Don't know how long I can keep up this update pace, but the ideas are flowing like cool water, and I can't seem to quench my thirst for this Superguy and his story.

Disclaimer: Superman and his fellow characters are the property of Warner Bros. Studios and DC Comics, and created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. The fact that Clark tracks Arctic ice and snow through my house -- in the middle of July -- is beside the point.

3. One-Track Mind

Lex Luthor sits, gloating, before a three-way vanity mirror, ensconced in his lead-lined ocean-side lair in Maceio, Brazil. The temperature in the room is an uncomfortable 82 degrees - the way he likes it. He smirks at his reflection, and runs his hand over his scalp.

Kitty Kowalski wanders in carrying an oversize martini glass filled with olives, her inevitable Oxycontin-enhanced mood dimly brightening her makeup-smudged eyes.

Gawd, it's hot in here – just so he won't have goose bumps from a chill pimpling up the smooth stretch of his bald dome.

She fingers one of the array of wigs on the marble vanity, "Lex, why do you never wear your hair at home?" Like this one, black, long, soft… mmm, reminds me of...

He raises his eyebrows at Kitty and reaches for a Cohiba Piramides, his favourite Havana cigar. He looks at her and, frowning, snips the end off of the stogie. He doesn't answer her till he's fulfilled his cigar prepping ritual and settled in for a long drag.

"It itches – besides this is my best look, au natural. You love it."

Kitty smiles at him. I hate it.

Flicking ash on the floor, Lex saunters toward the villa's balcony, overlooking the ocean, and opens the French patio doors with a grandiose flourish. The heavy salt sea air, and rhythmic ocean sound, has a sedative effect on the odd couple and the mood relaxes. Kitty slinks over to lean on his shoulder, and he smiles down at her with what looks like real affection. Taking her hand, as if to lead her to dance, he walks with her to a large telescope mounted at the far end of the terrace.

Winking at her, he squints and looks into the eyepiece, focusing it on New Krypton, which looms into view. Lex points up at the crystalline satellite, naked-eye visible high in the azure sky, and prompts Kitty to look through the telescope.

"That Super-fink is finished this time, Kitty. New Krypton's orbit is decaying and, by my calculations, it will be tucked back in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California by this time," looking at his watch with a flourish of his wrist, "ooh, next week."

Her mood spoiled, Kitty frowns, and squints through the eyepiece.

"My name is Katherine. I want a new dog."

And, a new boyfriend -- one that's cute.

"Yes, let's get a new dog, shall we? This time, one that's more than a mouthful."

Kitty grimaces, her eyes water. She may cry again, but not right now. I think I hate you today, Lex. Her voice rises, reaching a wail, echoing in the cool night air. "No, I want one just the same -- a Pom –- or I'm leaving, and I mean it this time."

Lex purses his lips in mock disappointment.

"Now, Kitty, uh Katherine, don't say you'll leave –- you know it hurts me –- cuts me -- to the quick. Of course, you can have a new dog. Once Superman is dead, we'll go puppy shopping. I promise."

"Dead?" I'd be dead if he hadn't… "Lex?"

"I like that name – 'New Krypton'. Lois's idea too – what a girl, what a girl; she'll never get over his death, what with his kid, and the continent, reminding her. I love it."

Here goes nothing, Katherine Kowalski who was gonna be on Broadway. Let this count… please. Kitty affects a casual tone, her performance marred insignificantly by the Oxy."I think you're wrong about the boy." Hope this works.

"What?"

"I think you're wrong." C'mon, buy it.

"Wrong?"

"I'm not saying it again -– you heard me. The kid has allergies. He didn't react to the Kryptonite.

"He flinched."

"You scared the shit out of him."

"I am... scary –- in a good way. The piano--"

"-- wasn't tied down. Superman had to save him, and his mom and dad, from the sinking ship -- you read the article, you read all her articles. I want a dog."

Lex tilts his head, and regards Kitty with a speculative air.

C'mon. C'mon. C'mon.

Throwing his hands up, as if he's finally decided what to have for breakfast, Lex responds. "Fine. It's not his kid. I thought the concept was far-fetched anyway; he's an inhuman alien, after all. Whatever. She'll still be heartbroken, and he'll still be dead, and I'll still have New California."

"And a new dog." Kitty rolls her eyes, and eats olives. Tomorrow… I'll do it… tomorrow.

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High above Lois Lane's apartment building, two figures rise into the darkness, as insignificant as soap bubbles in the vastness of the night sky. Superman glances up, and squints into the black. Tomorrow… I'll do it… tomorrow.

Tonight, is for them.

Wrapped in the expanse of crimson wool, and rubber-like fabric of Superman's cape, Jason fingers the edge, and strokes the fine lining against his cheek. "I want to fly too. Can I get a cape like yours?"

He meets Superman's identical blue eyes -- eyes that betray their alien heritage -- eyes more human than humanly possible. He thinks I'm like him – human – and the suit is the alien.

