I'm back -- with another chapter of what looks like an epic with no end.

Actually, Kal told me the end -- at least, his future self did (don't ask). But there's still a few chapters to go.

Thanks for hanging in!

Disclaimer :Superman is only mine in my heart, so I must relinquish all claims (in this dimension) to Siegel and Shuster, and DC comics.

18 Friendship

Entering Lois's hospital room alongside Jimmy, The floor nurse automatically intones, "Miss Lane – you have visitors."

Her autopilot manner disappears, faced with the spectacle of Lois clanking her way across the polished floor to her boss. "Miss Lane, what are you doing out of bed? Your I.V. – oh, we're going to have to put it back in, AGAIN. Doctor, please, could you speak to her. She won't listen to me."

Hospital equipment scatters in Lois's wake, the ripped-out I.V. line impotently dribbling saline on her abandoned bedclothes. Flashing an IFIWEREKRYPTONIAN,YOU'DBEAPUDDLEOFMAGMA glance at the over-worked nurse, Lois accosts her editor, grabbing his lapels. "Perry, I need to get back to work. I have to finish that piece about the President. I missed meeting him in Air Force One, but at least, I can --"

Perry grasps Lois' wrist, gently encouraging her back to the bed -- where the beleaguered nurse waits to reinsert her I.V. Lois throws another nasty glare at her, but, instead of retreating, the nurse stares it right back.

Lois grins in defeat, wilting to her pillow with a sigh.

Perry approaches, to perch on the edge of the bed, and pats her hand. His voice trembles. "Lois, you finished that article -- a long time ago."

Her brow knits, and she starts to speak when a breeze from the window rattles the aluminium blinds.

"Cla, uh, Superman. Where did you come from?" Perry says needlessly.

A deep rumble presages a chuckle -- that ends in crinkles at the corners of his eyes, "Krypton, originally. Why do you ask?"

Superman's flippant answer unnerves Perry, and he moves toward the Man of Steel. For the first time, he sees Clark in Superman's circus strongman suit, and senses a young man treading water, like a duck –- cool above, where everyone can see, but madly paddling below -- and barely staying afloat. Clark speaks first, before his editor gets a chance to say something compromising.

"Mr. White, can we go out… uh, in the hall – for a moment?"

The nurse, stunned by Superman's appearance, trips over her feet to hold open the door. Once out in the hall, Superman prepares to talk to Perry, but senses eyes on his back. He turns, and the nurse, staring and frozen in place, white-knuckles the doorknob. Clark, accustomed to the occasional star-struck reaction, smiles his brightest, notes her name on her badge, and politely asks 'Nurse Sally' to close the door. When she hears her name, she snaps out of her fugue and, blushing, pulls the door shut.

The visage of Superman disappears, and Clark comes crashing to Earth in a panic. "Seriously, Perry… how's Lois? Does she know you? She barely knows ME… she even LOOKS different. And... I lost Kitty. Lois has forgotten me, and… Jason. Things can't get worse…"

Dumbstruck, the senior editor of the greatest Metropolitan newspaper in the world blinks. He opens his mouth a couple of times, but nothing comes out.

Clark moves into Perry's personal space, "…and, you've got to stop looking at me as if I'm growing antennae. Otherwise, things will not go well back at the office."

Perry sputters, and stage-whispers back, "Translating Kryptonian verbal diarrhoea is not one of my fortes, Clark. Kitty? You have a cat?"

Mid-way through the exasperated look -- and a mental preamble to the explanation of Katherine Kowalski's nick-name -- Clark's face reflects a father's worst fear. Jason may well have lost his mother… if she never regains her memory… "Oh, my God; what will I do about Jason? Perry, how can I tell my son that his mother has forgotten him?"

"Great Caesar's ghost, man, I've never heard you say so much, and phrase it so poorly, in all the years I've known you. Are you going to be all right? I mean, what do you do when you need to… talk?"

"Talk?"

"Talk… yes, TALK. I'm sensing a need to talk here. Wait, did you say your SON? Clark, we REALLY need to talk."

Oops.

Always the one to choose the wrong moment, and curious about what Superman had to say to his boss, Jimmy peeks his head out into the hallway -- and comes eyeball to cerulean eyeball with Clark. "Hey, how's it going, Supes?" Turning to his boss, Jimmy squirms, "Lois is getting antsy, Chief, uh… I mean, Mr. White, um."

Clark sets his jaw and looks at his two old friends – both so concerned, and loyal -- both willing to go out of their way for their pals.

I have to figure this out… on my own. Perry wants to help, but Jason's needs are paramount.

Lois will have to wait.

Supes? When did Jimmy become so comfortable with Superman? He's so close to Clark -– I wouldn't be surprised --

Interrupting his own thoughts, Clark graces them with a sunshine-warm smile and adopts a more formal manner to take his leave. He focuses a pointed look at Perry, silently enlisting his help in making both Clark and Superman's excuses to Jimmy and Lois. "I apologize, but I have work to attend to; Jimmy; Mr. White."

His words still echo in the deserted hallway, as his sonic boom blends with the city's soundscape.

Jimmy scratches his head, and Perry can see the junior reporter gears turning, "Geez, he was in a hurry. Funny, I've never seen Superman in a rush to leave Lois when she was in trouble."

Clapping Jimmy on the back, and dragging him into the room -- partly to keep Lois company, but mostly to distract him -- Perry whispers, "He's a man, Jimmy. You'll understand when you're older."

--

After beating his own best time to Smallville -- even with an in-flight change -- Clark touches down by his childhood home, a small puff of dust scuffing his running shoes.

"Hey, Ma; Jason."

Superman's best friend bounces up to Clark, who pets him absent-mindedly. "Hey, Shelby." He frowns, whips his head around and x-rays the barns, the silo and finally, the house. "Ma?"

Martha stands motionless at the kitchen counter, and Jason is nowhere.

Blurring through the screen door, Clark appears beside his mom at the sink, "Mom, where's Jason?"

Martha examines her pastry-coated hands. "Oh, there you are, young man. Have you seen your father? He's been hidin' out all day, and I'm makin' his favourite pie for supper – apple."

Clark shivers, the conscious result of a distressing idea tracing a dark path across his subconscious mind.

"Mom… where's Jason?"

Raising rheumy blue eyes to her son, Martha frowns -- knitting together the fine lines and wrinkles that are the sum of her life experience. "Jason?"

Clark gasps, and resists taking his mother by the shoulders and shaking her. "Ma. My son."

Eyes crinkling, Martha gently swats Clark's arm, leaving a pie-paste print on his sleeve.

"Your son? How silly, Clark –- you're still in high school. Did you get into that red kryptonite again?"

Oh, my God, no.

TBC

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