Superman Movieverse Forum

Winter turned to spring and spring into summer. Jason had settled in relatively well at school. He graduated from kindergarten with passing marks. And his performance in gym had improved. It seemed he was outgrowing his asthma and allergies.

Lois was working part time as a personal assistant to one of Wayne Tech’s local managers and was nearly finished with the first draft of her novel. Clark was an assistant editor at one of the local weeklies and spent two nights a week volunteering at a local hospice.

Jason’s nightmares had mostly stopped, as had Clark’s although Lois still occasionally woke up to find Clark’s side of the bed empty. She would find him asleep, sitting up against the headboard of Jason’s bed, their son cradled in his arms.

It was a life of comfortable domesticity Lois had never imagined for herself. Their one concession to their former lives was a subscription to the Daily Planet. Lois kept an eye out for articles on Luthor but it looked like the authorities were keeping him under wraps. Even Bruce didn’t know exactly where Luthor was. That worried her and she knew Clark was worried, even if he didn’t say anything.

The other worry was how much Jason missed Richard. Not a week went by that Jason didn’t ask why the daddy he’d known all his life hadn’t come to visit him. It broke her heart every time she or Clark had to explain that Richard couldn’t visit him. It was too dangerous.

Lois poured herself another cup of coffee as she contemplated the next section of her story. Clark and Jason were out for the day with Grandma and Grandpa ‘Haskell’ – Bruce had relocated Martha Kent and Ben Hubbard to the Minneapolis area as well. They were now Ben and Martha Haskell and they loved taking Jason fishing on weekends. And Jason loved spending time with them.

The phone rang, interrupting Lois’s musings on the final denouement of her plotline. The caller ID indicated it was Bruce.

“Yes?”

“Is Clark around?” Bruce asked without preamble.

“He’s out with Jason.”

She heard a sigh then he went on. “Richard’s creating problems. He wants to see Jason and he’s been making loud noises over at the U.S. Marshall Service. He’s also managed to find a judge that agrees that since he was named as Jason’s father on school and hospital records that gives him some paternal rights.”

Lois’s knees felt wobbly and she sat down. Considering how negative Richard’s reaction had been when he found out Jason’s true paternity, she was surprised that he wanted to have anything to do with her or Jason now. She had expected him to wash his hands of them.

“What do you think we should do?” Lois asked.

“I can arrange with the Marshall Service for you and Jason to meet Richard in a secure location.”

“What about Clark?” she asked, noting Bruce’s omission.

“Richard doesn’t know about Clark. He knows that Perry has kept in touch with you, but that’s all. I’m not aware that he’s kept in contact with your sister or parents.”

Lois took a deep breath to gather her thoughts. “I know Jason wants to see him. So yeah, go ahead and make the arrangements. I’ll let Clark know what’s going on.”

“Lois, I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t be,” Lois assured him. “I’m the one that insisted he know that we weren’t dead. Now we have to deal with the consequences.”

“I’ll get everything arranged for the meeting,” Bruce said and hung up.

Lois hung her head. She wasn’t sure how she felt about seeing Richard after all these months. Would she have chosen Richard over Clark if he hadn’t thrown the letter at Bruce, if he had walked over to her after Superman’s funeral and pulled her into his arms? It was a question she had asked herself more than once. She also recognized that it was a moot point – he had thrown the letter away, he hadn’t tried to make contact in the weeks immediately afterwards. And she had chosen Clark.

‘This is such a mess,’ she thought as she picked up the phone to call Clark.

-o-o-o-

The meeting with Richard was set to take place at one of Bruce Wayne’s properties outside of Reno, Nevada. Lois, Clark, and Jason took a commercial flight to Reno where two U.S. Marshals met them.

It was as they were crossing the terminal to the parking garage that Lois got her first scare. A tall woman with short brown hair was staring at her – a woman she recognized from Metropolis. Police Inspector Maggie Sawyer.

“What’s Maggie doing here?” Lois hissed at Clark.

Clark just shook his head as he tried to hurry her and Jason along to the car. One of the marshals strode over to Maggie and spoke quietly to her. After a moment, Maggie nodded her head, but Lois still felt her old friend’s eyes on her as they left the building.

“Does this happen very often?” Clark asked. “Running into people you used to know in strange places?”

The marshal chuckled wryly. “All the time.”

Bruce’s Reno house was an hour outside of town. Lois doubted the billionaire spent much time there, maybe the occasional weekend while attending meetings on the west coast. The house was a stark contrast to Wayne Manor – all glass and brushed steel nestled into a bluff like a half-buried alien craft. The view from the living room was spectacular.

Lois had just gotten Jason unpacked when one of the marshals knocked on the door. “Mister White is here.”

“Daddy’s here?” Jason asked, eyes glowing in excitement.

