I'm sorry for being late again my lovely readers, but I'm making up for it with this a longer chapter! Thank you for reviewing and as always, please tell me what you think :)
Jase threw his Warrior Angel action figure to the ground in frustration. It was no fun pretending to beat up Devilicus with mommy yelling all the time. He didn't understand why she was being so mean to daddy or why she never played with him anymore or told him how much she loved him while putting him to bed. She hardly ever payed him any attention and when she did it was because she was mad at daddy again. He didn't know why she was acting like she didn't know what he liked for dinner or why she thought daddy was two different people. All he wanted in life was some blueberry pancakes, to throw Devilicus into a volcano, and for his mommy to act the way she used to.
"Seriously, Clark," His mother said in a scary voice. "what would they ever get done with out me? I can't be off today!"
"Lois, I don't make the rules. Perry doesn't want you in the office today. He wants you to take a few hours to spend with your family. You haven't taken a single day off since your first day." Daddy said, trying to calm her down.
"If I'm supposed to spend time with my 'family' then why aren't you off too?"
"I have work I have to finish too, Lois." Clark noticed Jase watching them, then told Lois to move into the kitchen and away from him. Since his parents had finally stopped screaming, Jase went back to saving the world, all from the comfort of the couch.
"Besides," Clark continued. "this would be a good time to get to know your son."
"I do know him!" Lois argued, because she couldn't admit that Clark was right, not that she didn't agree with what he was saying.
"You've spent maybe an hour alone with him the past few weeks. I don't want him to start thinking that he did something to make his mother not care for him anymore."
"I do! It's just…it doesn't feel like he's my child. You can't just expect me to be literally dropped into this situation and tell me I'm supposed to love this little person I just met unconditionally." She threw her hands into the air. "I just not the mother type, Clark. I mean, look how Lucy turned out."
"Lucy turned out alright, Lois." Clark reminded her. He had told her weeks ago that her little sister had joined the military after surviving a major car accident and that she was now dating a reporter from the Planet. But Lois often clung to the life she knew and didn't absorb new information well.
"Still," She argued. "before all this happened, she was scamming people out of money, stealing cars, and on her way to becoming a bank robber! What makes you think that he won't turn out like that too?"
"Because he has a great mother who would kill him if he ever acted like that." Clark said firmly. She continued to stare at him, unsatisfied. That kid's only hope was Clark and she knew it. "I have to go or I'm going to be late. Just take him to the park or watch a movie with him."
"But…" She started, but he wasn't listening to her. He grabbed his coat and briefcase then went over to the couch where Jase was playing and gently kissed him on the top of the head.
"Be good for your mother. Don't give her any trouble." Jase looked at Lois uncertainly but nodded anyway. Without another look Clark was out the door, leaving Lois and Jase to stare quietly at each other. Jase quickly got bored and started playing with his toys again. Lois slowly sat down on the couch beside him.
"Who's this guy?" She asked him, picking up a very muscular action figure.
"That's Toro Bravo. He is Warrior Angel's friend." Jase said taking it from her then shoving the little toy into her face. It's tiny plastic horns almost touched her nose. "He's half bull. See mama?"
"Wow!" She said with more enthusiasm than she was used to showing. "And who's your favorite?"
"Warrior Angel!" He giggled like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why do you like him the most?" She was trying to keep the conversation going. At least he couldn't get into anything if they were talking.
"Because he's like daddy." Jase answered simply. She was confused. Since when did geeky and infuriating become heroic traits? He handed Toro Bravo back to her. "Here. We have to stop Devilicus from destroying Earth!"
He swung Warrior Angel high into the air and then back down to "kick" Devilicus into the crack between the sofa cushions. He made car-crash sounds to illustrate his point, looking to Lois to improvise her own way to defeat the villain. After a few minutes she realized that she was having fun with Little Smallville. Maybe this wouldn't be as awful as she thought.
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Clark felt bad about manipulating Perry into giving Lois the day off, but it was necessary. Now that he had to hide everything from her, it was becoming harder and harder to sneak away to save people. The other night though, he caught bits of a conversation that was very incriminating to President Luthor. Lex had always used fear to sway public opinion, hell that's how he got elected in the first place. Right now he was in the middle of creating very harsh foreign policy measures. The kind that would probably lead to the military stock piling weapons manufactured by LexCorp.
Congress had been debating about it for months. With heroes like Superman around, there hadn't been terrorist attacks in years. Most didn't see a legitimate threat to protect the united States against. Clark had the nagging suspicion that Lex was going to do something drastic to change things into his favor.
