- - - Chapter Thirteen
The five of them spent most of Friday morning at the police station. Jason was bored out of his mind. The police had questioned Lois first, showing Jason how easy it was. Then Jason had answered the questions they had asked him, and then he was sent into a room with his Mom to wait for the others. They'd gotten their stories straight that morning, drilling into Jason the importance of keeping Clark's other identity a secret.
By noon they were done, and Jason was ready to run up the walls. The five of them walked to the park and bought hotdogs in silence, watching Jason run ahead. None of the adults were very happy. The police hadn't given them any information about the hunt for Luthor, saying that they didn't need to know, but that they'd be the first to know when the criminals were apprehended. Lois had glared, Clark had glared, Perry had been surprised to see Clark glare, and Jimmy had felt out of place; he was kind of on the outside of the situation, only there to corroborate the fact that Lois and Clark were both waiting in Smallville with the cell phone instead of just Lois.
"Can you go back and ask them about Luthor again?" Lois asked him as soon as they'd finished their hotdogs.
"Yeah," Clark said, waving goodbye to Jason for the moment and heading back to the police station.
"Superman!" The officer he'd just been questioned by said in surprise when he walked into the station.
"Officer," he said calmly, hiding his frustration for the moment. "Do you have any leads on the Luthor case?"
"Oh, Luthor, um," the man began paging through papers he hadn't even bothered to disturb for Clark a half hour ago. "Well, we just got statements from Lois Lane, her son, Clark Kent, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen," he said, showing him the forms. "There's nothing new, though, so far as leads go. We sent the chips from the kryptonite block you told us about to be analyzed at the same base we've been sending the kryptonite found in those lead warehouses to be destroyed. So far they haven't turned up anything unusual… I'm sorry; I don't have any new information."
"Thank you, officer," he said, resisting the urge to sigh.
"And Superman?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry about what Luthor did to you…"
"It's alright, Officer," Clark interrupted, that was the last thing he wanted to talk about just now. "It happened almost a year ago. Right now we should focus on getting him back in prison where he belongs."
"Right," the officer said, still looking at him with pity. Clark turned and walked out of the police station, taking off and landing in a stand of trees near the park to change back into Clark.
"Anything new?" Lois asked when she saw him approaching.
"No, nothing," Clark said, running a distracted hand through his hair. "They sent samples of the kryptonite off to a military lab to be examined, but they haven't turned anything up. No new leads since yesterday… I was thinking about giving the city a once over after we get settled back home."
Lois just nodded, turning to watch Jason again.
- - -
Clark was beyond frustration. He had scoured the city, looking into everything and seeing plenty of things he didn't ever need to see again. He'd caught a number of drug dealers, but found no trace of Luthor or even any kryptonite. He'd listened in on the police questioning any inmates that even might've just passed Luthor in the hall for any clue as to how he escaped, but that was another mystery altogether. As it were, Luthor was suddenly very good at vanishing without a trace, be it from a maximum security prison or out from under Superman's nose.
He was startled out of his thoughts while in orbit by his cell phone. He'd completely forgotten he'd had with him let alone on. "H-hello?"
"Clark," it was Lois.
"Lois."
"Did you find anything?"
"No, absolutely nothing," he sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately.
"Well, why don't you come home then, Jason misses you and you promised you'd be home tonight," she said and he could practically see her smirking. "Where are you now, anyway?"
"In orbit over India," he said nonchalantly. Lois chuckled on the other end.
"I never expected to get that as an answer and believe it."
"At one time in my life I never expected to give it."
"So… have any ideas for dinner?"
"Don't feel like cooking?"
"Don't feel like pulling out the take out menus, thought I'd just let you pick something up on the flight home," she said.
"Ah."
"Jason said he wants something from Italy."
"Pasta or something else?"
"I think he had pasta in mind."
"Pasta it is. I'll be home shortly; I want to look around one more time."
"Clark…"
"Lois, I just need to check. He's going to come after you and Jason and I'm going to do everything I can to keep him from having the chance."
"I love you."
"I love you too, I'll be home soon."
A last circle of the world revealed nothing new. He stopped a gang fight in the back streets of New York City, and caught a car before it hit the water went it went over the edge of a bridge in Peru, but nothing came up regarding Luthor. Disappointed, he flew to Italy and bought dinner, arriving home about a half an hour after Lois's call.
"You'll catch him, yet," Lois assured him while they cleaned up dinner.
"I just don't understand how he disappeared so completely," Clark said, shaking his head.
"He's Lex Luthor, Clark."
"Even Lex Luthor shouldn't be able to disappear like that."
"You'll find him," he sighed. "C'mon, you're Superman. Of course you'll find him."
