- - - Chapter Seventeen

Lois was panicking. She'd hung up with Clark almost two minutes ago. The image on the computer screen had yet to show any improvement. Luthor still sat in the foreground, holding Jason on the piano bench next to him. He had made the boy play, holding a gun to his temple, and setting the kryptonite cube next to the webcam where Lois could see it just as the green thing in the corner of the screen. Jason wasn't crying, but he was obviously not feeling very good either. He was focused on his playing, but he would falter now and again. Lois and Luthor didn't know it, but it was because he was listening carefully to the whispered instructions of his father from the other side of the ship.

Clark was dealing with the remaining Kings as quickly and quietly as possible. The Linirans were no match for his physical strength, but they had high-tech weapons Clark didn't have access to or need for on Earth. The first bald man went down without a problem; the second gave him a bit more trouble.

The first hadn't realized he was there and had easily been pushed and locked into the same pantry Lois, Jason, and later Richard had been trapped in. The second King had seen Clark already, and was prepared with his glass weapon and was already on his way to warn Luthor. Clark, after being blasted through several of the recently repaired walls, managed to disarm the renegade and lock him with his compadre.

Thirty seconds to go and Clark entered the main room. Luthor was sitting on the piano bench; Jason was calmly sitting next to him plunking out a tune. He could see Lois on the screen, but he was too far away for Lois to see him. There was a small piece of kryptonite on the computer resting on the piano, but, after x-raying the room, Clark discovered that it wasn't the only piece of the deadly green rock. Luthor had a sharpened piece of the stuff in his pocket, it was made of meteor rock so it wouldn't harm Jason, but it would harm Clark. There was more of each type stashed around the room; large dull chunks just as often as small sharp ones. Most of it seemed to be kryptonite from Krypton; Luthor was out to hurt Clark, not Jason.

"Well, Miss Lane, it looks like your Superman isn't going to come through this time," Luthor said smugly. Lois, on the other hand, had finally seen Clark behind him. "Too bad, I was looking forward to seeing him again."

"What, no, Luthor!" Lois shouted, not trying to point Clark out, but trying to keep him from doing whatever he was going to do to Jason.

Clark didn't let it happen. He rushed the rest of the way into the room, still murmuring comforting words and instructions to his son. The closer he got to Luthor the worse the kryptonite poisoning got, but Clark ignored it. He was in extreme pain by the time he reached the piano. He took the little cube of kryptonite and chucked across the room; it shattered on the far wall. Jason breathed easier as soon as it was gone, it was the closest piece of New Krypton kryptonite.

Clark blurrily observed that his son seemed to be building up a tolerance for the stuff; weeks ago they had both as well as passed out when there were a few chunks four stories down, now they were in a room laden with the stuff and, though it was painful for Clark, they were both alright.

Luthor jumped around when the kryptonite left his hand, spinning to face Clark and upturning the piano bench. Jason was sent sprawling toward his father, who caught him disjointedly.

Luthor hollered for the Kings, firing at Clark's chest. Clark knew better than to let the bullets hit him so close to kryptonite. Instead, he spun out of the way, holding Jason close and moving toward the door. He got Jason out before turning to face Luthor.

The kryptonite suddenly seemed to have even more of an affect on him now that Jason wasn't in danger, or at least not as much danger. Luthor was near the door, he had the long, sharp shard of kryptonite that had been in his coat pocket out and leveled at Clark's chest. Clark noticed Lois watching through the webcam and wanted to at least be able to close the laptop so she wouldn't have to see whatever was coming. She had put on a brave face for everybody around her when it came to the video footage from New Krypton, but watching it happen live would be too much for her. It would be too much for him to know that she had had to watch it as it happened. Then he realized just how much confidence he had in himself when he was exposed to kryptonite and almost laughed.

"Is something funny?" Luthor asked, seeing the smirk forming on his lips.

"Not at all," Clark said, trying to keep his tone even. He concentrated on walking the rest of the way into the room without his knees giving out on him. I have to get out so I can get Jason out. That thought gave his knees enough stability to keep him upright.

They stared at each other for a moment. Now that Clark's knees were working properly, he was worried about his stomach and its unstable contents. Luthor didn't seem to want to attack him, unsure how well the kryptonite was working on him. "Your move, Luthor," Clark said, proud of his vocal cords for not wavering. Luthor didn't look happy to be told to make a move, but he did anyways.

