worried him.

Clark stopped just in front of Jason's door and noticed it wasn't fully closed, which was unusual for both the kids; Jason and Haley liked to create as much of a buffer between their rooms and the world so as to muffle their super-hearing. Maybe he just didn't want me to hear the lock turn…

Nudging the door open he floated in and surveyed the scene. Everything was as it had been several hours earlier—including Jason's very empty bed.

Their son hadn't come home at all.

An ominous chill crept down Clark's spine as he no longer believed his son was spending the night with friends. Turning his head to the side he began listening intently to the sounds wafting up from the main street, then he pushed his hearing out further to encompass the surrounding blocks; however, the familiar cadence of Jason's heartbeat was nowhere to be heard. His son wasn't in the neighborhood and Clark took a deep breath to keep his fear at bay.

The decision not to tell Lois was made before he even crossed the threshold out of his son's room; Clark simply made up his mind to set out, find Jason wherever he was hiding, and bring him home before his wife was any wiser…it would save everyone a lot of needless worry and stress. With alarming speed he took off down the hallway, out the living room window and began soaring up to the heavens pondering why his normally mature and rational teenage son suddenly decided to start acting his age.

He gave himself a full ten minutes hovering over the center of Metropolis but it was clear that Jason wasn't within city limits. Now that he was listening for it the silence usually punctuated by Jason's steady rhythm was ominously quiet and her cursed himself for not noticing it sooner.

Clark tried to think of where his son might be hiding. Obviously he'd taken off on a clandestine trip somewhere, and it was possible he was still biding his time, it just wasn't at Rick or Sean's homes…but if not there then where? Perhaps he'd flown too far and tuckered himself out—if that was the case then he didn't want to get caught red-handed in Africa or somewhere breaking the rules—so he would've decided to wait for the sun to come up so he could recharge, return home and hopefully slip in unseen.

If that were the case then Jason would be grounded until Labor Day.

But even as he tried to rationalize with himself that all wasn't as it appeared Clark knew deep down inside that this wasn't just a teenage joyride gone awry. As irresponsible as Jason was being it wasn't like him to stay out all night and let his parents worry—he would've pulled a Lois and called in with a bogus cover story just to cover his tracks. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, and the knot in Clark's stomach tightened uncontrollably.

East. He'd head east first and see if he couldn't find Jason before the sun did. Europe was as good a place to start as any; they'd traveled the continent extensively as a family and there was a chance his son might have returned to see the old sites.

It wasn't much of a plan but at least it was something.

Metropolis, Day 1, 2019, 8:30 am. "I looked for you forever and a day…where have you been? I'm just not myself when you're away…"**

Lois woke to the soft strains of the radio and she reached out to the other side of the bed; the sheets were cold against her skin and a soft but disappointed sigh escaped her lips. It wasn't unusual for her husband to be off and running early in the morning but something about today made Lois wish he were there beside her. There was an electricity to the air, she could sense it, and it made her uneasy without knowing why. She lay on her back for a full minute mulling things over when she discovered the source of her discomfort.

She'd slept soundly all through the night.

Either Clark never woke her up or Jason never came home.

Lois jumped out of bed without a second thought and plodded barefoot down the hall to her son's room. Throwing back the partially opened door she discovered it was empty; however, the bed was hastily made in typical Jason fashion and the sheets looked somewhat rumpled, suggesting they might have been slept in after all. Groggily, Lois tried to recall if it had been like that the previous evening but she just couldn't be sure. Had Jason come home and gone off with his father for a little man-to-man talk about his behavior? If that were the case then the sheets might still be warm…pressing her hand under the covers Lois felt they were just as cold as his father's had been.

"Don't be mad."

The sudden sound of Clark's voice coming from the doorway almost made her jump out of her skin. Right now, and coming from him, that was the worst possible phrase she ever wanted to hear. She turned and took a good long look at him; there was a haunted look in his eye and he seemed to be very on edge. He was also wearing the Suit, another bad omen. Preparing herself for the worst Lois gripped the sides of her son's comforter in her hands. "Ok…"

He strode into the room and crouched down in front of her, gripping her biceps in his hands. "And try not to panic."

That especially made her heart speed up and now she was fully awake. "Tell me."

She watched him drop his head briefly—in shame? guilt? grief? she couldn't be sure—before steeling his resolve and looking her once more in the eyes. "It's about Jason."

So he hadn't come home…Lois cursed the deep sleep she'd slipped into the previous evening when she thought he was safe at a friend's. "Where is he?"

"I don't know and that's the problem. I've been looking for the last five hours but so far I've turned up nothing."

That information made her go rigid. If Jason was missing and her husband—her superhero husband—couldn't find him…Oh God…

Lois' breath hitched in her throat as she was plunged into turmoil; she didn't know whether to scream or bolt for the door wearing nothing but her nightgown while scouring the streets for her missing boy. A second more and she realized that it was still relatively early—there was a chance he'd return once the sun was full up and he'd be back in time for breakfast—but deep down she knew that wasn't true and her heart pounded in her ears as the morbid thoughts swirled in her head.

