Disclaimer: Superman and related characters belong to Siegel and Schuster. Jonathan Samuel Kent was created by Dan Jurgens. Jon first "appeared" in Convergence Superman, Issue #2!

A/N: I'm really eager to hear constructive criticism! Thank you so much for leaving reviews (and please leave one, if you haven't already and you reached this chapter haha) *wink wink*

P.S. Be warned. Some language are for teens and above in this chapter.

9:

"What?" I pretty much scowl at Jimmy.

He looks shaken though, and hands me a compact mirror from Jenny's desk. What the –

My eyes. They're burning bright green!

"Shit."

Jimmy peers into my eyes again and opens his mouth to speak. "Maybe you should see a doctor. Probably you're just stressed. I've read that once. People's irises change because of fatigue and…"

I shake my head. "No. No... I…I… think I need to go."

He hesitates as he says, "You sure you don't need me, Miss Lane? I could drive you to the hospital…or y'know, to S.T.A.R.?"

"I'll be fine." I wave Jimmy off and dash for the elevator. "Don't worry."

Deep breaths, Lois. Think what to do next. Next…

Next.

Void.

Then, light…Somewhere…A house? A kitchen. I'm standing in front of a tiled counter with a basket of real bananas, oranges, and avocados in it. I look around. Hazy. I must be in a dream. The whole kitchen has a warm, afternoon glow. Now in front of me, a little window by the sink. The sun is outside. There are four cupboards overhead…Dishes in their place in a plastic cabinet…A fridge at my left under a cupboard…

"Mom?"

I look around me in panic. But someone latched itself on my leg. "Mom! You're back!"

I look down.

My blood froze.

He looks up at me, with beautiful blue eyes. He has wavy, black hair like his father's. A button nose like mine. He was wearing a blue sweater, and ripped jeans and white rubber shoes. "I missed you so much! I'm tired of eating frozen pizza."

I blink back.

He leaves my leg and goes to the refrigerator. "Are you making dinner?"

Me? Dinner?

I know how to cook?

"Hey, Mom?" the boy continues. I turn to his way and find him looking at me curiously. "Are you okay?"

I nod mutely, my heart sinking in my chest.

Mother.

Me.

…To this boy. I can feel it. Feel this wonderful child as if I have known him forever. As if I will know him everywhere. A part of me.

A part of Clark.

"Jon?" I call out softly, embracing myself. It's as if this is the only chance I'll ever see him. This boy who might never be.

He smiles brightly but then frowns. "Yeah, you okay?"

I walk up to him and kneel before him. He must be ten now. Wait. Didn't he die at four? He must be ten, by his height and the way he talks. Odd. I can feel his bones. "It's you."

"Positive," he replies, clearly confused. But he just leaps to embrace me. "You missed me too, didn't you?"

This isn't right. It can't be. This can't happen. This can't be real. I'm dreaming this up because of hanging out in Belle Reve too much…I-

"I…Jon, I…" I try to return his embrace…I close my eyes…a sob ripples in my throat...

I open my eyes.

It's 4 AM.

My heart's racing fast. I turn to my side and try to stand. My head's not hurting anymore, but when I go to the bathroom, those freaky green eyes continue to stare at me like they're some neon billboard bulbs.

Jon. Jonathan…Samuel…I held him, in my arms. He called me. I remember the voice… It feels real.

Real...Like so many dreams. So many subconscious imaginings the brain makes up to tether itself after undergoing through many painful events. I close my eyes and hit my head hard. Get out of dreamland and start working on the ground. I have to. Have to…keep sane.

S.T.A.R. Labs, Metropolis, 10 AM.

Thursday.

People in the front desk place me here in a cold, white hallway sitting on one of the five connected, and literally ice-cold, steel chairs. There's a sole houseplant at the end of the rather long hallway. A couple of brown doors at the sides…and the telltale rectangular fluorescent lamps on the ceiling. A certain Dr. Serrano will see me. Apparently, he's also the one who saved my life but I didn't have the chance to thank him personally the last time.

The sound of shoes come from the entrance near me. And soon enough, a scientist – must be the doctor - "Miss Lane? It's only been five days since you're released from the facility-" The doctor stops himself short and narrows his eyes. "Dear God, what happened to your eyes?"

I stand up to meet him. "My coworker noticed it last night."

"Last night?" he echoes. "You didn't drop by last night, you should've."

I sigh. "I was too tired to drop by."

Dr. Serrano nods and leads me to the laboratory, I presume, where I will be treated. He says I came to the right place and relays to me that he was 100% sure those nanites have been filtered off my bloodstream already…but then, maybe they aren't the virus themselves like Lex claimed. Maybe they are simple vehicles of the main virus.