Lunging forward, Luthor aimed for the kryptonite to take him square in the gut. Clark grabbed his wrist first, though, forcing the point away from him. He had no special strength, only adrenaline and muscles any man could acquire. In the same motion he had used to move the kryptonite away, he brought his elbow up and back down on the back of Luthor's head. The blow was enough to knock Luthor sideways into a table.

Clark held onto the kryptonite to keep it out of Luthor's hands even though it was making his palms blister. He threw it away from him a second later, watching it shatter against the same wall the smaller chunk had minutes ago. Luthor was recovering, straightening and coming at Clark with the small table held in his hands. There had been a potted plant on it, but Luthor tipped it to the floor; the pot shattered and sent dirt flying.

Clark turned to face Luthor just in time to get a face full of end table, sending him to his knees. While he was down there, he lunged at Luthor, grabbing him around the knees and throwing him to the floor.

This time he hit hard enough to draw blood. Clark was already stumbling toward the computer where he could see Lois and Perry's faces both watching silently. He was moving the mouse around, shutting down the webcam when something impacted the side of his head. It hurt like hell, harder than any normal hit would've hurt. Then he saw the green fragments snapping past his eyes. Luthor had hit him with a chunk of kryptonite so hard that it had shattered. Clark could see the bruise now, and the look that would be on Lois's face when she noticed it.

It continued like that for almost five minutes. They matched each other hit for hit, Clark as each hit brought him closer to kryptonite in the walls or the chips on the floor. Luthor wasn't doing as well as he'd like to think, though. Clark had gotten his own hits in, and, though he wasn't suffering from the dull ache in the stomach or joints, Luthor was still stumbling quite a bit, his hits not as hard or quickly followed up as they were at the beginning.

There was no conversation, Luthor wasn't even spouting off his usual train of threats. Both were reaching exhaustion when Jason shoved the door off its hinges and burst into the room.

"Daddy!" He said, seeing Clark rolling away from the piano bench that Luthor had slammed down on the space Clark had just occupied. Jason's eyes went wide; he'd seen this before, but it was right in front of him. The computer was still on and broadcasting, he could see his mother and uncle in the small window.

"Jason, go back outside!" Clark said, taking hold of the biggest chunk of the bench that had flown his way and smashing it into Luthor's shoulder.

Jason hesitated for only a moment before picking up the door that had come off its hinges when he'd entered, and tossed it at Luthor. It didn't quite hit him properly, cracking into his left shin and knocking him over. Luthor cried out in pain, falling over and clutching his leg. Jason burst into tears, rushing toward Luthor to try and help, but Clark met him first, scooping him up and holding him close.

Walking stiffly over to the computer, Clark leaned against the piano, seating Jason on the keys. Keeping a hand on his back, Clark tapped on the keyboard, exploring the laptop. A number of files came up detailing the force shield. The information was in Liniran, and, to his surprise, he could read it. The Kings had linked their technology into the laptop on the piano after the technology in their ship had been damaged during their run-in with Superman.

Blue eyes flashed with interest. They wouldn't be able to exit the force shield, it had been programmed to keep things in; Luthor had been expecting him and didn't plan on letting him out. Clark read the information carefully, glad for his speed so that he was able to read enough to get a general idea of what to do while Luthor was still writhing around on the floor. Quickly, Clark copied the hard drive onto a disk, stashing it on his belt before going through the procedures to shut down the force shield.

"Jason," he said, making sure the boy was looking at him before continuing. Perry and Lois were still watching and listening through the webcam. "After I push this button," he pointed to the return key, "it's going to get very hot in here. Lot's of things might start on fire."

"Why? Daddy…?"

"The boat is on top of lava and the force shield around it is the only thing keeping it from catching fire. I have to turn the force shield off so we can get out but that means it's going to get really hot. Understand?" He asked gently. Jason nodded his head. "Okay, say bye to Mom, we'll see her in a bit," he pointed to the window where Lois was watching. She couldn't help but notice that both of them were sweating and Clark had a number of bruises already forming on his face. Jason waved, an innocent smile showing complete trust in his Dad. She was unable to find anything to say so she just waved back.

"Leave a window open for us, Mommy?" Jason asked, smiling at the webcam.

"Of course, honey," she choked out. Clark smiled weakly back at her before hitting the button.

Clark had Jason wrapped in his cape and was headed toward the door when the first effects were felt. Sweltering heat filed the room, the glass observation bottom of the room shattered and flames filled the gap. Jason screamed in his arms and clung tighter. Luthor was barely conscious on the floor but he was begging Superman to get him out.

