AN: Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews. I've been trying to contact most of you to let you know how much those reviews mean to me. I'm sorry if I've missed someone. The more feedback I get, the better I can grow as a writer. And thanks to the beta readers, Hellish and htbthomas. You guys are always so supportive!

This chapter, as well as the next few chapters, is heavy on the dialogue side. I'm MUCH better at dialogue than I am at action, I think. So if you are an action fan, I'm sorry. But if you like dialogue and character exploration, then this should be right up your alley. I'm going to wait until I have the next two chapters written before I post again, so it might be a while. I need to make sure everything gets said that needs to be said, and the way I hear it in my mind shifts from day to day. So just to be safe, I won't post anything until I'm sure all of the conversation gets worked into the best spot.

Also, I wanted to make something very clear, as I think so many of us in the fandom have assumed otherwise. I went to the IMBD data base to see how Jason's name was listed in the credits. He is listed as Jason WHITE, not Lane. I even went to see the movie again (in IMAX-3D which was just…WOWOWOW!!) and paid close attention to see if that's how it appeared in the credits. Sure enough, he is Jason WHITE, not Lane. I feel it only adds fuel to the fire I've started here.

And can I just say that watching the movie after reading fan fiction like the Superman Parody and such is a totally different experience? I had lines from all kinds of fan fics running through my head. And for me, being the one who made their relationship a bad one, the ending scene between father and son nearly made me cry. I'm evil. I know. But I'll work it out for them.

Chapter Five

We floated back down to earth gracefully. Even in my torn state of mind, I couldn't deny the awe I felt whenever I flew with him. There was a sense of peace about leaving the world behind and escaping to a place no one else could see. It was the one power I had most wanted to inherit from him – the only power I wouldn't have minded developing. It only made it that much more cruel when I figured out I would never fly on my own. My molecular structure was just too human to allow me to ever defy gravity as he could. Once that fact had sunk into my brain, I refused to ever fly with him again. It had been nearly five years since my feet had left the ground without the aid of an airplane.

He landed first, as usual, and didn't entirely release me from his grip until my feet were securely planted on the ground. I whirled around to give him a hard look before running to Kate's side. She was sitting on a rock, her clothes covered in dirt and tears streaking down her face.

"Jason!" she cried, grabbing on to me and hugging me tightly. "I thought you were going to die."

I hushed her and wrapped my arms around her in comfort. "I'm fine."

She looked into my face, searching. "You're fine? You're really okay?"

I smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. I was more worried about you than anything else." I sunk down to sit on the ground and examine her ankle. "Oh, honey, it's so swollen."

"It hurts like hell," she said with a sniff.

I ran my fingers lightly over the puffy skin near the wound. "I should get you to a hospital to see if it's broken."

"Look more closely, Jason," a deep voice instructed from beside me. "She's got a hairline fracture right here." He indicated the location of the break for me to see.

I could see it, but Kate didn't know that. And I wasn't especially keen to start acting as if everything was out in the open now. Based on the last conversation I had with him, and the fact that Kate had called for his help, Superman probably thought I had told her the truth as he had suggested.

I scowled at him. "I'm sure I would see that if I had X-ray vision," I said slowly and purposefully. My eyes darted to Kate for a moment and then back to him, hoping he'd catch on to the fact that I hadn't told Kate anything.

To my luck, he did. "In any case, she does need medical attention."

I took her hands in mine. "I'll drive you to the nearest hospital. Metropolis is hours away."

"I could take her," he offered. "It wouldn't be any trouble and I could get her to Metropolis in no time."

"I want to stay with Jason," she said tensely, frowning at Superman.

"That's all right, I understand." He smiled that kind smile he often gave the people he helped and backed away from us a few steps. "It was nice to have met you, Kate."

"What?" she gasped.

I froze. He had slipped. I couldn't figure out how he was going to lie his way out of this one.

"How do you know my name?" she asked in confusion.

The smile on his face didn't falter. "Jason has spoken very highly of you."

I cringed, knowing that only made things worse.

"What?" Her focus shifted to me. "Since when do you talk to Superman? And what are you doing talking to him about me?"

My mouth hung open as I tried to form a cohesive thought.

"Jason," she whimpered. "What is going on?"

"I'm sorry if you're confused, Kate," that rich, honest voice explained for me. "I know Jason through his mother. We don't really talk that much, but he did mention you once."

How the hell did he do that? Was his brain programmed to come up with words that were only as truthful as they needed to be?

Kate's face contorted into a look of utter confusion and puzzlement. The half-true explanation hadn't done anything to clear things up for her, and I knew it. Her eyes darted between Superman and me as she tried to put the pieces together. I kept my eyes down, hoping she wouldn't see any resemblance. Inside my heart, I was hoping she would just let it go, but I knew that was a pointless hope—Kate wasn't the type to just let things go.

Before Kate could ask any more questions, Superman nodded in our direction. "I'm glad to see that you are both safe. Don't waste any time getting that ankle taken care of. I'll leave you to your afternoon."

