Chapter 3: Reintroduction
Just as the sun was starting to set over the great city of Metropolis, a red and white taxi pulled up to a large house, and out from the cab stepped two of the most unlikely pair to live in such a place. A bedraggled looking man and a woman looked at the mansion with relief in their eyes. The man paid the driver with a ten dollar bill, and when the man at the wheel wanted more, a gun was drawn and the taxi sped off into the darkening night. Lex Luther and his companion, a woman called Kitty, walked right up to the house and went inside finding themselves in a large foyer. While Kitty tended to the dog in her arms, Lex walked down the large passage, passing a glass display with a model ship called the Gertrude. The real Gertrude had been lost at sea, and as he turned to his right, into a small study, Lex thought of the woman and small child he had left on The Gertrude, hoping that they had perished along with it, but knew that as long as Superman was still alive, that was likely not what had taken place.
Walking over to a solid cherry wood desk, Lex went behind it, and sat down in a soft very comfortable leather chair, slipping off his shoes, and in the process dumping sand onto the floor, but he didn't notice. He and Kitty had spent almost three weeks on a small Island that he managed to find when the escape chopper they had been in ran out of gas. While they were there he was forced to live below his means; Lex Luther, the greatest criminal mind of all times had been forced to work for his way to survive again, and that experience had only served to make him more bitter, and more determined to destroy Superman. Lex wanted to make him suffer, but right now more than anything, he wanted a good meal, clean cloths, and a clean bed to sleep in. With that thought in mind, he left the office and headed upstairs to take care of that, hearing Kitty singing to the dog she had refused to let out of her sight on the Island.
While Lex was working on getting re-established; on the other side of Metropolis, in a smaller house that faced the bay, a father and his son were getting to know one another. Seated in the living room, on the soft carpeted floor across from his son, Clark Kent was getting beat a third time at a game of Go Fish. This evening was the first time he and Jason had seen one another since the truth had been revealed, and at first Jason hadn't said too much to him, but now they were getting along great.
Jason only needed one card to win, and when he asked Clark if he had a two, he watched as the tall man sitting across from him frowned before handing him a card with the two of spades. Jason smiled a moment before he stood up and began dancing around the floor. "I won, I won," he called out getting his mommy and daddy's attention. Lois and Richard were sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper, and were both relieved that Jason was feeling better about having Clark around.
When she heard Jason ask Clark to play another game, Lois stood up from the table, and went to the rescue. "Jason, it's time for your bath. Why don't you take Clark upstairs and see if he can help you pick out some pajamas," she suggested. Since Jason was not yet comfortable referring to his Clark as 'daddy', everyone was referring to him by his given name and that had worked to put Jason more at ease.
Jason stopped dancing and sighed, "Can I take a bath in your bathtub mommy?" he asked, and when she nodded her head Jason walked over to his Clark and pulled on his hand. "Come on Clark, I'll show you my room now," he said softly. Jason waited for him to stand up, and then took his hand and led him to the second level.
As the two of them headed upstairs, Richard walked over to where Lois was picking up the cards and lent a hand. "Looks like he's feeling a little better," he offered. Lois had been quiet through most of the evening, and Richard knew she was uncomfortable with all of this, not because of Jason, but because of her feelings.
They both reached for the last card at the same time, and when their hands touched, Richard gently held onto Lois and she looked at him. "I'm sorry Richard, all of this is so hard to get used to," she admitted as they stood up. When he hugged her she wrapped her arms around him, and for a moment they stayed that way, and then she left to go run Jason's bath.
Seated on the end of the bed in Jason's room, Clark watched as his little boy tried to pick out which pair of pajamas he would wear. He had a whole drawer full of them, and had narrowed it down to a pair of pajamas; one pair light blue in color with helicopters printed on the fabric, and another pair light green with fish of all sorts printed on the fabric, each pair long sleeved, with matching long bottoms to keep Jason warm should he kick the covers off of in his sleep.
Unable to decide which pair he wanted to wear to bed, Jason turned to face Clark saying, "You pick for me." The small boy held out both pairs of pajamas and Clark picked the one with the fish, making him happy. He put them on the bed as his mommy came into the room. "Clark, will you sit with me while I get my bath?" he asked, and smiled when he agreed to do that.
The master bathroom was huge, and Clark had never seen a place so fancy, with the exception of the hotel room he and Lois had stayed in while they were on assignment at Niagara Falls. Jason got right in the bath which was sunken into the floor, and began to play while Lois told Clark about bath time.