"Superman, you can't just leave me here! You save lives, it's what you do…" he paused, Clark couldn't tell if it was for effect or because he was out of breath. "Would you really want my life on your conscience?"

"I made it my purpose to save lives. I'm starting to think that letting you die might serve that purpose."

"What?! No!"

But Clark was already gone, tearing through the flames that had exploded around them. Jason was terrified, clinging tightly under the cape and whimpering when he heard the crackling of the flames and the rush of the water crashing down on them after the force field stopped holding it back.

As soon as they were away from the kryptonite Clark began to feel better. It seemed that Luthor had put all of what he had into that room to even the odds during their 'showdown.' Running as close to full tilt as he cold manage, Clark found the stairs and tore up them. The portal window in the door at the top of the stairs was swimming with near boiling water.

"Take a deep breath, Jason, we're going to have to swim a little bit now," Jason didn't respond, just took a deep breath and held on tighter.

Clark wrapped the cape around him more firmly, hoping to keep the boiling water away from his son's skin. Taking a deep breath of his own, he slammed his shoulder into the door and burst into the ocean.

Seconds later the pair of them burst into open air. Jason gasped in a breath of fresh air, freeing himself of the cape to look around. He loved the feel of the crisp sea air whipping past his face. They shot straight up, not stopping until they were above the clouds. The sunlight was pure and bright; reflecting off the clouds, it was much more pure than the weak sunlight coming under the clouds with the sunrise.

Jason was smiling in his arms, hugging his father more than clinging to him. Clark could feel himself relaxing. His son was safe. Luthor and the Kings were dead. The kryptonite that had accumulated in the city was in the process of being destroyed. And Jason was smiling.

They spent ten minutes floating there, absorbing the sunlight. Clark could feel his aches and pains evaporating. The smile still plastered on Jason's face told him that the sun felt just as good when only half Kryptonian.

"Daddy, you're hands have blisters on them," Jason said as they began their descent. Clark looked down at his hands that were wrapped around his son's waist. "And you have a big bruise on your face… Daddy, are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he said, smiling. "My skin blisters like that when I touch kryptonite and I touched some earlier."

"When you were fighting Lex Luthor."

"Right."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, the sun helped. I doubt your Mom will believe me, though," he said, chuckling as they approached the Daily Planet.

"I think she likes worrying about you."

"I think she might too."

They swooped through the open window in Perry's office. Jason was still smiling when Clark handed him to a tearful Lois.

"Jason, Jason, are you okay?" She kept saying his name and asking if he was alright, holding him close and shaking as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Mom," Jason said, calmly at first, but then slightly more frantically. "Mom, I'm fine! Mommy!"

"Sorry, honey," she said, letting him down, but still trying to keep him close.

"Hi, Uncle Perry!" Jason said cheerily, going over and giving Perry a hug. The hardened editor seemed to melt into the young boy, holding him tight and shaking almost as much as his mother had been.

Lois looked at Clark, seeing the bruise on the side of his face before anything else, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "Lois," he said soothingly, "Lois."

"Are you okay?" She asked. He had taken her in his arms and was supporting her completely. She was shaking both with exhaustion and relief. "Clark," she gasped, noticing the blisters on his hands.

"I'm okay, Lois," he said but he wasn't able to keep his voice from wavering slightly. He was just as tired as Perry or Lois after the exposure to kryptonite.

Lois didn't believe him, making him sit down in Perry's chair. She dug around in one of the cabinets until she found a first aid kit. The four of them were still sitting in the office when the first reporters began trickling in for the day. At first nobody noticed that Superman was sitting in Perry's chair, his cape tucked awkwardly underneath him. Lois was immersed in the task of bandaging his blistered hands and wiping the blood away from the scratch on his temple. Jason was curled up against Perry's side on the couch; both of them were drowsing even though they'd only been sitting for a few minutes.

"Chief!" Georgianna from PR burst into the office without knocking or looking in. She spun around and smacked a bright yellow post-it note down on the desk with a youtube extension written sloppily across it. She blinked a few times when she realized who she was looking at on the other side of the desk. Superman was sitting in the chair looking tired and surprised, Lois crouching next to him trying to get a bandage she had wrapped around his hand but the tape wasn't sticking to his skin properly. Georgianna looked around the room, finding a bleary Perry trying to slip out from under a sleeping Jason. "Oh, um, Superman…"

"What're you doing here, Georgianna?" Lois asked, spinning around. She would've lost her balance if Clark hadn't put the hand she had just been bandaging on her shoulder.