I groaned inwardly, closing my eyes and trying to ignore the guilt I was feeling. I could so easily just let him fly away, but I didn't want it hanging over my head that I had called out for his help and didn't even have the decency to thank him. I shook my head and said, "Wait!"

I turned slightly to find him hovering just off the ground. "Thank you," I said evenly.

He smiled, and it was a genuine smile, which only served in making me feel worse about the situation. "Anytime, Jason."

Had we been alone, I would have said, "Anytime I'm in trouble, you mean." But I held my tongue.

And just as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone again, leaving me alone to clean up the mess I had created.

I turned back to Kate to find her staring at me in complete bewilderment. I couldn't meet her gaze. I was too embarrassed. "Come on, let's get you to a hospital."

I tired to take her hand, but she shook me away. "It can wait."

"No, Kate, you're hurt and I think -"

"I think you'd better explain to me what just happened."

I rubbed my neck, feeling anxious and tense as I said, "There was a cave-in and Superman helped us out."

She blinked. "And that's it?"

"Well, what do you think happened?" I figured this way I would know exactly what she had seen and heard. Then I'd have a better understanding of how to proceed.

"I don't know," she shook her head. "To be honest with you, I'm a bit…muddled."

Good. Stay muddled. "I think we should get you to a doctor, get your ankle looked at, and…"

"And?"

I didn't know what would come next, so I chose not to answer her. "Come on, I'll carry you." I scooped her up in my arms and started back towards the car. She didn't resist, so I took it as a sign that maybe, just maybe, she was confused enough by the situation to let it go.

I was wrong.

"You picked me up as if I didn't weigh a thing."

"Kate, you don't weigh that much."

"A hundred and twenty-five pounds is not nothing." She paused, waiting for me to say something, I guessed. I should have said something, for maybe it would have stopped her from making her next comment. "Of course, what's a measly hundred and twenty-five pounds compared to the weight of an entire wall of rock?"

I wet my lips and kept walking. "Kate, please."

"Please what? Please forget that you just saved our lives?"

"Superman did that."

"Superman wasn't in that cave. Superman wasn't the one holding that wall up long enough for me to get out of there." Her voice was starting to shake.

"What is it you want me to say?"

"How about the truth?"

"The truth." I couldn't tell her the truth. It hurt too much to admit it. "Haven't you ever heard of people doing extraordinary things in extraordinary situations? That they can do things that they normally shouldn't be able to do when they need to do them to save someone who -"

"Oh, that's crap!" she snapped. "You're talking out of your ass, Jason. Don't even try to tell me that this was one of those miraculous, unexplainable situations. You didn't look at all surprised that you caught that wall."

On that account, she was wrong. "Actually, I was surprised."

"Well, you could have fooled me."

We had reached the car and I gently placed her in the passenger side of the vehicle and closed the door. I knew she wouldn't give up pressing me for information any time soon, but I had to get her to a doctor. It would probably be the longest car ride of my life, but for Kate's sake, I would have to get through it.

I climbed into the driver's seat and shut my door. We sat in the quiet for a moment before I put the key in the ignition.

"So, is that it?" she asked. "Are we just going to ignore what happened? Pass it off as a miracle and just go on with our lives as if it never happened?"

"I can if you can."

"Jason!" she yelled at me. "Are you kidding me? Are you really not going to tell me what's going on?"

That was it. I couldn't keep it up anymore. I pounded the steering wheel in frustration. "What is it that you what to know, Kate?"

"How did you hold that wall up?"

"With my hands."

She scowled. "I'll rephrase. How were you able to hold that wall up with your hands?"

"Because I'm stronger than you."

"Are you playing a game with me?"

"You asked for the truth, so I'm telling you the truth."

"Half-truths."

"Yeah, well," I laughed. "I was taught by a master."

She glared at me. "What did he do to you?"

"Who?"

"Superman. I mean, I know that you don't like him, but I always assumed it was because your mother made such a fuss over him, making him out to be some sort of a god. But what did he really do to you?"

Why did she have to be so smart?

"Did he transfer some of his powers to you or something?"

I gulped. "How do you mean?"

"I don't know. He's an alien, right? And he's got those crystals that Lex Luthor stole that one time. Kryptonians were supposed to be an advanced people – advanced enough to send one of their own to the other side of the universe. Did he do something to you?"

"No, Kate," I said before I had time to think. I should have let her believe what she wanted to believe, but something inside me couldn't go on lying. "It isn't like that."

"Then what is it like?" Her voice was quivering now, and I wasn't sure if she was angry or frightened. "You have strength like him– amazing strength. And then he talks to you like you can see my bones through my skin. And then – and then you go flying up into the sky where I can't see you!"

"I didn't fly!" I corrected.

"Yes, you did, Jason!" she bit. "I saw it with my own eyes! You went up into the clouds and you stayed up there for what seemed like an eternity doing God knows what!"

"But I didn't fly! He took me up there, Kate!"

"All right, he took you up there. What difference does it make?"

"It makes one hell of a difference! I. Can't. Fly." I punctuated each word individually.

"Then why did he take you up there?"

"For the sunlight."