Lois nodded. “Now, remember what we talked to you about.”

Jason bobbed his head. “Daddy Clark and Grandma and Grandpa are a secret.”

“Yes,” Lois told him. She looked up to see a sad expression on the marshal’s face.

“This is the part of the job I really hate,” he said quietly. “Teaching kids how to lie.”

“Tell me about it,” Lois said, equally quietly. “But it’s better than the alternative, isn’t it?”

The man nodded and led the way to the living room where Richard was waiting. Lois wasn't sure where Clark was but she knew he was close. She could feel it.

Richard hadn’t changed much in the past six months but he did look a little tired. His face lit up as Jason launched himself at him.

“Daddy!”

Richard swung him around. “Hi, Munchkin. Let me look at you…” He set Jason on his feet. “You’ve grown so big…” Richard pulled him into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much.” He looked over Jason’s head at Lois. “You’re looking good, Lois.”

He licked his lips nervously. “How have you been?”

“We’ve been fine,” Lois said. A flicker of pain crossed his face at her simple statement.

“Daddy, I passed gym at school!” Jason interrupted. “And I’m not ‘lergic anymore and…” he stopped suddenly. “And I have lots of new friends and I’m a first-grader now,” he continued more slowly.

“That’s great,” Richard said, smiling. Jason continued chattering about his new friends. He took Richard’s hand and led him to his room to show him the toys he’d brought with him.

Lois watched after them then headed to the kitchen for coffee.

Clark was there with one of the marshals, listening to the monitor in Jason’s room. It was less obtrusive than having a marshal with them the entire time.

“There’s a fresh pot of coffee,” Clark said, keeping his voice low. She felt his eyes on her as she poured herself a cup, wishing it was something stronger than just coffee.

“He looks good,” Clark said, coming over to her. Clark was right. Richard was looking fit and trim. His five-o’clock made him look rakish, daring.

“It’s so strange to see him after everything,” Lois admitted. “I think he was expecting more from me. We were engaged, after all.”

Clark didn’t say anything. There really wasn't anything he could say.

She squeezed his hand to reassure him. After six months of marriage, she knew Clark still had doubts as to whether she would have chosen him had Richard not taken himself out of the equation. But she had chosen Clark. And that was a decision she refused to regret.

In a little while Jason brought Richard down to the kitchen for a snack. Clark and the marshals made themselves scarce before they got there, leaving Lois and Jason alone with Richard.

Lois poured Richard a cup of coffee and Jason a glass of juice. Jason grabbed a handful of cookies and gave two to Richard who munched on them as he sipped his coffee. Jason had already downed his.

“Jason, why don’t you take some cookies to the marshals, okay?” Lois said, handing Jason the plate. He disappeared out the door.

“These are very good,” Richard said finally.

“I made the acquaintance of some good cooks,” Lois said. “And they love spoiling Jason.”

“He sounds like he’s okay, wherever it is you’re living,” he said. “Jason wouldn’t tell me. He never used to keep secrets from me.”

You’d be surprised. Jason knew about Clark being Superman the first time they met. And he didn’t tell anyone.

“We’re both fine, Richard,” she said aloud. She hated the note of finality she heard in her voice but there was no helping it. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she didn’t want to get his hopes up either.

He studied her again as if deciding how to proceed.

“I’m so sorry about… I acted like a jerk. I knew you had doubts about things, like who Jason’s natural father was, but I just didn’t get it. And I sort of lost it when Luthor shoved it in my face. I thought you were dead, and then you’re not… It took me a while to get my head around that. But I’ve missed you so much and I want things to go back the way they were. I just want us to be a family again.”

“Luthor is still out there,” she reminded him.

“He’s in prison, Lois. He can’t hurt you or Jason anymore,” Richard said. She heard the pleading in his voice.

“We’re not safe so long as he’s alive,” Lois said.

“And I can’t keep you safe?” he asked.

“Richard, please don’t do this.”

“Lois, I just want us together again. I still love you.”

Dear God, how did this get to be so complicated?

“We can’t go back,” she said. “It’s too late.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m married,” she said. He actually paled at that, his dark beard-shadow standing out in sharp relief against his skin. “I never wanted to hurt you,” she went on, “you have to believe that, but the day you threw the note back at Mister Wayne I had to make a choice.”

“You were the one with him at Superman’s funeral,” Richard said. “You could have said something, given me a sign, anything.”

“With Luthor’s people watching?”

He took a deep breath. “Is he a good man, the one you chose over me?”

“Yes.”

“Is he here?”

“Yes,” Clark said from the door. Lois wasn’t surprised to find he’d been keeping an eye on Richard. She knew it wasn’t out of jealousy – Clark simply wasn't made that way – but he was concerned for her safety. She was certain Richard would do anything but she knew that Clark wasn't so sure. Living in secrecy had made them both a little paranoid.