"It's seven-thirty, Lois," Georgianna said defensively. "Everybody's starting to come in… and you should have a look at that," she spun around to face Perry again.

Finally getting up, Perry walked around the desk to his chair which Clark had vacated as soon as he saw the editor heading his way. He punched in the address and was promptly directed to a very angry-looking man adjusting a webcam. Perry watched without much interest until the man finally started talking. It was a direct criticism of Superman for favoring only the Daily Planet with his interviews, claiming favoritism, commenting that he never stayed around for television interviews for any station, or even talked to any reporters for the Planet besides Lois Lane. He came too close to the truth for comfort with his remarks about the connections between Lois and Superman.

Lois and Clark were both behind Perry's chair watching by the time the five and a half minute tirade came to completion.

"Of course I give exclusives to the Planet, I trust you here," Superman said, mostly for Georgianna's benefit. Lois and Perry both gave him a look that told him they'd have liked to chuckle at his comment. Georgianna finally seemed to notice how tired all of them were, and the fact that Jason was sleeping on the couch; Lois had walked back around as soon as the video finished, holding him in her lap.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking from face to face. "You all look exhausted."

"Lex Luthor kidnapped Jason yesterday from his school," Clark said, his voice was angry but held nothing of the paternal worry he had felt.

"So what're you doing here?"

"I only managed to find him about an hour ago, and it was difficult to get him out," Clark said quietly, glancing at his bandaged hands. "There was plenty of kryptonite, as usual."

"So you spent all night dealing with Lex Luthor? That's why you weren't there when that hurricane hit Florida earlier?"

"Yes," Clark said, his face stony. He had heard the hurricane just before he'd dived under the water to find the force shield. He had done what his father had been worried about; he had put one human life over another. He felt guilty for not doing what he could to save the greater number of people who had needed him, but he didn't feel guilty for going after his son. It was a very complicated emotion and it made the scrape on his head throb. Georgianna was regarding him carefully, he had crossed the room to sit on the couch by Lois and Jason and they almost looked like a family, but the Superman suit offset the picture because the world believed it was impossible for him to mate with a human woman.

"And?" Georgianna finally asked.

"And you can read about it with the rest of the world when I write the article," Lois said.

"You're not writing anything today," Clark said firmly, using his most convincing Superman voice. Of course, that just got him an annoyed look from Lois.

"First you're my personal quit smoking program and now you're regulating my work schedule?"

"You were up all night, Lois, same with you, Mr. White," he said, looking sternly at them both.

"You were the one that got her to quit?" Perry asked, trying to steer the conversation away from his own need for sleep.

"Mr. Kent and I, yes," Clark smiled slightly. "He got rid of her stash and I prevented her lighters from working."

"Yes, well, they worked fine until you blew them out…"

"Which was kind of the point," Clark shrugged. Georgianna was looking at them like they were crazy. She had never heard Superman say so many words in a row, ever. She knew he must be able to form complete sentences because she'd heard Lois talking about talking to Superman, but it was odd to see him doing anything but wave goodbye and fly off. "Anyways," he said, not letting Perry get away. "All three of you should be at home sleeping. I'll bring Lois and Jason home now, Mr. White, and be back in a half an hour to bring you home."

"A half an hour?" Perry asked.

"Enough time for you to delegate whatever it is you need to get done today so you can have at least six hours off to sleep."

"And I suppose you'll be checking in to make sure I don't come back until I've slept?"

"Of course," he said, sounding a little more like Superman to Georgianna's ears.

"Fine," Perry said after loosing the staring contest. He looked like he would've liked to remind Clark who signed his paychecks, but knew better than to do so in front of Georgianna.

"You're lucky I'm so tired," Lois told him as she got to her feet. "I have to write an article about the demise of Lex Luthor now, and I still haven't finished the scathing article I was writing about channel twelve playing that New Krypton footage without your permission…"

"Lois," Superman said, shaking his head, but stopping abruptly when it made him dizzy. "You work too much."

"This coming from the guy that patrols the planet 24/7."

"Touché," he smiled, taking Jason from her and holding him in one arm before wrapping the other around Lois's waist. She comfortably wrapped her arms around him, putting an arm around Jason just to touch him and know he was there. "Half an hour," he reminded Perry before floating up and out the window.