"Call Al; he'll know what to do and we can't afford to waste any more time."

She watched Clark wince at the implied slight before leaving to do her bidding. She hadn't meant it as a rebuff…at least, not consciously.

For a long while Lois sat on the bed taking stock of Jason's room and plotting her next move while her stomach churned. The reality that he was missing was hitting her in waves and she could feel the bile rise up her throat. This was her greatest fear—their greatest fear—realized. Somebody found him, or discovered who Clark was, and was trying to strike back by taking their son. She and Clark always knew their kids would be at risk, more so then other children, and they'd thought they'd taken every precaution possible to keep them safe. Looking back now she realized just how naïve they'd been.

But her little boy? The thought made her heart seize. He may have been a young man but to her he'd always be her baby. Until the doctors placed him in her arms she'd never known a love like that could exist and now…

"I'm going to pick-up Al. We'll be back in five minutes," Clark announced as he sped in, a giant red/blue blur. He waved a hand in front of her dazed face looking for some kind of response. "Lo? Did you hear me?"

"GO!"

She pushed all other thoughts out of her mind and rose up from the bed. Lois couldn't dwell on the past now, not when she needed to pour every spare ounce of energy into bringing her son back—and bringing him home safe.

Atlantic Ocean, Day 1, 2019, 2:31 pm. He was hurtling across the Atlantic for the thirtieth time that day and again he was coming back disheartened and empty-handed. Clark was no stranger to fear but not knowing where his son was or whether he was even alive was absolutely terrifying.

He listened in on the conversation back home to see if they'd picked up any new leads so he could continue his aerial search. Jim, Chloe, Martha and Al were all at their posts as of 8 o'clock that morning; his apartment had gone from being a home to being command central and only his niece and nephews were oblivious to the current state of affairs.

"Come on, Clo, tell me you've got something," Lois urged.

The keys immediately stopped clacking. "I'm going as fast as I can but I'm afraid there isn't much here. You were right, he did have a journal and it was pretty well encrypted…he's only made a handful of 'super' references so far and then they're always done in code so they make no sense unless you know what to look for. Other then that there isn't anything in here yet; but trust me, as soon as I have something you'll be the first to know, I promise." Clark could just picture Lois jutting her shoulders back in dogged determination with her lips drawn in a tight, defiant line; it was a gesture that was eerily reminiscent of his late-father-in-law though he wouldn't dare mention the comparison to her. His wife rarely held her tongue and the fact that she was doing so now only added to the severity of the situation.

Al hobbled into the room with Jim not far behind. "Lois, what can you tell us about this stuff we found? Jim thinks that maybe…"

Clark tuned out and re-focused on his flight path. He was amazed at how Lois was keeping it together right now; here he was darting frantically around the globe like a chicken with it's head cut off while she was coolly managing a small fleet of friends in a much more detailed search at home. If she were the one with superpowers and he were left at home he didn't think he'd be able to keep it together half as well.

He imagined Lois was like this twelve years ago too. As the years passed they rarely talked about the trauma anymore but today was another story. There were simply too many unknowns surrounding his son's disappearance for him not to think anything but the worst. With Jason missing and the possibility that he might be suffering the same cruel fate at the hands of a different kind of Luthor…the thought made Clark's blood run cold in his veins.

With an extra burst of fear-fueled energy he surged towards Metropolis once more.

Metropolis, Day 1, 2019, 11:42 pm. "Come on people, think!"

The brave façade she'd worn like a mask all day was rapidly coming undone. Lois was barking out orders, snapping at people for no good reason, expecting everyone to anticipate her thoughts five thoughts ahead…if she didn't know any better she'd say she were channeling her father, only today she had good reason for her short fuse; if they didn't find Jason soon then they'd be forced to call in the police and if they called in the police then that took all control out of her hands and put it in someone else's—someone she didn't know, didn't trust and didn't want sticking their nose in her family's business.

It also meant that the situation was much graver then they'd ever anticipated.

No, she was much more capable of finding Jason then all the cops in Metropolis put together and she knew it.

The room was quiet; nobody dared answer her because they had no answers to give. Over the last fifteen hours the group of them thought they'd left no stone unturned. Jason's room had been invaded, his laptop broken into, his school papers and files searched, but none of that gave any insight into where he might have gone on his alleged 'errand' or why he never returned.

"Well come on! THINK!"

Lois got up and spun on her heel so her back was to the room. She needed proof of life or proof of death or proof of something because the not-knowing was gnawing at her soul. She stared out into the dark, cold, living room and wrapped her arms around her to ward off the chill that crept down her spine at the thought of Jason spending yet another night away from the safety of home.

Fuck! She screamed at herself. How can I not know where he is?

"You know…"

She whipped her head around in Jim's direction. "What?"

"This might be a bit of a long shot…" All eyes were now on him and Lois swiftly crossed the room until she was only a few inches away from his face; her proximity and the wild look in her eye made him audibly gulp. "But do you think maybe he's—it's probably not possible but—could he be up at the Fortress you guys were talking about a few weeks ago? I mean, does he even know where it is?"