I sit on a large white chair, propped up like the one at the dentists'. The doctor and his fellow scientist gets a blood and saliva sample from me. Then they had me wait. Dr. Serrano comes back, with a handheld equipment in his hands. "The tests will be done in an hour, Miss Lane." He sits beside me and continues. "But I think I must run this test just to make sure. This device detects radioactivity. If your eyes are green, I am inferring it must be-"

"Green kryptonite."

Dr. Serrano nods slowly. "Superman told us the goons gave you a kryptonite necklace too." He presses the box on and places it near my eyes. The thing whirrs and dings steadily. After a minute, he pulls it away and reads the results.

"Well, it confirmed our guess," he flatly says, "You have high levels of radiation from…as the signatures recognized by the device to be kryptonite."

I nod. "Can you clean me again?"

Dr. Serrano deeply sighs. "We might…if the dose administered is not that concentrated. It's a good thing we already know now."

"But it's been a week since exposure." I sit up, not looking at him. "Can the other tests see if I'm…if I already have another disease caused by radiation in my body? Like cancer?"

"We can only know once you start showing symptoms of cancer, Miss Lane," he says, "Until then, what we can do, is find a way to remove the kryptonite in your system."

Daily Planet.

12 NN.

My life can't simply halt just because of kryptonite poisoning. It's something Dad had hammered into us when Lucy and I were just tweens. If you die, you'll die. No use racing with time when circumstances are beyond your control. After all, God or the universe decides for everyone at the end.

Life is just like a flower. Alive one day.

Wilted tomorrow.

I'm typing silently in my cubicle when Jonathan decides to stop by.

"Not a good time, right now," I flatly reply. My usual line when I'm busy. Believe me. He should know that.

"At least you can go to lunch with me?" he says. "Even God catches a break on the seventh day, Lois, maybe you can stop that and grab some food."

I sigh and frown at my computer. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Carroll."

"Fine…Chill." But he doesn't leave. "It's him again, isn't it?"

"What?" He wants to discuss this right now? God. I can't believe he's this narrow-minded.

"Clark."

I close my eyes briefly and return back to my article. Jon's face is scowling in the reflection on the screen. "What about him." I frown. "Can you just stop bringing Clark in our conversations?"

"You never let go of him, Lois. He's gone, okay? He's moved on. You, on the other hand, haven't," Jon dissects my situation as if he's my therapist. "It's sick, Lois. Sick that you're this stupid when it comes to him. He's got a girlfriend he loves and actually loves him back. And you may have outed him, but he's still powerful and super. You lost your chance, by letting him go then betraying him and now you're sulking and miserable and treating me like shit-"

"Well you are shit." I say under my breath, standing up from my chair and facing him. "You think you know me? Newsflash, Jon, you're nothing new. You're not some genius by sizing me up. You're my fourth fucking fling. You think I'd marry you? Hell to the no. You think I don't know that you're just using me? What, to advance here? That what, you're parading me like some trophy girlfriend to your buddies? But deep down inside, you're insecure. You're just as insecure as puny little ole mortal me. You keep using other people to feel better about yourself." I point at his chest, keeping my voice low, but Jenny and Ron are already looking my way. "You're right, I'm stupid. Fucking stupid when it comes to men. So stupid I even let you in my life and my apartment-" I'm shaking. Shaking. I need to scream, to punch! Not here. Not in the office. Jon stares at me, frozen. I clench my teeth. My voice shaking in anger. Not now. Don't accuse me like that when I'm possibly on the brink of dying and my life is whirling out of my control, Carroll! "We're done. Forget we even happened. And you know what? Even on his bad day, Clark's a thousand times better friend than you'll ever be, jerk."

Jon doesn't say anything. He leaves in a second.

Good. Go away.

Jenny walks up to me. "Hey, Lo."

I shut my eyes and sit back down. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"You're not in the best shape."

"That's an understatement."

"How about your eyes?" she whispers, standing by my table. "Jimmy told me he's worried last night because-"

I look up at her. "Well, they're still green." Her lips purse to a thin line. She doesn't know what to say. I pat her hand and take a deep breath. "It's okay, Jen. I'll be fine."

"Okay," she says, pressing my hand tight, "Don't take yourself too hard, Lo. We're here for you. You still got us."

"Thanks. Really," I stand up and embrace her. Jenny leaves, and I'm back to my computer. I send an SMS to Henderson, following up that Dushnayev query. Once I'm done with this article, I'll go back to Johnson alright.

I need goddamn answers.