Clark was flying high above the clouds listening in for anything suspicious. Suddenly he heard a sharp, high-pitched sound. A sound that was used as a signal for him to call Watchtower. It was Oliver who picked up.
"We found something." He said without a preamble. "It looks like someone is planning an attack on Paris."
"I'm on it." He said, almost snapping the phone shut, but Oliver stopped him.
"Wait. Wayne's there tracking some guy in a clown suite. Made a big deal about being on 'vacation.' I'll get him to check it out."
Clark rolled his eyes. He didn't care much for Batman, but he was sure the rich boy could handle it. "Fine. Let me know how it turns out."
He flew back to their apartment and looked in on Lois and Jase. Now that he actually could use the day to spend with his family, he didn't think it was the right time. He watched the two of them, playing together like they were as thick as thieves. He sighed. It looked like he actually would be getting things done in the office today.
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Lois felt a small head gently hit her lap and she found that Jase had finally fallen asleep. The were in the middle of watching "Lilo and Stitch" which she realized must be his favorite movie with the sheer number of times he watched it. Even Lois had to admit it was a cute movie about an alien who becomes friends with an orphaned girl and learns the meaning of family and friendship. Although she was more than sure he just liked the child-friendly action sequences.
She picked him up, noticing that he had only eaten half of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she made him. Maybe he didn't like it, but he hadn't objected to it when she offered. The kid must know by now that a PB&J was about as far as her culinary skills went.
She shuffled down the hall to place him in bed. He stirred slightly as she laid him down. She winced, thinking she would have to start the whole process over again if he woke up.
"Don't leave again mommy." He said, sleepily. She stared at him, very confused. She didn't understand what he meant.
"I'm not going anywhere, bud. After your nap we might go to the park, okay?" She reached down and ran her fingers through his silky dark curls. He snuggled closer to her hand, smiling slightly.
"Okay. I love you, mama."
"I love you too, kiddo." It had slipped out before she had even stopped to consider it. Crap. Did she love him, the carbon copy of Smallville that could've accurately been named Clark Kent Jr.?
She honestly didn't know and it terrified her. She wasn't sure though, if it scared her more that she might not love him more that if she did.
After a few minutes she got bored and didn't want to contemplate such large life questions. She decided to do some laundry, but found that Clark had already done it. He had done all of the house cleaning really. So there so was, for the first time in her life, wishing that she had some chores to do. Instead she started snooping.
Though she knew she saw a lot of excitement being a reporter, her apartment lead her to believe she lived a rather tame lifestyle. There seemed to be no alcohol in the apartment, and she checked all of her usual hiding spots. She found a sewing kit with a bunch of red, yellow, and blue thread and about a million pairs of glasses, though she wasn't surprised about it. Clark probably tripped and broke a pair or two every week.
On their bookshelf she found an old scrap book so full that the papers were stuffed in there with abandon. Curious as always, she started flipping through it. Lois didn't quite understand what the scrapbook was for. Obviously it chronicled her and Clark's relationship but with random articles about Superman thrown into it. She decided that she probably ran out of space to put them in and shoved them in the book to save space.
She carried the book over to the couch and started going through it. The first picture was one of them talking, liking arguing, at his senior prom. She laughed out loud. She distinctly remembered snapping out of her possessed state and being appalled at the thought of his hand going anywhere near her chest, though she did like seeing him get all worked up. Not that she'd ever admit to it.
The next was a picture of the two of them standing beside Mr. and Mrs. Kent, with red, white, and blue balloons scattered behind them. It looked like some kind of political party, maybe when Mrs. Kent became senator. It must have been not long before Mr. Kent passed away.
With a heavy heart she looked another page. She and Clark were standing next to each other, she in an orange dress and him in a tux, perhaps at a wedding. They looked nervous around each other, but she could see it in her eyes. She really liked him. She wondered if this was around when they first started dating.
There was another of them together at an office party, holding on to each other and looking much more comfortable together. One of them where Lois was smiling at the camera and Clark was smiling down at her like she was the greatest thing in his world. There was another where she was flashing a big shiny diamond with a smug look on her face and the next was one where she was standing with Chloe and a red head, looking super hot in a cheetah print dress and a fake veil stuck in her up-do.