Richard’s eyes widened at the sight of Clark filling up the doorway. Then his eyes narrowed. “I should have known. Was it all a lie?”

“Richard, you were there!” Lois was aghast at his disbelief. “Clark saved Jason’s life.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Richard protested. “First Luthor comes in and claims Clark is Superman and Jason’s his son. Then he’s declared DOA and a bomb kills you and Jason. Only none of it’s true!”

“Richard,” Clark said quietly.

Lois noted he was using his real voice, one Richard had never heard – not quite ‘Daily Planet’ Clark, but not quite Superman either. At least the glasses muted Clark’s eye color, otherwise Richard might connect the dots and realize that Superman was standing there.

“I spent five days in the trauma ICU at Metropolis General Hospital under the name of Charles King,” Clark continued. “Multiple gunshot wounds and other injuries I may never completely recover from. My doctor’s name was Bryant. Wayne Security caught Luthor’s men on security cameras planting a remote control bomb in Lois’s Audi. They were intercepted and Lois and Jason were taken to safety. You would have been brought along too, if you’d been with them.”

“The bomb was detonated to make Luthor think Jason and I were dead,” Lois added.

“But you couldn’t be bothered to let me know? You let me spend a week in hell mourning my fiancée and my son.”

“Luthor was watching the building and he had spies in the building, maybe even in the newsroom,” Clark said. “If you hadn’t been grief stricken, he would have known something was up and he would have gone after us again, and he would have made sure we were dead and I really don’t want to think about what he would have done with Jason.”

“You make Luthor sound like he’s super-human.”

“The bastard murdered Superman,” Lois stated.

“He claims he didn’t,” Richard pointed out.

“And you believe a convicted cop-killer?” Clark asked.

Richard seemed to sag into himself. He looked over at Lois who had moved to stand with Clark. “Were you ever planning on telling me that I’m no longer needed in Jason’s life? That he has a daddy and it’s not me?”

Lois paused as she considered her next words. She didn’t want to hurt him, but he was making it hard not to. “We agreed to meet you because Jason misses you and he wanted desperately to see you. As far as he’s concerned, he has two daddies.”

Richard bowed his head for a long moment. When he raised it he seemed calmer. “Jason sounds happy. He really is getting better at gym?”

“His asthma isn’t nearly as bad as it was and so he’s able to do more,” Lois said.

“And he goes fishing?”

“And hiking and camping and swimming,” Clark said. “He wants to go out for junior soccer when school starts.”

“What about his piano? I know he didn’t want to continue after what ever it was that happened on the Vanderworth boat, but…”

“It took a little bit, but he’s taking music lessons and he’s doing okay,” Clark said.

“Good.”

There wasn’t much else to be said.

Dinner was quiet, except for Jason chattering about recent movies they’d rented or gone to see. His favorite was the Incredibles, naturally, but Mary Poppins was still a close second.

Later that night Lois snuggled against her husband.

“I didn’t think that seeing him would be this hard,” she admitted.

“You lived with him for how long?” Clark asked.

“Since Jason was born,” she said. “He bought the house for us.”

“Lois, it’s understandable that you still have feelings for him. Five years is a long time. A lot of marriages don’t last that long. You invested a lot in your relationship with him.”

“He’s a good man and I never meant to hurt him, but I knew even when I accepted his ring that the fit wasn’t as good for me as it was for him. I fooled myself for a long time thinking I just wasn't ready to make that final commitment. That it was ‘me’ and not ‘us’ that was the problem. That if I gave it enough time, he would be able to fill the empty space in my heart.”

Clark sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I told you, you were a hard act to follow.”

She felt him go still against her.

“What?” he said, his voice tight.

“Clark, I remember Niagara Falls and I remember Alaska. I remember all of it.”

“How?”

"Dreams at first, then I realized I could 'feel' where you were, how you were feeling," she told him. "I thought it was my imagination."

"I knew I could feel you and Jason. I didn't lose that when…" Clark said. "But I never thought that you…"

"It didn't really come into focus until we got here," Lois said. "Until I saw Richard and I realized that I still care for him, but I don't love him that way. Maybe I never loved him that way. But I realized I could feel you giving me support. I could feel it."

She rolled over, propping herself on one elbow so she could look into his face. His eyes were wide with worry.

She went on. "Then it was like a curtain opening and letting the light in. I remembered pulling the gun on you, the dinner you prepared, how you looked at me when I undressed for you that first time. I remembered the look on your face when I told you I couldn't take seeing you every day. That it was killing me," she said softly. "I remember it all."

"Lois, I…"

She put a finger to his lips. "No regrets. The man who loves me got me to love him back.  And even though he's a lunkhead and sometimes I want to scream and throw things at him, he's the one I chose to marry."

"No regrets."