AN: Sorry for taking so long to post this. Just as Lois and Clark found out, family deaths never come at a convenient time, nor are they welcome and when you have two in one week....Enough with the excuses.

Thank you Mak for taking time during your break to beta this chapter. And as always I don't own Superman, Lois, Perry, Jimmy, Richard...Though I wouldn't mind having an Ice Castle.

Chapter 15

Perry had stood in shock as he witnessed the antagonism between Clark, and some woman who claimed to work for CSD: "This family has been through enough turmoil the last few days. Leave us alone," Clark stated, his voice full of the authority usually reserved for his alter ego. If Perry had any doubts before, they were fully erased now. He had always suspected it, that's why he hired him back: wherever Clark Kent was, so was Superman.

But what was going on?

Lois had shown up suddenly, collapsed in tears, said something to Clark, and then Clark had almost flown out the bullpen with his family in tow. The CSD officer just stood and stared at the now closed elevator doors. Perry blared at the woman: "Get out of my newsroom!" as he stormed back to his office.

Once again he sat at his desk inside the glass enclosure of his office watching the choreographed chaos in the newsroom. With Richard out, the assistant's duty fell on the shoulders of a younger, more inexperienced editor – Jimmy Olson.

Perry smiled as he watched Jim scold one of the college interns for a poorly researched piece. "You've been told before, Wikipedia is NOT always reliable, now go and get some real facts for this article. We need proof, not conjecture, and a Wiki does not cut it."

Perry knew that his time to step aside was coming, and Richard wasn't the one who was going to take up his mantle.

Looking over the pile of papers on his desk: expense reports, articles, letters to the editor… he picked up a letter that had been delivered to him shortly after Lois, Clark, and Richard left:

Perry,

Things aren't always what they seem, nor are people.

It looks as if Lois and Clark have enemies in very high places, though I too have many. There is more going on here than I can explain. Don't believe everything you see, or hear. Don't trust anyone except for Lois and Clark.

I won't be returning to Metropolis. I enjoyed working with you, Uncle Perry and will miss you all.

Please take care of Lois and the Munchkin. Watch out for the Boy Scout, he's going to need your help in the days to come.

Love you,

Richard

Perry sat back in his big leather chair, fingers steepled over his lips, pondering the cryptic note sent by his nephew. He knew that Richard would eventually have to leave: that was the nature of his real job. It had been nice to have some family around, even if it was his nephew.

"Excuse me, Mr. White?" Perry's thoughts were interrupted by a visitor knocking at his door.

"Yes?" Perry looked up to acknowledge his guest.

"My name is Linda Danvers, Richard White is you nephew, am I correct?" The woman approached his desk, her hand outstretched in front of her. Perry stood as he accepted her outstretched hand wondering what she wanted with his nephew.

"Yes, Richard is my brother's kid," Perry motioned her to take a seat.

"Major White has you listed as his emergency contact, his next of kin."

Perry focused his attention on her, his full compliment of journalistic intuition screaming at him.

"Is there a problem?" Perry asked, a sense of dread falling upon him as he realized just what it was that Lois had said before Clark had whisked them away.

"There was an explosion this afternoon in Smallville, Kansas. It appears that a car bomb had been planted in a vehicle leased to your nephew. It exploded as your nephew opened the door. I'm sorry, but your nephew did not survive."

Perry's eyes widened at the confirmation of his nephew's death. Other than his sons, Richard was the only family Perry had left in this world. He looked at the letter he still held onto – "Don't believe everything you hear," Could this be part of Richard's cover? Was the explosion a trick? Is he going in deep cover? What is going on here? There was only one person that could answer those questions, and he wasn't sure if he was even still alive.

"If you need to talk, or help with arrangements, here's my card. Please, don't hesitate to call. The General has made arrangements for you to fly out to Kansas." She handed Perry her business card, along with a boarding pass for the next flight to Kansas City. As the woman opened the door she paused, "Please, don't hesitate to call if you need anything."

