Chapter 4: Back from the Dead

The next few months went by at a glacial pace as far as Clark was concerned. He was stuck in a bubble. Able to hear and see what was going on in the world, but unable to do anything about it.

The AI brought Lois and his mother to him for a few hours a week, but otherwise he was alone. Lois suggested that the AI provide him with reading material, and was able to establish an internet connection. He read the daily planet, and every other newspaper from cover to cover, but it still wasn't enough to keep his busy mind from going insane.

When he felt himself slipping into chaos, he would close his eyes, and focus on the heartbeat of those that he loved most, his mother, Lois and their unborn daughter. He could hear his daughter's heartbeat increase as it went from 8 weeks to 12 weeks to 16 weeks. He smiled to himself thinking of how strong his little girl was, and how great she would be for this world.

Lois was so thrilled that Clark was alive, and getting better, but she was still worried. Clark's life was saved, but unless she came up with a good cover story, would have to choose between just being Superman, and not Clark Kent and the world finding out the Clark Kent was Superman.

She had been working hard but had not been able to find a way to explain how Clark had not died. The obituary was easily explained away, that he was undercover, and they had to fake his death. What wasn't easily faked was all of the friends and family who had seen Clark Kent in his casket, and then buried in the family plot.

She was out of options. Clark would be coming out of his healing bath in a few weeks, and she wanted to be able to bring him back to his life when that happened. With a sigh, she pushed into Perry's office.

Perry was on the phone, when he saw Lois, who was looking lovely as her baby bump became more prevalent as she was halfway through her second trimester. She had a look on her face that she was doing something that she was afraid of, but that she was determined to face her fears. "Let me call you back," Perry said to his Executive Editor, who was working at their office in Gotham.

Lois sat down, and after turning on the white noise machine, and taking a deep breath, she began, "Perry, I have something to tell you, but it can't leave this room. It can't be in the newspaper, in ANY story, you can't even tell Alice."

Perry leaned forward, intrigued, "My, this is big."

"Clark is alive."

Perry listened to the whole story. Lois laid it all out on the table, about how Clark was found by his parents in a spaceship, about how Clark had been raised by Martha and Jonathan Kent, and about how he had discovered his Kryptonian Heritage, and doned the persona of 'Superman' (a name that she gave him) in order to protect his identity of Clark Kent and his human loved ones.

When she got to the end about how he had not been dead as they believed, and was saved by his Kryptonian Artificial Intelligence robot he leaned back in his chair, "Wow. I knew part of it. That Clark was Superman."

"You did? Since when?"

He smiled, "Since I first hired him. You think that a pair of glasses would fool Perry White? I saw you kissing him after that World Engine destroyed half of metropolis, and then he showed up in glasses as a string reporter and you started dating him."

She was confused, "You had the biggest story in the world under your nose. Why didn't you expose him?"

"He saved all of us. He was doing good work as a reporter, even though he often didn't do the stories that I assigned him. If I ran a story that exposed him as Superman, it would sell papers for a few days, and ruin his life for all time. Plus, I like the kid." He shifted gears, "I take it you told me all that because you need help finding a good cover story about how Clark Kent is alive without exposing his other identity."

Lois nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "Yes. If I can't figure this out, if his secret is outed, then… I don't know, but our lives, including the life of our daughter, will never be the same."

TBC…