There was an entire section dedicated to their wedding. It was beautiful, even she had to admit it. There customized vows were taped in, and when she read them, she started tearing up. There was an ache in her chest that was similar to the one she felt the other night with him. There were pictures of them at some beach, presumably for their honeymoon. There was a pregnancy announcement that consisted of a big green typewriter, a smaller black one, and a small multi-colored toy one. One of her favorites was a picture where her head was tossed back with a smile, Clark kissing her giant, swollen belly. Her hand gently rested on his head.
The rest of the scrap book was of Jase. Them holding him when he was first born, his cute little outfits, him doing silly things like running around with a red towel tied to his shoulders, pictures of his first steps and what his first word was (it was dada). There was a mothers day card with his tiny red footprints that said "I love you Mommy." She didn't realize she was crying until a tear drop smudged the "L" on the card. She waged an internal struggle, fighting her happiness about being Clark's wife and Jase's mother. For the first time she didn't hate being in the future. For the first time she actually wanted for this to be her life. She just didn't know how to get here.
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Lex paced around the Oval Office. His first year as president had been a stressful one. The world was changing rapidly and the whole country felt the impending collapse in the air. Sure they had their superheroes to lift their spirits, but things were bad for people. Computers had replaced workers, there were violent riots at the Mexican border, and there was a lot of tension between the US, Russia, and China, although that was just what he told the pubic. In reality he had made an underground alliance with those leaders and other countries with nuclear capabilities.
He had won the American presidency, but Lex wanted more. So much more. He was raised to believe that he was above everyone else, heir to a dynasty that would envelope the whole world. But still he wanted more; to control the entire planet, not just to own a world wide corporation. It was what his father had left for him, or rather what he had taken for himself and now it was time for him to fulfill that destiny.
It was hard to carry out his plans in office, with the world watching his every move, waiting for him to either make good on promises or fail. Luckily for Lex, he took over when thing were in turmoil and he was virtually the greatest mind Earth had ever known. He was able to keep his secrets and make his own plans with out the citizens of the United States having any clue as to what was going on.
Today he arranged for drastic measures to be taken and to be sure that he would gain the necessary support for his foreign policy plan. A small bomb would go off in a Paris building, occupying Superman while another would go off mere seconds later at the Daily Planet, staging a terrorist attack. And it was only a few minutes away. He had already written his speech, reassuring the public that he had things under control (which unlike most presidents he actually did), telling them that they couldn't put all their faith in vigilante heroes, and convincing them that now more than ever brutal, swift force was needed to deter the enemy. Interrupting his thoughts though, was the piercing ring of his secret phone.
"Yes?" He said, cooly. He knew he was being listened in on, so he used code language. What he really meant by "yes" was, What's the problem?
"There's a problem with your dinner sir. The escargot." His man Scott said, being careful to keep his voice calm and under control. A.K.A., Things didn't go to according to plan in Paris.
"Can it be salvaged?"
"No, sir. It was burned." The bomb was defused.
"Can you find anymore?" Can you plant another?
"We're fresh out. I'm sorry Mr. President." There's not enough time.
Lex snapped the phone shut. There was nothing to keep Superman occupied until the timer at the Planet went off. Maybe he had even taken care of the one in Paris. He could be suspicious. But there was not enough time to call it off. Oh well, he thought. An attempted attack was still enough to sway votes in his favor. He smiled. Minutes from now he would be getting a call about the attack in Kansas and chaos would erupt in the streets of Metropolis.
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Lois ran up behind Jase, very slowly and quietly, waiting for the right moment to pounce. He looked around to the left and right, and even up for some reason, but never behind him. Suddenly Lois grabbed him around the middle and lifted up above her head. He squealed in delight. They had been playing together in the park for at least an hour. Lois was exhausted and tired of chasing him around the jungle gym time after time, but he was having such a good time that she just kept on.
"Looks like someone's having a good time." Lois recognized her voice instantly. She turned around to see Chloe strolling up the sidewalk with baby Charlotte and Robbie running ahead of her.
"Aunt Chloe!" Jase yelled and sprinted towards her as soon as Lois set him down. She gave him a big squeeze before turning him loose to peek into Charlotte's stroller and play tag with his older cousin. As the boys played together Lois and Chloe migrated over to the benches set up for parents.
"Clark sent you didn't he?" Lois asked after a minute or so. Chloe looked guilty and Lois knew she was caught between protecting her friend and not lying to her cousin. "It's okay, I'm not mad."
"He's just worried about you." Chloe said, defending him.
"I know." Lois said and Chloe gave her a startled look. "Anyone would be. Chloe, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Me and Clark…were you upset about us? When we got together I mean?" Lois was nervous again. She knew they had sort of addressed it before, but she still didn't see how Chloe would've ever been alright with it.