She was telling him about how to wash his hair due to the tubes in his ears, and then stopped when she realized he didn't understand and began to explain "Jason had bad ear infections when he was a baby, and the tubes keep his ears drained. He can't get water in them, oh… Jason come here baby, I didn't put your ear plugs in," Lois said as she walked back over to her son.
Clark watched as she put two small plugs, in his ears for a perfect fit.
Realizing that Clark had likely never dealt with a child at bath time, Lois rolled up the sleeves of her blouse, and decided to go on and bathe Jason, and let him watch. She showed Clark how to get Jason to tilt his head back to wet his hair, making sure to emphasize how important it was to keep the water away from his ears. After putting watermelon smelling shampoo in Jason's hair, Lois let her son lather up, and then did a touch up job before she again took a small cup and poured it over his head as he tilted it back. When she had finished helping him get clean she left father in son, to go down and sit with Richard, needing a chance to get away. All of this was really difficult, and she now knew why Superman, had made the choice to have her forget. Despite her feelings of confusion, Lois knew she had to pull it together, and by the time she got back to Richard, she was calm and collected.
After bath time, Clark read Jason three stories, and would have read a forth, but Lois caught on to what her son was doing and came to the rescue again. As with any child, Jason hated bed time and did anything he could do to prolong it, including requesting story after story. They finally did get him settled in for the night, and by then it was fairly late.
Clark thanked them for having him over, and was now flying over the city as Superman keeping his eyes on things, and thinking about the time he had spent with Jason. Tomorrow would be Monday, and he Lois and Richard all agreed that they would address people's questions about the change of things as they arose.
This past week as Superman, he had been able to stop a civil war in Africa, between two factions, and had spent nearly all of his time there trying to keep things from falling apart.
As he thought about that week, Superman remembered what his father had said about Krypton, and how they ended the wars, and came up with the utopian way of living that had gone on for thousands of years before the sun started to die. Sometimes he wondered if this planet would ever get to that point, but with all the hate and violence he had seen since getting back from his journey to Krypton, he didn't think it would for a very long, long time.
Suddenly, he heard gunfire, and flew down over a part of Metropolis that most people didn't go to after night. He hovered in the air, over a group of run down apartments, using his X-ray vision to see right through the red brick and mortar into the building. There he saw an elderly woman pressed up against a filthy wall, held there by a boy likely in his early teens wearing a ski mask, and dark cloths. As the youth held her, two more boys his age were going through her things.
That was all Superman needed to see before he was flying at top speed toward the building; he got to her window and got it open without the boys seeing him, and then at speeds so fast that they had no idea what was going on, all three of the boys went from being robbers, to being all tied up facing the hero, all three without their masks. "I think there are better ways of getting money," he said as he took a bag from one of the taller boys whose long blond hair was tied in a ponytail with a garbage bag tie.
While they were tied up, a good distance from the woman they had been robbing, Superman went to her and helped her sit down on a filthy old battered chair. He asked the elderly woman if she was all right, and made sure she was with his X-ray vision. By then there were sirens, and he could hear another call for help. "You will be alright now," he said, and with that he flew out of her window, and was off to help other people who needed him
As Superman went on his nightly rounds helping people out of dangers, Lex Luther sat in his office looking at his bank account on the computer. He had enough money to buy his own Island, but that wasn't enough, what he wanted was his own country to rule; a place he didn't have to answer to anyone, and he had almost had that until Superman took it away from him. Superman was the cause of all of his unrest, and now if that were not enough he had a son, a son who would one day grow up to be just as annoying as his father. If Lex had his way that boy would not grow up to become a man, if Lex Luther had his way that boy would not live to see his next Birthday.
"Kitty!" Lex yelled and in a moment he heard the click of her heals and she entered his office. She too had been able to get a shower and looked lovelier than ever, but right now Lex Luther could not think of the pleasures he would spent with her this night. "Bring me my briefcase, the one behind you," he said when she began to look confused.
The puppy she was holding in her arms that had also gotten a bath was whimpering, but didn't do any more than that, and after getting the briefcase she took it over to her boss. "What are you gonna do with that?" she asked as her boss kissed the black leather case, and caressed it as though it were the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.