"It's a lot easier to say that when you're not the one trying to live up to it," Clark said. Lois put down the cup she'd been drying and turned to face him.
"I didn't mean it like that, Clark," she said quietly. "I'm just saying that he's going to be found eventually, and that you're probably going to be the one to find him. Just be patient. He is Lex Luthor, after all. He's got quite an ego. Eventually he'll show up again and you'll be the one to put him in jail again."
"I just wish I knew where he went, how he disappeared so completely. It's unnatural."
"As if anything about Luthor is natural," Lois smirked. Clark just shook his head, continuing to put away the dishes Lois was drying. "Clark, you can't do everything, even if you are Superman."
"You're full of contradictions tonight," he said tiredly.
"Clark," she said sharply, making him look at her. "You are Superman. You have amazing powers. If anybody can do it, it's you, but you can't do everything. You've been out there all day looking for him, and Luthor is probably just biding his time to make you frustrated about it. Just wait. There are plenty of other things to worry about. You just need to relax for a minute and wait for him to make a mistake."
"You're good for my soul, Lois," he said, smiling.
"That's the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me."
"Well, I think I'm allowed one cheesy line every couple of months," he said.
"Okay, fine," she smirked right back. "But only because you're so honest about it."
And then he kissed her just to stop the useless chatter.
- - -
Superman paid a visit to General Lane's base on Sunday, recovering his crystals with as few words as possible. He wasn't happy that they had shared the tape they'd found. Not happy at all; it was only a matter of time before Jason saw it and started asking questions.
Monday morning came much to fast for the Lane/Kent household. Jason was entirely unaffected by his ordeal Thursday night and eager to get back to school. He'd missed Friday, after all, and would have make-up homework. Lois and Clark, on the other hand, had to go deal with Jimmy and Perry. Not that they didn't trust their friends, but it was a huge secret to keep and it would be awkward at first, no doubt.
They dropped Jason off, Lois going into the school with him to tell Mrs. Peterson what had happened and ask her to keep a close eye on him. Mrs. Peterson was surprised that they were bringing him back to school after something like that, but when she saw Jason already at his desk and trying to catch up instead of playing with the other children she realized that it was probably Jason's idea to come back so early. Lois walked out of the front doors only to be scooped up by familiar hands and brought sailing through the skies toward the Daily Planet.
"You know, that never gets old," she said as they landed.
"I have to agree," he smirked, pecking her lips lightly before they both got in the elevator to begin their day.
They had emailed their articles to their office computers the evening before so that all they had to do was print them out and turn them in. After finishing the pieces they'd been sent out of Metropolis for, Clark had written the blurb that would tell the world about their engagement and their son, while Lois had written about Luthor's most recent evil act. At one time it would've been difficult for her to write about something that happened to her or her family, but that time had passed. She made a point of not reading them after they were published, just thinking about getting the information out there. It was a therapy in itself; telling the blank page on her laptop all her woes and then publishing it. At least Clark had been there this time to help her decide what to leave in and what she didn't need the world to know.
The morning staff meeting passed without a hitch. Jimmy watched Clark through most of it. He stood in the back near the door, easily blending in with the background. He gave a little wave and a cheesy smile when he noticed Jimmy looking, and Jimmy had given him a solemn nod back. Perry was lecturing them about the next issue. It was all about Luthor. He ordered Lois to write the article she'd already written about the weekend's events, and just about every other section got something about Luthor or the kryptonite. He only made eye contact with Clark once, and it seemed to be entirely on accident. He had been assigning one of the more science-type writers a story about the military base trying to find a way to destroy the kryptonite and had just so happened to look at where Clark was standing. It had taken him a beat to realize who he was looking at and another to remember just who it was. He had actually missed a beat in his lecture, causing the entire staff to stare at him. He'd soldiered on, though, ignoring the slip and making sure not to look at Clark for the rest of the meeting.
"KENT! LANE! OLSEN! In my office," he called twenty minutes after the meeting. The three of them walked in dutifully, Lois and Clark with the 'getting to know you' articles in hand, and notes about their newest assignments. Jimmy had a number of prints in his hand as he held the door open for the pair of them to pass through.
"Chief?" Lois asked, setting her completed article on his desk before sitting in one of the waiting chairs. Clark followed suit, but let Jimmy take the other chair in favor of standing behind Lois's.
"Jimmy, what've you got for pictures to go with these?" Perry asked, glancing at the three short pieces he'd just received.
"Um," he shuffled through his folder and produced a few prints. "Just these, Chief."