She snorted. "Is there something wrong with the sunlight down here?"

"Yeah, it's filtered!" I couldn't believe I was saying this to her, but the dam had opened and out it poured. "Through the clouds and the ozone. The radiation we feel down here is nothing to what you get up there."

"He exposed you to radiation?"

"Yes."

"But why?" she howled.

"Because -" GOOD LORD! This was so humiliating. "What do you know about Krypton?"

"It's his planet."

"Yeah, and they had a red sun that affected them the way our sun affects us. But here on Earth, the sun is yellow and it affects him differently. That's why he's so strong and he can burn things with his eyes and do all that other stuff. It's how he gets his strength. His body channels the energy of the sun. It rejuvenates him when he's tired."

She shrugged at me. "So, he took you up there because he was tired?"

I held her gaze, knowing I was about to cross a line I had promised myself I would never cross. "No, Kate. He wasn't tired. I was."

Her frown deepened as she considered my words. "You're from Krypton?" she asked softly.

"No, I was born right here on Earth. Krypton was destroyed hundreds of years ago."

"Then you're human?"

I sighed heavily. "That depends on your definition of 'human.'"

She tutted at me. "Human, Jason. Mortal. From Earth. Not an alien."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"You're not human?" she gasped. "First you tell me you're not Kryptonian, now you're saying you're not human. What are you then?"

"That isn't what I said," I corrected harshly. "You asked if I was from Krypton, and I'm not."

"So then you are Kryptonian?"

Again, I wasn't sure how to answer her.

"Come on, Jason!" she snapped. "This is not a difficult question! Are you Kryptonian or are you human?"

On the contrary, it was the most difficult question for me to answer. "I don't know," I answered honestly.

She roared at me then. "Don't do this to me, Jason! Don't play games with me. Either you're Kryptonian or you're human. Now, which one is it? I mean, you can't be both!"

And then it hit her. I could see it in the way her eyes shifted. The wheels were spinning in her head as her brain put all the pieces together one by one and realization sunk in. She looked at me with that look that I had always dreaded seeing from her. That look that said she didn't quite know what to make of me. A pitiful look of surprise and revulsion crossed her face. Her hand covered her mouth as she gasped, "You're… you're… Superman…is your father."

"No," I bit out. "Richard White is my father."

"And how are you defining 'father'?" she asked, using my own words against me.

"A father, Kate. Someone who is there for you when you need him. Someone who looks after you all the time, not just when you're in trouble. A man who teaches you how to read and play ball and to deal with the shit life throws at you. Who isn't ashamed to be seen in public with you." I paused. "That's a father."

Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "But…biologically…genetically…?"

My heart raced in my chest as I felt the weight of her wide-eyed stare press on me. I couldn't sit still. I couldn't breathe. The pressure was too much for me to take in. Forcefully, I opened the door and climbed out of the car as fast as I could. The car rocked as I slammed the door shut, making Kate squeal in fright.

I stormed away from the car, hating myself for something I couldn't control. It wasn't my fault I was like this. It wasn't my fault I was born this way. I hated him for putting me in this situation – for not helping me understand better how to deal with my own confusion. How could I ever explain this to Kate when I couldn't even really explain it to myself? How could I expect her to accept me in her life when I could barely accept myself? I hated it. I hated me!

"Jason!" she called out. "Jason, come back!"

"What for," I wanted to say, but I didn't. Go back so she could stare at me some more? So she could tell me I was a liar and a fake and, worst of all, that I was an alien? Go back to hear her say she never wanted to talk to me again, see me again? That she hated me and wanted to forget I even existed?

"Jason, please! I'm sorry! Please come back!"

She was…sorry? Sorry for what? She hadn't done anything wrong. Her reaction was typical of what any normal human would do when faced with a freak like me. What did she have to be sorry for?

"Jason! You're scaring me!"

I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the world, but the words he had spoken to me only a few days ago echoed in my head.

Promise me you'll be careful.

I had been so careless. Hitting that wall…causing that cave-in…putting her life in danger.

Don't make the same mistakes I did.

And what had I said? That I wouldn't run away. Wasn't that what I was doing now?

If she loves you, it won't matter.

If she loved me. If. That's a pretty big "if" now that she knew the truth.

"Jason! Please!" She was crying. I could hear her sobs clearly.

I wasn't going to be like him. I wasn't going to just give up and get out when things were too hard. I doubted there was any chance of ever winning her back, but at least I wouldn't be the one who walked away from her. If she didn't want me, then I would give her the satisfaction of being the one to walk away. I had lied to her, deceived her, but I wouldn't abandon her. I wouldn't follow in his footsteps.

I headed back to the car and climbed behind the wheel, carefully shutting the door this time. Next to me, Kate was sniffling, her eyes red with tears. I could hear how hard and fast her heart was beating. I glanced down at her foot to see that her ankle was swollen even more than it was before now.

"I'll take you to the hospital. They'll put a cast on your foot. And then I'll take you home."

She nodded, dabbing at her tears. "And then what?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "Let's just get your foot taken care of first. That's something we can fix. The rest…the rest we'll deal with later."