02: Distracted

A soft sizzling crackled through the air as a young sorceress moved amongst her possessions. The warehouse she'd chosen as a temporary hideout was perfect for her needs. It was situated right on the outskirts of Metropolis. She was positive that Superman would never think to look for her so close to home. Though Zatanna was now a member of the Justice League and was in most aspects, a heroine, she had a reputation to uphold. When she first met Superman, she had an instant crush on him. But when she discovered he was already in love with someone else, she decided that if she couldn't have him, at least she could mess with him. And so it became a tradition to cast some kind of spell on him -or someone he knew- one day out of the year. Her anniversary for mischief was next weekend and this year was going to be legendary. The League was going to be talking about it for years, she was sure.

Smiling to herself, she pulled back the bracelet she'd been working on. A brilliant red stone shimmered as flames danced in their torches. "Perfect," she muttered, setting the jewelry aside. "And now, for the best part!" Closing her eyes and mumbling a spell, Zatanna thrust her hands towards the window hovering above the warehouse's entrance. A noise like cloth being torn apart rent the air and the window shimmered like rippled water. Sighing, the magician lowered her arms. "He'll never know what hit him," she said with glee. "Now all I have to do is lure Luthor here and get him to toss Superman through that window. This is going to be unforgettable!"

All of a sudden her cell phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she cursed. Waving her hand, all the objects disappeared except for the bracelet which she picked up and put in her pocket. "The League always calls at a bad time," she muttered. Glancing at the shimmering window one last time, Zatanna grinned and spun on her heel, disappearing in a flash of purple smoke.

o0o0o

Cold pierced Thora's skin. Colors similar to the Bifrost flashed past her eyes so quickly her stomach began to churn. And then, without warning, she slammed into something solid. Pain shot through every fiber of her bones as she connected with the ground and toppled end over end, losing her grip on Mjol. As she tried to regain her footing, her head slammed against solid rock. Immediately, she blacked out and knew no more.

o0o0o

An obnoxious noise filled Jason Kent's ears. Desirous to shut it up as fast as possible, he lifted his fist and slammed down on his alarm clock, which exploded the second he made contact. Jason groaned. "Great," he muttered, turning over and covering his eyes. "That's the third one this week. Mom's gonna kill me."

Rolling out of bed, he stretched and headed into the bathroom to get ready for school. The morning scent of coffee was already in the air. Half an hour later, Jason emerged to find his mother seated at the table pouring over three newspapers at once while munching on a donut.

"Morning," Jason called, as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

His mom looked up from the papers and sighed. "You did it again, didn't you?"

Jason sighed. "How did you know?"

"You have the same guilty look as your father," she pointed out.

"And what guilty look might that be?" asked a deep voice in the kitchen doorway.

Jason grinned. "Morning, Dad. Anything exciting this early?"

"Not really," his dad revealed. "But I'm sure there's bound to be something later on. There always is."

"Clark, can you believe what the Star put as their front page?" Lois asked, tossing the paper to her husband.

Clark glanced at the headline, amused. "'Batman and Superman: More than Friends?'" He looked at his wife. "Well, Lois, the Star is known for publishing rumors more than facts."

Lois snorted. "That's obvious. Everyone knows that Superman is as straight as can be."

Clark grinned. "At least you would be the expert on that knowlegde Ms. Lane."

Lois rolled her eyes. "I just can't believe the Star is stooping so low. Just because the Planet is the paper Superman has picked doesn't give them the right to start a nasty rumor about him."

"I don't know, I think he and Batman might find it a little funny," Clark mused. "I wonder if he's seen it yet."

"I highly doubt it," Lois muttered before taking another bite out of her donut. "He's as nockturnal as an owl."

"Well, he is a bat," Jason said while munching on his own donut.

"Whatever," Lois groaned. "You'd better get going, munchkin or you're going to be late for school."

Jason eyed the clock. "Mom, I can make it to school with superspeed in two minutes."

"Jason, for the last time, you are not going to abuse your powers just to earn more leisure time! Now, march out that door!"

"Okay, I'm going, I'm going," Jason grumbled, pulling out a pair of glasses from his pocket and sliding them onto his nose.

