Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they are the rights of their perspective owners, I am not involved with Superman Returns or the Superman comics or any other Superman franchise. DC Comics owns Superman. I am not making money from this work and no copyright infringement is intended.

Thank you RheaJediKnight – for your amazing betaing skills . . .

Chapter 2 - much ado about everything

It was difficult for Lois to reconcile the emotions which passed through her since her conversation on the shore with Superman. The car drive home was long. Jason was watching a DVD about elephants in the back, while Lois dwelled on the new information presented to her.

Superman. Although their last conversation was civil, the thought of his name made her want to hit something - hard. And then tears to build in her eyes, threatening to fall free. What else don't I remember? Why did he want me to forget? It was the latter question she dwelled on much of the time. He didn't offer any real explanations other then he thought it would be easier for her not to remember, but that seemed like a trivial explanation for wiping away six months of a person's memories.

Clark. Why did she think she remembered kissing Clark? At work he certainly didn't act like they had any type of romantic relationship in the past, but those memories seemed very real to her. She could almost remember tasting his lips, and the security of his embrace.

It was late when she pulled her Audi into the garage. Richard came out of the house to help her unload their belongings.

"Hi kiddo" Richard said as he scooped Jason into his arms. "Let's go put your new turtle in with the others."

Richard winked at Lois before turning back to the house. Richard is a good man, Lois thought as she grabbed a few bags and walked into the house.

She sighed as she entered the kitchen, this house never felt like home, Richard never felt like home, and finally she was beginning to understand. Lois never knew what she had lost so she never had the proper time to grieve, and all at once it was overwhelming. She needed time alone, to process this new information, time to grieve.

Lois poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on a bar stool in the kitchen waiting for Richard to return from putting Jason to sleep fighting to keep the tears from leaking.

"So what' s the plan Lois?" he asked softly as he crossed over to her. He stood behind her, not wanting to make eye contact, but unable to stop himself from touching her. He wanted to make love to her one more time. He wished he had paid more attention the last time they were together. His hands gently rubbed her shoulders.

"What do you mean by plan?" Her voice was husky, it would be so easy to end up with him again. Richard was safe.

She turned her stool around so she was facing him. They were silent starring into each other's eyes. They both had a longing expression, Lois' wanted to feel safe, to be comforted. Richard wanted to say goodbye, to have closure.

As if his mind caught up with his actions, he suddenly became aware of how close he was from kissing her, and he took a step back. The lost connection between them made the tension in the air thick. "I'm sure you have already thought of what the arrangements should be. I'd just figure I'd go along with what you decided, for the most part."

"I don't want this house. I want something smaller perhaps closer to work." Lois said.

"Lois, Jason loves it here; he loves playing in the yard." Richard said pleadingly.

"Why don't you keep the house for when you have some time with Jason then?"

Some time, Richard thought. That was all he was ever going to have with this boy whom he helped raise from an infant. Some time, the thought repeated. Until she said it aloud he didn't think of it in those terms. What claim did he have to him? He always knew he wasn't Jason's biological father. Heck, she was already pregnant when they had their first date.

First date, he thought of the day he first asked her out. He had wanted to ask her out since he first saw her (Richard started working at the Planet immediately following the Zod incident to help put the paper back together), rumor had it she was not dating anyone, but anytime he watched he thought he saw something between her and her partner at the time, Clark. Then quite suddenly their interactions changed, it was subtle. He was sure he was the only one who noticed, but all of sudden there didn't appear to be anything intimate in their exchanges, nothing beyond friendly colleagues. Clark's mood became dark and sullen and a week later he quite the paper to begin his world tour. It took him almost another three weeks to work up the nerve to ask her out.

It was on their first date Lois told him she had been involved in a relationship with a man who lived in Chicago, and they had broken up about two months before. It was also on their first date Lois told him she was pregnant. Now he was sure he understood, Clark had a crush on Lois and she must have told him about the baby and he couldn't handle the thought of her carrying another man's child. It explained his sudden change in mood and his departure.

The sound of her voice brought him back into the present. "Richard? The house . . .do you want to keep the house?"

"I'm not going to stay in this house, alone. We bought this house because you said you wanted a big family, at least four kids?"

He was right, she did say that all those years ago - while she was pregnant with Jason, but everyone knows hormones can make one crazy.

She knew in her heart she didn't want to be tied to Richard in the way kids would bound her to him, but she wasn't going to say that to him, that would be cruel.

"Richard, I don't want four kids. If that is something I told you it must have been because I was emotional. "

He was angry now. "I don't really know you at all, do I?" He walked over to her, but restrained himself from touching her. He stood a careful distance in front of her, and for perhaps the second occasion in all their years together he raised his voice at her "you wasted my time all these years . . .I loved you Lois, I really did."