Lex realized what he was doing and put the case down. "Tomorrow I want you to go to…" Lex told her what to do, and though she was confused, she knew not to ask him any questions. Kitty left her boss and headed upstairs with her puppy, to sleep in her new room.
The next morning, when Jason woke up, he was excited. He found his cloths laying out on his desk chair to the right of his bed, the cloths he and his… Clark, picked out with his mom's approval. Quickly Jason got dressed, and managed the whole thing on his own, even down to getting the buttons on his shirt fixed just the right way. After putting on his socks and then his favorite sandals, Jason opened the door of his room, and ran across the hall to his parents' room finding them awake still getting dressed. "Mommy, Daddy we have to hurry," he said in a most excited voice.
Lois came out of the bathroom wearing a cream button down top, and a slip. Her hair was rolled up in rollers, and she was surprised to find her little boy dressed without any prompting. "Well look at you," she said as Jason walked over to her. "Baby we still have almost an hour before we will be ready to leave."
When she said that, Jason pouted, until Richard came up behind him on his hands and knees, and grabbed him, tickling him and nibbling on his belly until Jason begged for him to stop through fits of laughter.
Something that both of them had noticed since he first exhibited his powers on the boat, was that he no longer had asthma type symptoms, which was why Richard could now play with his son like this. When he finished tickling Jason, Richard helped him stand up, and then both of them went downstairs to get breakfast going.
When they arrived at the Planet, in the news room, Jason made his way around the several desks in the room, until he got to Clark's desk, and stood there looking very disappointed. His other daddy's desk was clean, with the chair pushed all the way in, and it was evident that he had not arrived. As his mommy and his daddy walked behind him, Jason turned around. "Mommy why isn't daddy here?" he asked without realizing what he had just said.
Next to Lois, Richard stiffened slightly, and the relaxed. He knew the day would come when Jason would call both he and Clark by that name, but he had not been prepared for it to come this soon. As Lois knelt down to talk to Jason, Richard heard Perry call his name, and was a bit relieved to go take care of business, needing that distraction to get his mind off of its jealous musings.
As Lois hugged her little boy, she explained that Clark had likely gotten tied up in traffic. She had noticed Richard's reaction to Jason referring to Clark as daddy, and wanted the chance to go talk to him, but right now Jason needed her. Today his school was out, and he would spend the day with them.
When Jason was feeling a little better, she led him over to her desk where she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out an old shoe box, and a Disney coloring book, putting both of those on her desk top before she helped Jason get up into her chair. "Now be a very good boy, and sit here while I go talk to your daddy," she said referring to Richard. Jason had already opened the shoe box, and was picking out a blue crown, ready to color a jewel in the current picture of the Seven Dwarfs in their Mine. He was occupied, so Lois headed into Richard's office, finding him at his desk looking out the Window.
Even though he heard Lois enter his office, Richard was not yet ready to face her. He knew that she had seen his reaction to Jason's calling Clark daddy, and was a little embarrassed that he had let that bother him. Finally when she was right next to him he turned his chair a bit to the right and looked at her. "I think I know how Clark feels now," he admitted. He had thought of that before Lois came in, how hard it had to be for Clark not to see Jason as much as he did, and he wondered if, and when, the tables would ever be turned.
Needing to feel his arms around her, Lois eased onto his lap and sighed. "Are you going to be okay with this?" she finally asked after they had sat in silence for a minute or so. She felt his arms tighten around her, and felt him kiss the top of her head.
"I guess any other guy would cut the losses and take off, but I love both of you, so much Lois, more than I could ever tell you in one of those editorials that you write," he admitted. She turned so that she could see him and he could see the hurt in her eyes. "Look Lois, don't worry about me, I knew that there was always a chance that this would happen," he said referring to Jason's father coming back, "though I'll admit I never figured Superman was the guy, but until this all goes which ever way it does, and even after, I'll be here for you and for Jason."
How she had ever met a more understanding man was beyond her, and all Lois could do was kiss him and then hug him, and do her best not to blubber like a baby. "How fair is that to you?" she asked.
As his parents talked in his daddy's office, Jason continued to color in his book unaware that Clark had arrived, or that he was looking at him.
Clark was standing a little away watching his son at work. All night he had been out saving lives, and when he arrived here after stopping by his house to wash up and change, he had not stopped thinking about Jason. He did a quick scan of the busy News Room, and saw Richard and Lois talking, but decided not to eaves drop. Someone bumped against him and then he heard, "Oh sorry Mr. Kent."