After the door clicked close, Clark came around the counter and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I love you," he muttered nuzzling his nose into the back of her neck. Lois smiled and turned around in his arms so she could kiss him full on the mouth. Clark pulled away, licking his lips from the powdered sugar she'd coated over them. "Hmmm, sweet."

"Come on, Smallville, we don't want to be late to work," Lois said as she picked up her keys.

Clark sighed. "You know I can always fly us over there."

"If Jason has to act normal then so do you," Lois said with a gleam in her eye.

Clark smiled, reveling in how much she liked to taunt him. "Alright."

He grabbed his coat off the wrack, pulled his glasses out of his front pocket, and followed after his wife.

o0o0o

A soft cooing noise and a flap of wings brought Thora back to reality. She had been dreaming that she was flying through the air but that was impossible; nobody could fly. Thora sat up and rubbed her head. There was an incredibly tender spot to the left of the crown that throbbed painfully. The dress she had on was in shambles, torn in several places. It looked like someone had taken a giant cheesegrater and had some fun with the delicate silver fabric. Dried blood ran down her legs and her arms. Trying not to think about what the red stuff was all over her, Thora looked around. She was in some type of warehouse. Shards of glass glittered on the ground from the sunlight that came through a broken window on the opposite side of the room. For a second she thought the open space shimmered but she dismissed it as the left over glass in the corners catching the sun's rays.

Had she fallen through the window and tumbled fifty feet through a bunch of empty crates before slamming into the opposite wall? That looked like the only possible explanation from all the broken wood and glass littered across the floor. But, how had she survived? Any normal human being would have died after such an accident. And shouldn't she have bled to death from all the shards of glass and wood pieces that had scraped up her skin? Thora examined her arms and legs only to find that there weren't any open scratches. In fact, there was only dried blood. She looked at her hands and started to panic. What had happened to her? How did she get here? Where even was here?

Standing up, she stumbled slightly as she made her way over to what looked like the entrance to the warehouse. At least her body felt like it had gone through an accident. Her muscles ached with every move and her joints all but physically screamed in protest. Ignoring the pain, she opened the sliding door to the warehouse and looked around. She was on the outskirts of what appeared to be a major city. Identical warehouses like the one she'd woken up in were on either side for what appeared to be miles. There wasn't a person in sight. Swallowing hard, she tried to think but her mind came up empty. Panic started to envelope her chest. She couldn't remember anything except that her name was Thora Jane. Trying to fight against the sudden nausea churning in her stomach, Thora started to head towards the city. Where there was a city, there was people. Maybe they could give her some answers.

As she walked, there were several six foot tall crates in front of the warehouses. One said in big red letters: to Metropolis from Los Angeles. Thora looked at the large city before her. That must be Metropolis. She'd never heard of it before although she did know that Los Angeles was in California. Hopefully this was still the United States. Gaining her courage, Thora continued towards the city.

After what felt like an eternity, Thora walked down an alley that connected with a main street. And there were people! Tons of them! Relief spread through Thora as she headed towards the crowded street.

"Hey, what have we here?" an ominous voice asked behind her.

Thora whipped around. A small group of men had gathered in a half circle ten feet behind her. Their hands were loaded with knives and guns. Swallowing hard, Thora backed up as they approached her while chuckling and eyeing her appearance.

"You don't look to good, sweetheart," one of them said. "Did you get into a fight with your ex?"

"Must have been a real charmer, cutting her up like that," another said, licking his lips as he eyed the dried blood covering Thora's body.

"Leave me alone!" Thora cried.

"We're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, we just want to add a little more red to that silver dress you're wearing."

One of them leapt at her. Thora grabbed the man's wrist and with incredible agility flung him into one of his companions. The two went down and slammed into a dumpster.

"Get her!"

Five pairs of hands grabbed onto Thora at once. She screamed. Just as a pair of hands was beginning to rip the sleeves off her dress, a fierce wind whipped through the air. Thora opened her eyes to find all five men completely knocked out. Staring around wildly, Thora saw no one else in the alley.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Thora looked to her left to see an kind gentleman rushing towards her. He had thick brown hair and soft blue eyes. His wife had stayed in the crowded street although she was eyeing Thora with similar concern. Tears were pouring from Thora's eyes and without thinking she latched onto the man and sobbed into his shoulder.