She smiled "I know Richard, and I tried, I really did" her voice was soft and apologetic.

That night, Richard slept in the guest room, and Lois had her first dream about the museum. It was dark and the museum was closed but she was walking around, searching for something, a painting. She was frantically running through the rooms, looking for it. The memory of what it was eluded her. She knew unconsciously that what she was searching for was the key to unlock something important, something forgotten.

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Lois crossed the bullpen floor with quick confident strides. As much as her personal life was a mess, this was the one place she was successful.

He had been watching her since she walked into the lobby. X-ray vision came in handy once in awhile. He was nervous. He was unsure he would be able to hide the strain of their last interaction. He sat at his desk dutifully typing away at an op-ed piece for the Sunday edition. This piece was focused on the environment and the city's loose standards on recycling and focused on holding businesses accountable for recycling paper products and other types of waste.

"Thanks, Clark" she said holding up the cup of coffee on her desk.

"Uh, sure Lois, no problem . . ." He had to use a good amount of effort to mask the longing in his voice "I was getting myself a cup anyway."

Lois looked at her desk. She was only out of town for a couple of days, but the Claudis trial was underway, and since there were no camera's allowed in the courtroom she had to rely on the transcripts of the trial to write her stories. She had been following and writing about Claudis for the last two years, and a few of her exposé's helped the police gather the evidence to bring him to trial.

She removed her blazer and turned on her computer.

Her perfume scented the air and Clark was not unaffected by it. He stirred uncomfortably in his seat. It was difficult to sit inches away from her at work and not be able to show how he felt about her. It was difficult, but if he wanted to be near, if he wanted to protect her, this was the only way. He hoped she might one day forgive him, and this was his only opportunity to try and earn it.

The morning hours ticked by quickly and the bustle of the afternoon lunch rush around the newsroom began.

Lois leaned back in her chair and unconsciously tapped her heel on the floor.

Richard had been watching Lois and Clark through out the morning. He was not stupid, and he was not convinced Clark's untimely return and the demise of his relationship with Lois were unrelated. He was looking for that spark he had once seen between them, a hint that they were intimate.

Suddenly, Lois stood up, grabbed her tote and her blazer and headed for the elevator.

"Lois, wait up, uh Lois" Clark took long strides to catch up to her. "Are you going for lunch? We haven't had much time to catch up, and I was wondering if you would like get a sandwich or something?"

Lois thought for a moment. Just last week she would have enjoyed, wanted Clark's company, but now, having learned they were never intimate, she wanted space. It was one thing to want to rekindle something old, but she was in no place to start something new and she didn't want to lead Clark on. She needed to put some distance between herself and all the men in her life.

"I'm sorry Clark, I need to run some errands, maybe later in the week?" She almost felt bad for lying.

Clark nodded and took a step back and let the elevators separate them. This is going to be very difficult.

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Lois hit the pavement and hailed a taxi "Burger Palace, please."

Forty minutes later, stuffed from a bacon cheeseburger and large coke, Lois stood outside Burger Palace, elated. The day was looking better.

She decided to walk back to work and enjoy the spring afternoon breeze. She quickly traded her heels for the pair of sneakers she kept in her tote sized purse and started her way back to the Planet.

As she crossed 117th street, she had a nagging feeling someone was watching her. She paused in front of a store window and glanced at the reflections.

She spun around and found herself about twenty yards from Billy Ray, one of Tom Claudis' sidekicks. Her heart started racing, this couldn't be happening. He was standing in the shadows and he was well aware she was watching him.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest. Flight or fight senses were kicking in and she had yet to determine which route she would take. Cautiously, she turned around to face him and to sum up her surroundings. He was smirking, and nodding at her. She surveyed the street and noticed the afternoon lunch crowd was headed back to work and the streets were quickly emptying.

Without provocation or warning, Billy Ray extended his empty hand like he was holding a revolver in it and mouthed "BOOM" to her.

Lois didn't have time to react when a black SUV came speeding around the corner and Billy Ray hopped in. It sped away.

Lois took off down the street chasing after the SUV. She needed to get a license plate and she needed it fast. The license plate would be the only way to prove it was Billy Ray, who had managed in the last six months to avoid arrest himself because of several technicalities.

She saw the SUV up ahead of her stuck between four cars at a red light.

She saw the light on the cross street was turning yellow, but a white truck was blocking her view, come on Lois, move faster - now I wish I never smoked. Although her legs were carrying her, her lungs were out of breath. Each step was harder.

Ten seconds, that is all she had before the light turned green.

Her legs were pounding the pavement in front of her, each step becoming more and more painful.

5 seconds, so close, she pushed herself harder, faster. .

"Damn it!!" she yelled.