The picture he'd chosen for Lois's side was of Lois sitting on the swinging bench on the porch. She didn't even seem to notice the camera was there, looking instead out at the yard, or maybe remembering something. There was a sunset behind her filtering through the trees in the yard to leave patches of beautiful red and yellow light around her. Clark's picture had captured something people around the office rarely saw; Clark was in jeans and a t-shirt, down on one knee getting the ball out of Shelby's mouth with an easy smile in front of the barn. The picture for the middle had the three of them; Lois, Jason, and Clark; sitting on the steps of the Kent house with the ice cream they'd brought back after playing at the park Thursday after lunch. Jason had managed to get ice cream on his nose and was smiling broadly.
"Good, this will do," Perry said, putting the photos in a folder with the articles before turning to the three of them again. "Here's the ad we're running in the afternoon issue. We're calling it 'Questions for Superman.'"
"Isn't that a little soon after the news started playing that clip," Jimmy asked, glancing at Clark. "I mean, you're going to get a lot of questions about that."
"I hope the first graders we're asking haven't seen it!" Lois said. They'd spent the entire weekend keeping Jason from seeing it, not an easy task; especially with his developing super-hearing.
"Maybe it'll distract people from it," Perry said, shrugging. "Anyway, we're running with it. I've already got Sam writing a little blurb to put on the front page about it."
He made it clear there was no way he was letting it go. Perry gave them the article about the video. Lois would write it and Clark would give the interview, of course, but they both would have bylines. Perry wanted to know details that had been gleaned over during the New Krypton fiasco, Superman's opinion of channel twelve news, everything. Clark made no promises, but the pair of them set to work planning out the article anyways. They brought Jason back to the Planet after school so that they could finish up while he sat at an empty desk and did his homework.
Clark was writing himself a few Superman quotes when Jason appeared by his knee, staring up at the TV screen mounted on the pillar nearby. "Daddy?" He asked, eyes glued to the screen.
"Yes?" Clark asked, finishing typing out the quote before looking up at the screen Jason was focused on. His jaw would've dropped if he hadn't seen the footage so many times already. There he was getting the crap kicked out of him again. He looked back at his son as he fell down off the growing continent on TV. "Jason," he started, not really knowing what to say. Above them, the news anchor was telling the world about how the tape had been found with crystals that Superman had come to reclaim Sunday afternoon without a word of explanation.
"Daddy, why does that man hate you so much?" Jason asked again. He looked like he was about ready to cry. Clark picked him up, pushing his chair back so there would be room to have his son on his lap.
"I don't know, Jason, but I'm okay," he said, holding him close. "Remember when you found me in the water when you were in the plane?"
"Yes," Jason nodded, looking him in the eye.
"Well that was right after what just happened on TV," he explained. "You found me and Mommy and Richard got us away."
"But then you went back and had to go to the hospital after you fell again."
"That's right," Clark said. Lois had come over now, noticing that something was wrong as soon as Jason let Clark pull him onto his lap; Jason didn't like to be hugged like that in public. "And then I got better and we put the bad man in jail."
"But he got out and he hurt you again," Jason said, touching the spot where Luthor had scratched him with kryptonite.
"But I got better again, and as soon as I find him he'll be back in jail. This time forever," he assured the little boy. "Jason, there are always going to be people who try to hurt us. That's why we have to keep the secrets that we do. But we'll always get better; the bad guys can't hurt us for long."
Jason just nodded and Clark pulled him close again, noticing Lois standing at the corner of the desk. He smiled at her, rubbing their son's back gently to calm him down. "Maybe we should go home," Lois suggested, and Clark nodded.
"Hey, buddy- why don't you go grab your backpack and we'll head home," Clark said, pulling Jason away from his chest. The boy just looked tired, like everything that had happened in the past week had finally caught up to him. Smiling, Clark shut down the computer and stuffed his papers into his briefcase; he did all of this one-handed because Jason refused to let go of him. Lois came over a second later, carrying Jason's backpack and jacket. "Alright, Jason, put your jacket on while I get mine on…" Jason did so, latching on to Clark again as soon as Clark bent down to pick him up.
The three of them made their way to the elevator, waving goodbye to Perry when they caught his eye through the glass door of his office. Clark pushed the down button and Lois gave him a look. "Going down?"
"A car ride will do us good," Clark shrugged. Jason needed the normalcy of riding in a car. Flying, seeing the super suit, probably wasn't the best thing at the moment. "It's nice and normal."
"If you say so."
They rode in silence, watching the people and buildings pass slowly by, the other cars on the rode moving just as haltingly as they did. The apartment wasn't very far from the Planet, but it was long enough; Jason seemed much more relaxed by the time they arrived home. "What's for dinner?" He asked, always thinking with his stomach.
