Title: Unmasked

Author: Nadia Mack

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing

Summary: Post Superman Returns. Behind the hero is a man longing to be free.

Author's Notes: I'll probably have the next chapter up on Friday. Thanks for all the reviews. I love putting these characters to the ringer.

Chapter 19: Family

Richard's eyes were closed, his head buried between his knees, hands covering his face in a vain attempt to quell the awful sensation of nausea that threatened to spill forth. The last few minutes felt completely unreal to him, and he felt himself falling apart. No amount of experience could ever prepare him for this.

"Richard," Lois spoke with uncertainty. The sight of her former lover in pain, and knowing she was the cause of it, hurt her more than anyone could ever know. "Richard," she said again, reaching out to him.

"Don't," Richard said swiftly, picking himself up and moving away from her… them. "You lied to me again."

"She didn't know either," Clark said. After telling Richard this truth, he had stepped back and waited patiently for him to process the information. "Nobody did until after I came back."

Richard looked at Lois with restrained anger and deep love. "You didn't know?" She nodded.

Once Jason revealed the truth, there was no turning back for Lois and Clark. In a lot of ways, Jason's spontaneity was a blessing in disguise. Lois had been upset at first, it wasn't the way to break the news to Richard, but Clark knew why their son had jumped at the chance to tell his father. Neither he nor Lois had told him to keep his greatest secret from Richard, and as soon as his mother knew the truth about Clark and Superman, Jason had felt free to tell his dad.

One of these days, when he was old enough, Clark would remind himself to thank him.

"I need a minute," Richard confessed as he sorted through his errant emotions. All this time, it had been Clark Kent. As much as he hated this situation, he felt an odd sense of relief knowing that he hadn't been the only one duped by Clark's bumbling persona. After a minute, "How did you find out?" He immediately changed his mind. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

"Do you want some water?" Lois offered.

"No," he said, the anger in his voice still prevalent. "I just want to be left alone now."

Clark nodded and Lois reluctantly agreed. She didn't like the idea of Richard dealing with everything alone. He shouldn't have to do it alone. Lois had pictured the truth coming out differently. She wanted him to lash out, show off his anger, and tell her how selfish she was. But the longer she waited, the more she came to realize that it wasn't going to happen.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone," Lois finally voiced as she and Clark left the Daily Planet roof and headed back down to the bullpen. "I'm worried about him, Clark."

"I'll look out for him," Clark assured her sincerely, his super-hearing paying close attention to Richard's movements. He lightly lifted her chin so her eyes could face his. "I won't let anything happen to him, I promise you, Lois."

It was a shame that it had taken her so long to notice his eyes were so blue.

"Thank you."

Clark smiled, happy to do just about anything for her.

It didn't come as a surprise when Richard called in sick the next day. Worried, Superman flew across town trying to find him, only to discover him in a slightly drunken state in a bar across the street from Planet.

"Leave me alone," Richard said, spotting Clark's image in the mirror that ran from one end of the bar to the other. He lifted his glass of bourbon and downed another large gulp. "Don't you have people to save?"

Ignoring the remark, Clark took a seat next to him. The bartender asked what he wanted and he replied that a Budweiser would do. Richard rolled his eyes while at the same time, surprised that the greatest hero of all time actually drank beer.

"I thought we could talk."

Richard wasn't up for it. "We've talked enough." Then he asked for the bartender to refill his drink.

"Maybe you should slow down with that."

"Don't tell me what to do," Richard said, feeling extremely agitated. "I don't care that you can kick my ass chained and blindfolded, okay? So just leave me the hell alone."

Further irritating Richard, Clark remained in the seat next to him for the duration of his liquor consumption. He didn't speak a word other than the occasional request for another bottle of beer. It was weird, to say the least for Richard. He knew now that Clark was Superman, but seeing him just sit there, patiently waiting for some form of conversation, and not complaining once, it was still hard to wrap his head around.

By the time the eleventh hour hit, Richard had fallen asleep on the counter after drinking so much, and Clark paid the bartender and called for a cab. Driving him back to their Riverside home didn't feel right considering all that had happened, and dropping him off at his uncle Perry's seemed too risky, so he ended up taking him back to his apartment.

As soon as Richard awoke, he was attacked by a vicious migraine. He picked his head up from the sofa and found the figure of Clark carrying a tray of water and a bottle of pills.

"For the headache," Clark said, placing the tray on top of the coffee table.

Richard swallowed hard, his throat feeling very dry. Even without much encouragement, he knew better than to refuse help in his condition.

"Where am I?"

"I brought you back to my place," Clark answered. "I hope you don't mind."

Richard sighed. "What do you want?"

"Just to talk."

"You know, I can't even hate you properly," Richard spat out quite angrily. "I was practically a fan." He got up but quickly regretted it. Grabbing the glass and ibuprofen, he swallowed the medicine in hopes of alleviating the pain in his head. "You have a lot of nerve coming into our lives like this."

"I know."

"God! I want to hate you!"

Clark remained silent, understanding him completely, contrary to what Richard might believe.

"Just so you know," Richard began his defense. "No matter how upset I am, I'd never hurt Jason. I'd never hurt him, I swear. I'll keep this secret of yours… ours… to my grave."