She was still three car lengths behind when the light turned. As the SUV raced down Bell Boulevard she could only make out two digits ---x-9.

Lois leaned against a building and bent down, her breathing fast and intense, her heart pounding. "Dash, Dash, Dash, ex, dash, nine; Dash, Dash, Dash, ex, dash, nine"

She motioned with her hands while her mind stayed focus to passer buyers on the street, for a pen, any kind of writing utensil. "Dash, Dash, Dash, ex, dash, nine . . ."

Finally, one person stopped and handed her a pen. Lois quickly scribbled ---x-9 on her arm. "Thank you"

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Clark was sitting at his desk mulling over his situation with Lois when he heard her heart rate speed up. 159 beats per minute, she must be terrified. He quickly glanced around the office and realized no one would notice his disappearance and headed to the elevators.

Moments later, he was watching from the sky. Lois was running down the street, but no one was chasing her. He wondered what incident had provoked the current situation.

When he realized there was no immediate danger and she was after a license plate number he hovered for a moment took notice of the plates on the SUV and returned to the Planet. He thought about swooping down and assisting her, since whatever it was she was after, he sensed her urgency, but she was still angry with him and he didn't want to get into another altercation with her. Not yet anyway.

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"CHIEF!!" Lois bellowed as she dashed across the bullpen to Perry's office where he was talking with the new staff reporter - her cousin Chloe. "Perry" her speech was in gasps because she was still out of breath and her heart was racing.

She turned around, half expecting Clark to have followed her into the Chief's office but to her dismay he was still sitting quietly at his desk. "CLARK!!"

Clark smiled inwardly when he heard Lois yell for him, okay maybe not everything has changed. "Uh, Uh, coming Lois." He moved swiftly to Perry's office making sure to knock over some papers on the desk next to him on the way.

"I was . . ." she struggled to catch her breath.

Clark extended his hand and gave her a cold glass of water. Lois nodded to him, and winked, grateful he was back.

"I was followed by Billy Ray. I think he was sent to give me a warning." Lois gulped the water, nearly choking. She repeated the motions of his warning, frantically demonstrating the 'boom'.

Chloe's eyebrows rose in concern, "I'll call Jason's school and make sure he's okay."

Lois touched Chloe's shoulder as she passed.

She held out her arm - "I only got a partial license plate ---x-9, it was a black SUV, perhaps an Escalade."

Clark mentally cursed himself. It didn't occur to him that the license plate Lois was trying to obtain would be something useful in protecting their son. He should have stopped those men when he had the chance. Clark realized instantly he had another problem, although Lois was right, it was a black Escalade, the partial license plate she had remembered was not in the correct order, the license plate was fuex609.

"Uh, Chief, Umm, uh Lois" Clark said pushing on his glasses. "I'll call my police contacts and run those plates."

"Good Idea Clark, and don't CALL ME CHIEF!" Perry barked.

Clark, walking out of the office bumped into the frame of the door as Chloe was walking in "Geeze, Smallville, try and pick up some coordination skills while you're out. This sloppy routine is getting old, and I only know you a few weeks."

Clarksmiled inwardly and left the office.

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Clark decided he wanted to check out Jason's school for himself and he quickly exited the Planet building and took off for the sky.

Jason's school was tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in the suburbs. It was a private elementary school for children who showed some natural gifts towards the arts. Jason was showing all the signs of becoming a great pianist.

Although he was not around when Jason was accepted the rumor in the office was that the school had originally denied his application partly because he had an asthma attack during his performance interview and was unable to finish his piece. Apparently, most people cleared the office when Richard broke the news to Lois, for fear she would lash out at anyone nearby. Instead, she surprised everyone and without so much as a word she went to work at her computer. Thirty minutes later she had the headmistress of the school on the phone, and she began by reading the article she had written:

Local elementary school for talented youth

Discriminates against children with special needs.

A talented local boy has been denied entry into the prestigious Madam Flores School of the Arts because he had an asthma attack during his audition. City health officials have been called to test the air quality in the auditorium. Those tests are currently being reviewed by the School Board. The school has denied the boy a second audition and admission into the program.

An hour later a fax arrived at the Planet with Jason's admission notification.

As Superman neared the school he smiled at the thought of Lois on the phone with the headmistress. He held no doubt she would never have published the article and expose their son, but he was sure the Mistress was convinced otherwise. She was good at calling a bluff. That was how she trapped him into confessing his other persona, many years before. That was one of the things he loved most about her, the fire that could be lit.

A quick sweep with x-ray vision and he found Jason in reading and writing class, attentively writing sentences. He glanced at the page he was working on and grinned. Well, at least he did not inherit her creative spelling.

He swiftly surveyed the rest of the school and its perimeter, finding no traces of anything unusual or the black SUV, he headed back to work.