Oh, but he isn't human, is he?

"The cape doesn't make me fly, Jason" He's only 5 years old… he can't even read. There's no way he can understand that I'm not human and that he's half-human.

Not… yet. He's not ready.

"The cape... is just something I wear –- like your coat -- and it keeps your mom warm when we fly."

"Like my coat? My coat doesn't cover my butt… it's to keep your butt warm?"

Superman chuckles, and blushes at the reference.

"Well, I guess it hides my butt – I never thought about that. My mom made my first suit, so maybe she thought of that."

"So, if it's not a magic cape that makes you fly… is it 'cause you're an illegal alien?"

This is going to be way harder than I thought.

"Jason… you know how you've lived here in Metropolis all your life?"

"I was born here," he proclaims, puffing out his chest, "I've lived here a long time."

"Well, I'm not... from around here."

"I know -- you're from Kansals, right?"

Superman chuckles at Jason's selective pronunciation. "Right –- Smallville -- but that's a secret."

"Right, like the glasses."

Superman purses his lips, and takes a deep breath. Don't sidetrack me kiddo… one secret at a time okay? "Right. But I wasn't born there."

"Where were you born?"

Superman changes his orientation to float on his back -- with Jason lying on his chest -- so both can look up into the clear night sky. He points, and whispers in the boy's ear.

"Far, far away -- and, by the way, I'm not illegal."

Turning to look into his fathers eyes, Jason tilts his head, and juts out his chin quizzically. "But… you said your mom made your suit."

"My earth mom; I was adopted."

Jason's tiny brow furrows, and Superman gets a glimpse of an older boy, serious and deep in thought. He clambers up to a sitting position on Superman's chest, kicking him in the face with his Keds in the process. Kal-El ignores the ignominy, and Jason is oblivious as he pursues his thought. "Like Sally in my JK. Her parents went to heaven early, and she had to adopt a new mom and dad."

"Yeah, like Sally."

"So your adopting mom... made you a magic suit? Is that why you never fly when you wear your glasses at work?"

Just like his mom – a pit-bull, with a mouthful of pant leg, when he gets an idea. Next, he's going to think I hypnotize people with my glasses -- to make them not recognize me as Superman; how outrageous is that?

"Your mom doesn't know I'm Clark, and it has to stay a secret, Jay -- just for a little while."

"Why?"

"Superman... can't have friends; bad people will go after Superman's friends, so only Clark can have friends. That's why no one can know Superman and Clark are the same person."

God, that's convoluted –- Rules for Dual Identity Survival 101.

"I won't tell."

"I know, but the less people that know, the better; I don't like secrets either, but they aren't secrets if everyone knows them. I'm gonna tell your mom… someday, but only when it's safe to. Until then, my secret… identity protects her."

Jason looks to the side, his thoughts inward, forgetting all about the bedtime flight.

He cuddles down on Superman's chest again, and casts his gaze up to into the blackness. He lies back, tickling Kal-El's nose with his hair. Too soon for his father's liking, he shifts position, and points toward the moon. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Superman chuckle/rumbles, making his chest vibrate. "The moon?"

Jason giggles his response. "No there… that dark spot."

Superman swallows, and chews his lip. He can see that? "N…New Krypton. Um… remember when I made the island go away?"

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"…in the sky, like the moon."

"Uh. Yeah."

"Okay, cool."

Superman hugs Jason to him, and avoids his eyes so he won't see the naked emotion that lies there. It can't wait, can it? I can't have any time with them. My life. Now or never.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, and his mouth quirks with the timing.

Thanks. He reluctantly turns back toward the penthouse.

"Looks like rain, how 'bout we call it a night, son," Superman says -- and stops, for a heartbeat, in midair.

Jason tilts his head and looks at him. He affects what Clark has dubbed his serious face. "I heard her tell you --" Jason looks in Clark's eyes, and pokes his finger in the centre of the Kryptonian crest, "-- at the hospital." He averts his gaze and traces the shield's textured outline. Superman pauses again in flight, for a moment forgetting where he is, so focused he is on the boy's intent expression. Then, coming back to himself, he drops softly to the balcony.

Surprised, but pleased, Lois walks over to greet them. "Back already, boys?"

"It's starting to rain, Mom." Jason runs past her, dragging Superman by the hand. Lois smiles at the incongruous vision of the world's most powerful being... under the thrall of a small boy. She follows them into the penthouse.

"So, what have you two been talking about?"

Superman lets go of Jason, who runs into his room, giggling all the way. He takes a step toward Lois, and looks at her with an unreadable expression.

She blinks, and holds her breath.

Kal-El frowns. Should I…? "Jason's figured it out –- he knows."

"He knows…?"

Superman lets out a deep sigh, his body sagging in a decidedly Clarkish manner. "Everything… he knows it all."

TBC

Thanks all, for the very helpful reviews. I feel I'm learning so much from you all. Don't stop:)