Clark looked back at him thoughtfully and said, "It never crossed my mind." He crossed the room and faced the tall window that overlooked the city; Richard's reflection appeared on the glass. "My biological father once told me that even though I was raised as a human being, I'm not one of them." Clark turned to face him. "He was wrong."

Richard looked confused. "What are you trying to say?"

"I love her, Richard. I love them both," Clark admitted wholeheartedly.

"I love her, too," Richard agreed, his anger dissipating just a little bit.

"I know there are a lot of things to sort out between us, and you may think that I'm trying to replace you in Jason's life, but I'm not. Lois and I want you to still be in his life. To be there for him when I can't."

Richard tried to hold back the sobs that threatened to be released when he heard those words. As much as it hurt him to, he knew what he was about to say would be the best for all of them.

"Now I think you're wrong," Richard said, surprising them both. "I've seen you with Jason, and he adores you. Even though I'd love to be a part of his life, and I promise I'll always be in some way, but I know I can't keep being his father. It hurts too much to share him with you."

"You don't have to decide this now."

"Lois loves you, and I know Jason does too. Just promise me you'll never leave them. Promise me."

Clark sadly looked Richard in the eyes; the image reminded him of himself not too long ago.

"Okay," he answered softly.

Richard nodded solemnly. "I guess that's that then."

Lois stepped out of the car, taking in the sight of the old house she had unexpectedly fallen in love with. During the two short days she had spent there, her eyes had been opened to a whole new world of possibilities, no pun intended.

On the way back to Smallville, Kansas, halfway to the Kent Farm, she had admitted that she was too nervous to drive, so she reluctantly gave up driving duties to her boyfriend of a month. He was more than happy to oblige.

After telling Richard everything, for the next few weeks they had dealt with some big changes in their lives. These included moving out of their Riverside home, dividing their belongings, giving Richard as much time with Jason as he wanted and finally, Richard deciding to reclaim his job overseas.

The office wasn't surprised by the separation, but they were very interested in the budding relationship between team Lane and Kent, who spent their first month together tentatively dancing around each other's romantic feelings until both were absolutely ready to take the next step. Clark didn't want to appear urgent in his need to express how much he loved Lois and their son, and Lois didn't want to appear insensitive to the relationship she had with Richard.

So again, they took things slow.

Jason continued to be doted on not only by his parents, but by his extended friends and family as well. Bruce would randomly stop by with Helena and the two would play for hours while Alfred watched them. The one person she regretted not having the pleasure of meeting was Martha Kent, Clark's mother. So much had happened; if Clark's mother had visited them any earlier, she didn't think the woman would have had their full attention, and this didn't sit well with her.

That's why she was nervous.

"I can't do this." She turned abruptly on her heel and walked in the opposite direction from the house. Clark reached out, amused, turning her back around. "You'll be fine," he whispered, setting a light kiss on her cheek before holding out his hand for Jason. "You ready to meet grandma?"

"Yeah!" Jason replied, giggling.

"I thought so," Clark winked at him.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Lois asked, panicking. She never cared what other people thought of her, not even Richard's parents had mattered. But then she had to remind herself why exactly she was nervous, because she's Supermom and I love Clark far more than I ever knew I could.

"There's nothing about you she couldn't or wouldn't love," he assured her in his calm voice. "And because I love you."

"Right, 'cause that just solves everything," she deadpanned.

Clark laughed and soon spotted his mom opening the screen door on the front porch. Lois' heart stopped at the sight of the kind-looking old lady on the steps. Clark smiled broadly, releasing his family for the moment before running up to his mother, giving her the most loving embrace any child who loved their parents could give.

Lois held her son's hand as she watched the reunion with teary eyes.

Meanwhile, as Martha held her son tightly, over his shoulder, she could see Lois Lane and her grandchild a few feet away. The young woman smiled, and Martha could tell she was nervous. Her son waved, a soft 'hi' escaping his lips as the two remained in place. Martha almost collapsed from sheer happiness to see the little one.

"Hello there," Martha said kindly, waving to Jason. Right then, Jason wiggled his hand free from his mother's grasp and ran up to his grandmother.

"I'm Jason."

Tears began forming in the old woman's eyes. "My name is Martha." She paused before continuing. "I'm your grandmother."

"I know," he grinned boyishly. "Can I hug you?"

Martha laughed and closed the distance between them. She took the small boy into her arms, the feel of him taking her back to a similar experience a long time ago where she held another little boy with the same striking blue eyes. Her heart leaped for joy, she never thought another moment like this could be possible this very moment.

"Oh, how I've been looking forward to this moment," Martha said, her love exposed for the world to see.

"We've been… looking forward to meeting you too," Lois said shyly, stepping forward. "I'm… I'm Lois Lane," she stammered.

"I won't have any of that," Martha said, lightly taking her outstretched hand and pulling the young woman in her arms. "It's finally nice to meet you, Lois. I've heard so much." Lois sank into her arms; the connection she felt towards this woman was overwhelming. Jason wrapped his arms around his mother's waist.

Feeling left out, Clark moved behind Jason and wrapped his own arms around his family. Only one thing could make life more perfect…

After the flood of emotions calmed down, Jason began reacquainting himself with Shelby, Lois went ahead to get cleaned up, and Clark looked at his mother with hope in his eyes.

"There's something I wanted to ask you."

Martha looked at him knowingly. She had a pretty good idea what it was.

To be continued…