"He knows exactly where it is," Clark answered before darting back out the window. The swish of the curtains was the only other thing Lois heard while the rest of the room sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

"Oh Lord, I hope he finds him," Martha uttered. She let loose a long-suffering sigh while Chloe readily agreed. Jim kept lamenting the fact that he should have thought of it sooner while Al, who had slowly been pacing up and down the room, stopped and stared intently at the open window just as Lois was doing. The seconds ticked by and she couldn't recall a time in her life when she'd been more tightly wound.

Clark cursed himself out the entire thirty-second trip; he couldn't believe he'd forgotten to check the Fortress and it was a slap in the face having Jim recall it before he did.

Once upon a time the Fortress had been the center of his whole universe—a monument to all things Kryptonian. Now though, after Luthor's treachery, it had become nothing more then a glorified mausoleum.

It'd been six months since he'd last set foot up there, flying Haley in with Jason keeping pace alongside them, to give the kids an impromptu lesson on Kryptonian society and history. He used to take them up all the time but as they got older it got harder and harder to carve out space in their busy schedules to make the journey.

He immediately winced in regret at that; it was important to Clark that the kids learn about their unique heritage and he should have made the time. Unlike his wife, whose mother's house was filled with mementos of her family's past, he had hardly anything tangible linking him to his Kryptonian origins once the Fortress was dead. There were no scallop-edged photographs of great-grandparents tucked away in old trunks, no toys from his baby-hood on Krypton, no clothing from a bygone era. Clark Kent had those things, sure, but not Kal-el, son of Jor-el and Lara. Aside from his very existence the only remaining evidence he had was his tiny spaceship, the fabric replicated and used in his Suit, and the Fortress—the only outward signs that Krypton ever even existed.

After discovering that the crystals had been taken Clark hadn't wanted to come back here but it was Lois who eventually suggested the trips, especially as the kids became more vocal in their curiosity about Krypton, 'Grandma Lara' and 'Grandpa Jor-el'. She also saw them as an opportunity for Clark to connect one-on-one with Jason and Haley and spend quality time together. It was because of her that Clark came around to thinking of the Fortress just a little bit differently after Luthor's treachery; the building itself may have been without power but it was still something Jason and Haley could touch, see, and feel, and so long as Clark was there to tell the stories and pass on his parents' wisdom he learned that it wasn't quite so dead after all.

As he descended through the ceiling entrance he found the interior to be as cold and lifeless as it had been for the last decade and his heart sank; there were no signs that anyone had been there within the last day and a half let alone the last few months. He proceeded to touch down on the main concourse and wander along the walkway, stopping near the end and holding out his hand tremblingly where the dead console was frozen in time; when nothing happened he squeezed his eyes shut and curled his hand into a fist. Clark cursed anew, this time ruing the day Luthor weaseled his way into his sanctuary, for with Jason gone he needed Jor-el and Lara's help now more then ever.

And standing alone in the frozen north Clark let loose a frustrated, ear-splitting scream.

It felt longer then five minutes but when her husband returned alone yet again Lois' resolve broke; she was so disappointed she couldn't even meet his eye. Sinking down into the nearest chair she felt the sobs rise up in her throat as Clark addressed the room.

"Al, make the call." The grizzled older man nodded and pulled out his cell phone before hobbling out of the room to find a little more privacy.

The world was going fuzzy around the edges and Lois struggled to bring the rug at her feet into focus lest she pass out. Only then did she realize she'd forgotten how to breathe.

They were in some serious trouble; he knew that the minute he answered Clark's frantic early morning phone call. He was glad to be of help but he wished more then anything that they didn't need him like this. It was a lot of pressure being asked to help locate a rogue half-Kryptonian…especially when all the preliminary evidence pointed to the fact that he didn't want to be found.

But even Al had his doubts about the boy's disappearing act simply being that of another teenage runaway. Jason was a relatively happy kid with good parents and a good life—then again he also had the raging hormones of any other youngster and was prone to having 'adolescent moments' as much as the next teen; add to that the fact that he had a whole arsenal of Kryptonian abilities at his disposal and it made for one hell of a tricky situation. He didn't want to believe that Jason would just up and walk away but not knowing where he was going when he left was making it more impossible to consider searching for him using conventional means.

And as hardened as Al was to the ways of the world he was still horrified at the thought of what the young man might be going through if he hadn't run away but in fact had been taken right off the street. He'd seen enough in his days on the task force searching for Superman to easily recall what Jason might be up against. He wasn't much of a praying man but more then a few silent words went up to the Man Upstairs that afternoon asking Him to look out for the boy.

Nearly thirty-six hours had passed before Jim suggested they check the Fortress. It was the break in the case he'd been looking for all day but when Clark returned alone Al knew the situation was bleak.

"Al, make the call."

He hesitated only a moment before complying; after all it wasn't everyday he heard Clark Kent—Superman , of all people—admit defeat.

Al pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and walked out of the room dialing an old colleagues' number from memory. Yes, they were in a lot of trouble…

** The song is "Where Have You Been?" by Kathy Mattea. YouTube it. It's a real tear jerker.