Perry was grumbling, but he got to work, starting by kicking Georgianna out of his office, and then checking his email.

Clark landed lightly on the apartment balcony, holding two sleeping people in his arms. It was slightly awkward to open the door while trying to keep them both upright in his arms. Eventually he got it, slipping past the pane of glass and bringing them both into the bedroom he and Lois usually shared. Neither of them wanted Jason very far from them. He set them on the bed before zipping into Jason's bedroom and getting his pajamas. He changed the boy's clothes, tossing the other garments into a corner without much concern, before turning to Lois. Even if they were going to be married, she really wouldn't appreciate it if he changed her into her pajamas; still, he didn't want to wake her. Instead, he just pulled off her shoes and socks and tucked the pair of them under the blankets. Neither even stirred.

He hovered over them for a few minutes, floating horizontally above them and watching them sleep. Reassuring himself that they were both there and alive and safe. Jason didn't look any worse for wear from the entire ordeal. He looked like he might sleep through the entire day, but there were no scrapes or bruises, but he probably wouldn't be going back to school for the rest of the semester; good thing winter break was just around the corner. Lois, on the other hand, looked completely worn out; she might sleep through to the middle of the following night. She had dark circles under her eyes and the tiny worry lines that were barely visible on normal days stood out in her exhaustion and from being used so much in the past few hours.

Clark wanted nothing better than to change into his pajamas, settle himself between them, and hold on tight, but he had to go back to the Planet to get Perry. He flew off a few minutes early, paying a visit to the clear sunlight above the clouds before swooping through the still open window at the Planet.

The bullpen was full now, and everybody seemed to know that Superman would be coming to take the editor-in-chief home. Perry looked very grumpy to have everybody looking through his glass wall and waiting to see Superman.

"Don't you people have anything better to do?!" He shouted, slamming the door when nobody even looked away. He realized why when he turned back to his desk to find Superman hovering just outside his window with a tired smile on his face.

"May I come in?" He asked politely. Perry looked at him dumbly for a moment before shaking his head and chuckling.

"You're asking me?"

"No, actually, I was worried that your desk might object," Clark said completely seriously as he flew through the window and touched down.

"The… desk?" Perry said, too tired to get it. Clark chuckled and shook his head, crossing his arms in front of him casually.

"Nevermind, Chief," he managed a real smile before turning serious again. "Let's get going then."

"Just another minute… I've had all these buffoons staring at me- haven't been able to get any work done."

Pursing his lips, Clark took a seat on the couch again and fought drowsiness while he waited for his boss. With the door closed, effectively blocking their conversation from the rest of the office, he knew Perry wouldn't be afraid to threaten his job.

Clark was aware of every eye in the bullpen on him when he hovered above the floor almost forty minutes later, picking the editor up by the armpits and flying out the window. Perry was too tired to even react to the heights.

Flying quickly, Clark made sure Perry was alright in his home before flying as fast as he could back to his family. His unease had been increasing every moment that he was away, afraid that Luthor had somehow survived the fire and the pressure of thousands of gallons of ocean water pressing down on him and managed to get to his apartment where he would be terrorizing the two people who mattered most in the world.

He arrived home to find them both perfectly alright, not having moved an inch since he'd left them. He almost cried with relief. Instead, he wearily shed the suit, tossing it into the same corner that he'd left Jason's clothes, and put on his pajama pants. When he turned back to the bed he found Lois sitting up and watching him.

"Hey," he said softly, crossing the room and sitting on the bed next to her.

"Hey," she said back, leaning into his chest and sighing deeply. "I should change," she said after they had been sitting there for a minute. Clark just nodded, scooting away and into midair, so that she could slide out of bed. She quirked an eyebrow when she noticed he was hovering at bed-level, but didn't say anything. He just shrugged, sliding right back onto the bed when she was out of the way.

They settled onto the bed as soon as Lois had her pajamas on; Lois wrapped her arms around Jason, and Clark wrapped his arms around both of them. Lois and Jason slept soundly through the entire day, not even stirring when Clark left to check on Perry, or when he left to help with damage control in Florida for an hour or so. He didn't need as much sleep as they did, but he liked being close. He was plagued by thoughts of losing either one of them, not wanting to be separated for more than a few minutes. So he lay awake, both of them wrapped in his arms, feeling complete.

How 'bout that, a day ahead of schedule. woohoo. yeah, okay- I need some ideas for the questions for that interview they promised Perry a couple of chapters ago. Anybody feeling brilliant?