"I think we've got some frozen pizzas begging to be eaten in the freezer," Lois said, glancing at Clark for confirmation.
"What kinds?" Jason asked, seriously considering vetoing the decision if there wasn't sausage.
"Pepperoni," Jason made a face, "three cheese," another face, "and sausage, I believe," Jason smiled.
"Sausage!"
"Sausage it is," Clark smiled.
- - -
"Lois, your phone is ringing again," Clark informed her. They had just lay down for the night after Clark had done a quick sweep of the city and found nothing. The entire city seemed to be waiting for some news on Luthor, even criminals.
"I can't hear it," Lois told him, rolling over. She had no need to pick up her phone again; Jason was safe in the next room and she didn't want to have to worry about anything tonight.
"I can," Clark sighed; everything seemed louder when he wanted it to be quiet so he could sleep.
"Well why don't you get it then?" Clark sighed and got out of bed, grabbing the same robe he'd worn in response to the last late night phone call before heading out into the kitchen where their phones were charging.
"We should just move the chargers into the bedroom," he mumbled. "It'd be a lot less walking around when they ring at night."
Lois chuckled and watched his silhouette disappear from the doorway.
"Hello?" He tried to sound tired and grumpy so that the person on the other end would get the idea and make it quick.
"Hello? Isn't this Lois's cell…" there was a pause like the man on the other end was checking the number on his screen. "Who is this?"
"Uh, Clark Kent, who is this?" Clark asked though he'd already recognized the voice and the phone number to be General Lane's.
"Oh, Clark, hi. This is General Lane," he sounded confused. "Isn't this Lois's cell phone?"
"Yes, it is."
"So why did you answer it?"
"Because she's asleep."
"Well can you wake her? It's important, I have to talk to her right now," he sounded worried.
"And you can't just tell me? I can let her know in the morning or…"
"No, I need to talk to her now," his voice was hard.
"Okay," Clark sighed. It sounded important, but Lois was really tired, everything that had happened in the past weekend was catching up. He held the phone away from his face so he could get Lois to take it. "Lois… Lois I know you didn't fall asleep that fast…"
"I think we should turn all phones off tomorrow night and just sleep for once," Lois grumbled, sticking her hand out and taking the phone without taking her head off the pillow. Clark chuckled and handed her the phone, throwing his robe over the chair next to hers, and collapsing onto the bed next to her. "Daddy? Why are you calling so late?"
"Honey, I need you to contact Superman for me," came his voice through the phone. Lois glared at him, telling him with her eyes that he could've just kept the phone.
"Why?"
"I need to talk to him, as soon as possible."
"About…?"
"It's classified, Lo-lo."
"So?"
"So I need you to get in contact with Superman for me, send him to the base. I can't tell you anything about why."
"Fine," she said. "How urgent is this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, should I go stand on the balcony and shout for him, or should I go jump off the balcony and shout for him?"
"That's how you get in contact with him?"
"No, yes, well, not anymore."
"Just get in contact with him as soon as you can. Preferably sometime tonight."
"G'nite, Daddy."
"Goodnight, Lois."
They hung up. "So what's going on that you need to throw yourself off a balcony to talk to me about?"
"I dunno."
"What?"
"He wouldn't tell me. It's classified," she made a face.
"So I should probably go find out what it is he wants."
"Probably," Lois sighed.
"Half an hour," he promised, getting out of bed and spinning into the suit before leaning over to kiss her goodnight. "I'll be back in half an hour."
"You better be. I hate sleeping alone."
He smiled and opened the window, letting the night breeze float in around him a moment before taking off.
"General Lane?" He asked, landing in front of the older man, and biting back a smile when the seasoned General jumped.
"Superman!"
"Lois just jumped off her balcony," he said, watching his soon-to-be father-in-law's jaw drop. "Now, she hasn't done that in years to get my attention. What was so urgent?"
"Oh, well, um," the general was trying to get his composure back. He cleared his throat, "Just follow me, please."
He led the way to one of the lead lined domes that he knew housed the kryptonite from the warehouses and from Luthor's most recent attack. Clark stopped just outside the doors, glaring at the back of the man's head.
"Why do you want me to go in there?"
"We found some things with the kryptonite samples," the General explained, pulling out a key card and swiping it through the reader. The door popped open with a pressurized his and it was all Clark could do not to step away. He couldn't feel any kryptonite radiation, but he knew it was there. "Don't worry, Superman. All the kryptonite in sealed in lead multiple times. We've taken all the precautions we could think of."
"Thank you," he said, still wary as he entered the dome.
Jason is probably going to need some major therapy when he's older.