"I saw it coming. Everyone did really." Chloe paused, thinking. "Honestly, at first I was a little heartbroken. I mean I knew him for years and the second you walked into his life you two had these killer fireworks."
"We did not! We practically hate each other Chloe."
"Come on, Lois. Haven't you ever seen a little boy pull a girls pigtails because he likes her and doesn't know how to deal with it? That's what you two had. I saw it the minute you dunked him that day during sprit week senior year." Chloe laughed. Lois would rather not think about it. "The two of you were meant for each other. Did he ever tell you that he looked into his telescope and saw stars crossing the first night the two of you admitted that you were friends?"
Lois shook her head. "Maybe he will tell me. In my future I mean. I just…I have all of these feelings that I don't know what to do with. I realized today that I want this life, but if I go for it I might miss out…with someone else."
"Who?" Chloe asked but when Lois didn't answer she realized that Lois was talking about Superman. How ironic it was, Lois running away from and towards the same end. "Lois I think-"
But Lois never got to hear what Chloe thought because sirens screamed from all directions. Firetrucks and ambulances raced towards the downtown area. Lois jumped up and started gathering her things, calling for Jase.
"Where are you going?" Chloe asked quickly.
"I need to see what's going on down there. You take the kids and I'll meet up with you later."
"Lois, I don't think that's such a great idea." The boys came running up together, Robbie flushed and sweaty, while Jase was barely out of breath.
"Bud," Lois addressed her son with a smile. "you're going to go with Robbie, Charlotte, and Aunt Chloe for a little bit so mommy can get some stuff done. Okay?"
His face fell and he ran up and grabbed on to her legs. "No!"
"It's not up for a vote, kid." She tried to pry him away from her legs but found it to be very difficult. When he saw her struggling he pulled back. She put her hand on his face trying to calm him down, but he busted out crying.
"I wanna go with you mama!" He choked out between sobs. She looked to Chloe for support, after all this was her first toddler meltdown. Her heart was breaking and suddenly she didn't want him out of her sight, not even for a minute.
"Chloe I'll meet up with you later." She picked Jase up and started walking to her car. Chloe called out for her. "It's okay, little cousin. Don't worry about it."
Chloe tried to call Clark as Lois pulled off, but there was no answer. She took that as a very, very bad sign. Clark was probably dealing with a crisis and as always, Lois was running straight towards it.
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The streets of Metropolis were crowded with people running around, panicking. Lois parked illegally in a handicapped spot and started heading towards the Planet. She carried Jase, practically jogging to the building.
"What's happening?" She asked an older man who bumped into her.
"There was some sort of explosion at the newspaper place. That Superman saved the building, but people are still scared. I'm not taking any chances on that building not being secure." He pushed past her and kept going.
Lois needed this story. It was huge! Lost in the thrill of the chase she didn't notice the savage looking man coming straight for her. He knocked into her like a wrecking ball and tried to yank her purse from her shoulder. She dropped Jase with a little bit less grace than she normal would've and shoved him behind her, shielding him. She was playing tug-of-war with the man for her purse. She saw him reaching for his pocket and was sure he was going to murder her right there on the street.
Lois found the would be thief knocked to the ground and Jase standing near him. He was looking at the little boy with a horrified expression and something Lois could only barely see, fear maybe. She was confused though. He tripped, she decided. Her son was only three and didn't have that kind of strength. The man scrambled to his feet and took off in the other direction.
She picked up Jase again and shoved her way through the crowd. Her co-workers were already there, trying frantically to get the first quote from the police chief, who stated that the building was safe and the suspect who planted the bomb was in custody thanks to Superman, who was flying into the clouds this very second.
"Daddy!" Jase screamed. Lois scanned the group of reporters for Clark but didn't see him. She elbowed her way to the front. The police chief noticed her out of all the other reporters because she had a child in one arm and a tape recorder in the other.
"Miss Lane." He said, formally. She almost forgot that he knew her by name.
"Can you tell me what happened here, Chief?"
"The bomb detonated in the basement copy room. The blast would have been catastrophic if not for Superman absorbing most of the blow of the explosion, saving the building and all the lives inside of it. The unnamed suspect tried to flee, but was captured by our skilled officers at the Metropolis PD."
Jase stopped listening to the man drone on and on, but he didn't whine or wiggle. He was just glad to be in his mommy's arms. He was happy that his mother was finally back.