"There, there, it's alright," he soothed. "You're going to be alright. Who did this?" he asked, gesturing to the unconsious men around their feet.

Thora shook her head, her whole body trembling. "I-I don't know. I opened my eyes and found them like that."

The man took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. "They didn't do that to you, did they?" he asked fiercely, pointing to the dried blood from her arms and legs.

"No, I think that was from falling through a window," Thora shuddered.

"Let's get you to a hospital," the man said, taking her hand. "My name is Richard by the way. Richard White."

"Thora Jane," Thora replied as they walked back to where his wife stood, waiting.

"Oh my goodness, Richard, is she alright?"

"She'll be fine, Lana," Richard said. "We need to get her to a hospital."

Lana nodded. "I'll hail down a cab."

The beautiful redhead rushed to the edge of the walk and got a driver's attention. They were in the cab and heading to Metropolis General in a matter of minutes. Richard kept his arm around Thora as she continued to shake uncontrollably. He eyed Lana and managed a small smile. "Welcome to Metropolis, honey."

"You were right about one thing," Lana sighed, "it's nothing like Smallville."

o0o0o

Jason was still trying to catch his breath as he hid behind the dumpster. He'd been walking past when he looked down the alley to find a beautiful girl caked in dried blood surrounded by a bunch of thugs. He couldn't just stand there and do nothing so bursting on the superspeed, he rushed forward just as the goons were about to lay their fingers on her and knocked them out cold, using just enough strength to give them mild concussions. He heard someone approach and nearly had a heart attack when he recognized the voice of none other than Richard White, his other Dad, though he couldn't make out what he was saying. Richard had basically raised him until he was five and even though he and his mom had called off their engagement, Richard was still considered part of the family. Jason spent every other summer with him and he often haunted the Kent apartment on the weekends. It was just his luck that his other father would happen to find the girl he'd just rescued.

Peeking around the dumpster, Jason watched as Richard guided the girl to where a woman with long red hair had hailed down a cab. They got in the car and sped off. Jason was sure Richard would take her to the hospital. That was a lot of blood, even if it was dry. She needed to have someone look at her. As soon as Jason was sure the coast was clear, he headed back out into the main street and continued on his way to school. If he was lucky, he would make it just before the warning bell. He made the decision to ask Richard about the girl later as he rounded another corner and his school came in sight.

"Hey Jase! You're nearly late!"

Jason looked up to see his best friend Dick Grayson leaning against a tree with three girls fawning over him.

Jason rolled his eyes but he couldn't help grinning. "Hey, Gray."

Dick decided once he got into high school to go by the first half of his last name, claiming that it was sexier to the ladies. He lived in Gotham but when your dad is a multi billionaire nobody questions how far you're willing to travel to get to school. The black haired, green eyed teen kissed one of the brunettes lightly before heading over to Jason to give him a fist bump.

"What kept you?" Gray asked as they made their way inside.

"Rescue," Jason muttered.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "You haven't gone public, have you?"

"Of course not," Jason said testily. "You know it's too dangerous anyway. Besides, I'm not ready for it. I'm still in the developmental stages, according to my dad."

Gray nodded before turning to wink at a group of cheerleaders who giggled and blew him kisses. Jason sighed. "Do you have to be such a playboy?"

"Of course!" Gray exclaimed with pride, puffing out his chest. "It runs in the family, after all."

Jason raised his eyes heavenward. "Even if you were adopted."

"I was five," Gray defended. "I've been around Bruce longer than my real parents. And I won't ever be around them anyway because they were murdered. That's how I ended up on the streets."

"I know, I know. You've told me the story hundreds of time."

"And no matter how many times I do, I never get the sympathy card from you."

"That's because you get it from everyone else. If I gave in, your head might explode."

Gray snickered and ruffled Jason's hair. "Whatever."

Jason growled as he fixed his hair again. "Come on, we're going to be late for Trig."