Perry looked lost. Jimmy had not seen such a look of hopeless despair on the old man's face since Alice had passed away; he shook the thought from his mind. Jimmy noticed that Perry was slightly shaking as he lifted the handset to his phone. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

Walking to the break room he filled a mug with some fresh coffee, fixed it up the way Perry insisted, and then headed to the chief's office intending to find out what had happened.

"I know, Tim, but he was your cousin!" Perry's jaw was twitching as he clenched it.

"No, Damn it! I'm not going to call Lois. It's difficult enough, for cryin' out loud! She just lost her fiancé!"

"I don't care. You work for the damn Speaker of the House. You had better find out what happened! Don't put me –"

Perry slammed the phone down, and laid his head in his hands.

"Chief?" Jimmy asked timidly as he quietly knocked on his superior's door.

Perry looked up, his eyes red as he blinked away tears. Jimmy walked over, placed the cup on his boss's desk then sat in the office chair he preferred to use when they were in conference. Perry just looked at the young photographer, then grabbed the coffee as if it were a lifeline.

"Richard's dead," No pretext, no dancing around, just the facts, as they were.

Jimmy looked at Perry, "How? Where?"

"Car bomb, in of all places, Kansas."

"Kansas? Where Clark is from Kansas?" Perry simply nodded.

"What was Richard doing in Kansas?" Jimmy asked, half to himself.

"THEY were at Kent's farm, drove there after the Zod interview. Superman flew Jason out there yesterday to join them, get them away from the media circus that was going on here."

Jim was dazed, "They? But Clark and Jason were just here? Didn't Lois just…?"

"They were all staying at the farm. Clark and Jason weren't there when it happened. Superman had flown them back to Metropolis for some reason I still can't quite wrap my brain around." Perry ran an agitated hand through his graying hair. "Superman must have flown Lois here as well." Though how he did that when he was arguing with that witch from CSD I'll never know.

"Now look kid, I need you to run the show. You've done a good job with assignments, getting things prepped, so just run with it. I'll check In-Copy before print. You'll have to release the issue. You have a password, right?"

Jim nodded, trying to take in all that Perry was saying.

"I'm flying out on the next flight. General Lane made arrangements for me"

"What about Lois? She and Richard were engaged forever," Jimmy questioned.

"She'll be coming back, with her husband – and their son," Perry answered.

Jimmy scratched the back of his head as if it would jar some sense into this conversation.

"Husband? You just said that Richard was dead."

"Lois was married before Richard came along. I guess they never got around to divorcing."

Jimmy gave Perry a funny look. Who in the world was Lois Lane secretly married to all these years? "What are you talking about, Perry?"

"Do you remember the Niagara Falls story?"

Jimmy chuckled, "Lois threw a fit. Thought you were wasting a great reporter on that one."

"I guess I did, at that. Two actually. Kent left not long after."

Jimmy nodded. He remembered to the day when his friend left. "I always wondered if the two events were somehow associated; Clark didn't come back when Lois did. Zod grabbed Lois from your office shortly after she got back. She married …"

"Clark. And before you ask, Clark told me that Jason was his."

"I heard Lois say that to that lady Clark was arguing with. It just didn't register at the time….

"I can't believe that they've been married all these years, and she never said a word to anyone. So why did Clark leave? All he ever wanted was to be with Lois, you could see it in his eyes everytime he looked at her. When he got back she was the first person he looked for. You should have seen how crushed he looked when he saw…. No wonder he looked so hurt when he saw the picture of her and Richard."

"I think you've got the picture. I've got a plane to catch, and you have a paper to put to bed. Don't burn down the place while I'm gone." Perry grabbed his tickets, and his briefcase, after checking that his laptop was secured, then sped out of the newsroom.

I never thought I would do this, but it is really nice to have some feedback. It's hard to write when you feel like you are sending it into a void. Please review.