Jimmy had developed the photos he had taken of Superman saving the Chief from the Giant Globe on top of their office building, and had been looking at his handy work when he bumped into his friend. "Did I show you these?" Jimmy asked eager to have someone else look over his handy work before the Chief took a look at them.
At his mommy's desk, Jason stopped coloring when her heard Jimmy say, "Mr. Kent," and spotted Clark. He slipped down from her desk, and had taken two steps away, before he turned back around reaching up to grab his drawing, the one he had made for his new daddy, or old. Jason decided to figure that one out later and when he got to where they were standing he hugged around Clark's leg. "Hi Clark, I made you something," he said.
Jimmy had never seen Jason hug anyone around the office except for his Uncle Perry, or his mom and dad, and so he was surprised to see him hugging Clark's leg. He took the pictures from Clark and watched as his friend knelt down to address the little guy.
"Wow Jason, that's really something," Clark said as he was handed the picture his son had just finished. He put his arm around Jason and they both looked at the picture not noticing that Jimmy was looking at them, wondering what was going on.
Jason was happy that his other daddy liked the drawing he had finished. "See that is the seven dorfs, only I always forget their names, but there is one and his name is Dopey," Jason said as he started to laugh.
As Jason talked, Clark noticed they were sort of in the way, and stood up lifting Jason with him as he did. He noticed Jimmy looking at him funny, and decided to address him later as he walked the short distance to his desk, setting Jason on the edge while he put his briefcase on the floor to the right of his desk.
In Richard's office, Lois noticed that everyone else was coming in and after giving her fiancé another kiss, she headed out to see what kind of trouble her son was getting into. As soon as she got out the door, she encountered Jimmy who informed her about Clark and Jason.
"I have never seen that kid take to anyone like he did Mr. Kent," Jimmy said.
Lois smiled at the photographer, knowing that sooner or later there would be gossip about all of this, but for now she wasn't willing to let in on the secret. "Clark's very good with kids, I think Perry wants to see those," she said as she touched one of the photos in his hands.
Realizing she was right, Jimmy headed for the Boss's office, for the moment thinking about his photos hoping Perry would like what he had done.
At lunch, Lois was having a phone conference with someone who had witnessed a murder, and Richard was in a meeting with some of the International Department heads from London, which left Jason under the care of Clark. Seated at his desk, Clark was trying to get his own article about the death of a woman for the obits prepared, while Jason sat near by on the floor playing with his trucks.
Tired of playing alone, Jason looked around the office, trying to see if he could find something more interesting. He turned all the way around, and looked at the doors leading out into the lobby and a smile spread over his little face. Turning his head back toward his daddy, who was typing, Jason stood up. He took one more look behind him and then he began to weave his way toward the lobby doors. Jason was just about to put his hand on the handle to pull it open when two large hands wrapped around either side of him, and in a quick second he found himself in the air being turned to face his daddy. "How did you do that Clark, I saw you typing and I didn't make a noise or anything," Jason said as his daddy carried him back to his desk.
Clark set Jason down on his desk, and sat back down in his chair. Jimmy had been right his son was a trouble finder. "I didn't hear you, and when I turned around I saw you heading for the doors," he said keeping a serious face for a moment. "Now what was it you were about to do hmm?"
Unable to tell if his daddy was mad or not, Jason looked down. "I was bored," he said hoping his mommy didn't see them. She told him the next time he snuck out of the office he would have to stand in the corner in daddy's office for five whole minutes.
Willing to cut Jason some slack, Clark reached around his right side and shut off his computer. "Why don't we grab something to eat," he said. He saw a smile on his little boys face and stood up helping Jason down from his desk. After getting his coat, he started to put that on when he heard someone calling for help. He looked past Jason at Lois who had by some miracle looked at him at the right moment.
Lois saw that Clark needed to go, and quickly went over to them. "Jason you have to take your medicine," she said, which was the truth.
With Jason now occupied complaining about having to take medicine, Clark made his exit, and as he did he wondered how things were going to work now that he had a son to watch out for, and a world to save.
Hey everyone thanks so much for all the great reviews. I am glad you like this story, I am having fun writing it and trying to get into the characters minds. I know this doesn't have much action it aka Lex Luther, but never fear his part is coming up soon. Right now I'm getting things established and then I'll take off, well if that is my muse decides it should go that way.
Keep reviewing. Thanks
Ella