They managed to get into the classroom just before the bell rang. Their teacher looked at them a little exasperated but didn't comment. Jumping into his lecture, Mr. Hughes put several calculating equations on the board and explained how to solve them before assigning his students to complete twenty questions by the end of the period. Jason's mind wandered way too much during the class to a certain blond girl he'd rescued earlier.

Technically, she had been his first actual rescue without his dad's supervision. The satisfaction purred in his soul every time he though about how he'd managed to disarm the bad guys, save the girl, and not get caught. The greatest satisfaction came from knowing that he'd done the right thing. If this was how his dad felt after every rescue, Jason really looked forward to the day when he could put on the cape. Shaking himself for the fourteenth time out of his thoughts, he tried again to complete the math problems.

He glanced over at Gray. His best friend had finished his assignment and was playing with Rachel Jackson's long black hair. The girl smiled as Gray ran her long locks up and down her arm. Occassionally she playfully swatted at Gray's hand telling him to stop. Jason tried not to roll his eyes again. Like his Uncle Bruce, Gray had developed incredible acting skills pretending to be a playboy. Underneath the facade, Jason knew that Gray was very much a romantic who one day dreamed of having a family of his own.

It was so hard to actually settle down and have a family as a superhero; Superman and Lois Lane were the only ones to truly succeed. Their love story was legendary in the Justice League. Not only was Superman the first superhero to go public, he was also the first to have a love life that every other superhero only dreamed of. Sure, they all had their flings but none of them had been able to settle down into a family setting. Saving the world demanded too much of their time. That was another reason they respected Superman so much; he somehow was able to balance saving the world, having a day time job, and a family every single day. Jason had some pretty big shoes to fill.

He often wondered if he would have a story similar to his father's. He wanted more than anything to end up with someone like his mom, willing to share her husband with the whole world, even at the most inconvenient of times. Again, for the hundredth time, his thoughts turned to that blond girl. Who was she? Did she go to Metropolis High?

I wonder how she's doing.

"Hey, earth to Jason! You in there?"

"W-What?" Jason said, looking around.

Gray was flinging his hand in front of his face. "Hey man, the bell rang. Did you finish?"

Jason looked down at his paper and scowled. He hadn't even answered half the questions. "Didn't even get halfway," he muttered.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you. You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Jason said, "just a little distracted."

"You thinking of a girl?" Gray teased.

Not in the mood to be pestered about his love life, Jason briskly replied, "Not really." It wasn't technically a lie. Sure he'd been thinking about the blond but he had also been thinking about the overall rescue.

Gray decided to let it drop, seeing that his best friend wasn't in the mood to elaborate. Just then, Penny Rogers walked passed and Gray felt his insides do a little flip. He'd always had a thing for redheads but Penny was something else. She was petite, freckled, pale, and blue-eyed with a personality he couldn't crack no matter how much charm he flew her way. Her long curly red hair swayed back and forth the same as her white skirt.

Jason elbowed him in the ribs. "There goes the only girl with any common sense in this school." He knew full well that Gray was completely head over heels for Penny and it was probably because she was the only one to treat Gray like a person instead of a tabloid to drool over. She defied every ounce of his flattery.

"Catch you later," Gray muttered as he rushed off. "Hey, Rogers! Wait up!"

Jason chuckled. Gray acted like a complete moron around Penny. He even stuttered and stumbled on his own feet. It reminded Jason a lot of how his dad acted around the Daily Planet. Clark Kent had to put on a good show for his co-workers; even after twenty years none of them suspected bumbling Clark Kent was Superman.

Jason had figured it out the moment he'd met him, back when he was five and Richard and his mom were still together. He'd promised not to tell anyone even though he couldn't understand how nobody else knew. Even his mom didn't seem to know. After the whole fiasco with Luthor, Lois had revealed to Superman that Jason was his son. Clark Kent then decided to reveal his secret to Lois. She was floored when she found out who he really was and had been furious when he told her about the amnesia kiss. But after a few months, she forgave Clark and they decided to try seeing each other since she and Richard broke off the engagement due to Lois's feelings for Superman.

It was because of her feelings for Superman that Lois and Clark had to eventually tell Richard that he and Clark were the same person. After Lois had openly kissed Clark in the bullpen of the Daily Planet and told everyone that Clark was Jason's real father, Richard had nearly had a heart attack. He had always been a fan of Superman and couldn't believe that Lois Lane would betray the hero for her newspaper partner. He hauled Lois into his office in International and demanded an explanation. Jason had been in his office at the time and remembered the whole confrontation...

"I can't believe that you would fool Clark into thinking he's Jason's father!" Richard had raged, thundering his fist on his desk. "We both know who his dad really is, Lois! Clark's always had a crush on you but that doesn't give you the right to lead him on like this! And what would Superman think? I never considered you the two-timing type!"

Lois's eyes had flared dangerously. "How dare you!"

Just then, the door opened and Clark came in, without an invitation. "Sorry, but may I interrupt?"

Jason looked at all three adults and remained perfectly still in Richard's chair. Even though he was five and couldn't understand the reason why Richard was so angry with Clark when he and Superman were the same person, he felt he should be quiet. Lois shook her head in Clark's direction but he just stared her down.

"Lois, in order for Richard to be part of Jason's life, he has a right to know," Clark said in a tone that was much deeper than what Richard was used to hearing.

Lois looked at the office and noticed several people were eyeing them wearily. Even Perry had fixed his gaze in their direction. "Now is not the place," Lois said.

Clark shook his head. "He needs to know. Besides, I'm only going to show him the truth. We'll explain the details later." He closed the blinds to Richard's office and made sure the door was locked before turning to face the International Assistant Editor. He drew himself to his full height, took off his glasses, and smiled. "Mr. White, due to obvious reasons I think it best if this little secret stays between the three of us."

Richard's mouth dropped open. "You have got to be kidding me," he said hoarsely. "You're..."

Clark nodded. "It's a long story and I'd love to tell you all about it but work isn't the place. Besides, Perry's on his way over here right now to make sure a fight hasn't broken out in your office. Let's meet tonight at your place to discuss everything. Can you keep it a secret until then?"

Richard shook his head to clear it. "Of course I can."

Everyone but Clark jumped as Perry suddenly bellowed for them to open the door while banging his fist against the dark wood. Clark chuckled. "Let's all pretend that I came in to stop you and Lois from ripping each other's heads off and that you ended the conflict so as not to scare Jason."

Everyone nodded and Clark opened the door. He'd managed to slump his shoulders, put his glasses back on, and stutter in less than two seconds while Perry shouted at all of them to cut the drama or leave the paper.

Jason smiled at the memory. That had been an eventful evening. After a lot of discussion, Richard agreed to keep the secret and still be apart of their lives. It was fairly easy convincing the rest of the Planet staff that Jason was Clark's son since he was born nine months after the Niagra Falls story Lois and Clark had covered while pretending to be on a honeymoon. Everyone was fairly shocked that Kent had finally gotten the girl.

It was also surprising that Richard had stuck around. But when everyone saw that he, Clark, and Lois were the best of friends, the rumors died completely and everyone left them alone. To throw everyone off the trial indefinitely, Superman put on a show over a live television broadcast after stopping a meteor shower from taking out half the east coast to congratulate Ms. Lane on her marriage to Clark Kent. After that the superhero had become a friend to his favorite reporter instead of a love interest.

To protect his father's identity, Jason was forbidden to go public with his powers. He completely supported his parents in this decision since the last thing he wanted was his family to be torn apart. The only ones who knew the full story were the Justice League, Richard, his grandma Martha, and Gray. The fewer people the better. Even his Aunt Lucy, his mother's sister, didn't know; it was safer to keep her and her family out of the loop as much as possible.

Jason's thoughts once again turned to this morning and he suddenly shuttered. What if someone had seen him use his powers? What if the blond girl did? Dread filled him as he imagined her telling the doctors about a strange boy who'd rushed in and rescued her using superpowers. Dad would kill him.

Jason leapt out of his skin when the bell rang. Realizing the hall was empty and he was late, he fought back a curse and rushed to English class, wishing that time would pick up. The sooner he could talk to that girl, the better.