Superman Movieverse Forum

Title: Family Reunion
Author: Mr. Beeto
Rating: PG-13
Beta: htbthomas and Shado Librarian
Summary: AU Twist on Donner/Singer Movieverse: Tie the three films together into a cohesive whole, and provide a more credible and interesting reason for Superman to have returned to Krypton.

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Author’s Notes:
As always, my thanks to the beta team:  htbthomas and Shado Librarian, a.k.a. dandello.

Chapter 27 – Family Games

Sunday, October 1, 2006 1:00PM EDT
Richard sat comfortably in the patio chair behind the house for the stated purpose of watching the boys – Jason and his best friend, Mark.  The two were playing some sort of spy game, wearing green tinted ‘light vision’ goggles, with toy LED ‘laser’ weapons strapped to their wrists and carrying walkie-talkies.  Richard pretended to be dozing as the boys snuck up on him and he suddenly ‘woke up’ just before their attack, leaping up and tickling both boys, which sent them running around the corner of the house, squealing with laughter, as they prepared for their next attack.  That should give me a few minutes peace while they plot their next attack, Richard thought.

Richard sipped coffee from his mug and allowed his thoughts to again drift back to the dramatic deterioration of his relationship with Lois.  His current discontent was a stark contrast to the optimism he had enjoyed when they’d returned from his uncle’s house the previous evening.  He believed that his suspicions about Lois and Clark had been unfounded, they had shed the tension of the past week and he had apologized for his suspicions.  He even agreed to postpone the serious talk that he’d been insisting on and made a concerted effort to put the recent days’ arguments behind them.  Richard had been in a great mood and they enjoyed a pleasant evening together as a family.

After putting Jason to bed, he believed he’d have a perfect opportunity to reconnect physically with Lois.  After all, much less favorable circumstances in the past had led to passionate lovemaking in the past, with Lois usually as eager for the intimacy as he was.  However, when he’d turned amorous the previous evening, she had balked and he’d noticed a horrified look on her face when she realized his intentions.  She had quickly schooled her expression and made her excuses, complaining of fatigue and a headache, but he found it impossible to accept her explanation.  Richard had angrily challenged her excuses, accusing her of refusing him in favor of Clark.

The accusation had enraged Lois, leading to another heated argument, and she had stormed out of their bedroom, preferring the solitude of the guest room to his company.  The anger persisted that morning and only Jason’s presence had prevented them from repeating their argument.  They had said very little to each other that morning, both of them careful to avoided aggravating the already palpable tension.  Jason’s request to invite Mark over and then drafting Richard into their game had been a welcome reprieve.

He turned in his seat and observed Lois through the patio doors as she sat on the couch pecking away at her laptop with her cell phone precariously balanced on her shoulder.  Still working the story, Richard noted.  He had to concede that the morning’s article on the morgue murder and its possible connection to Lex Luthor had been nothing short of spectacular.  The story had even been picked up by the cable news stations, a fact which had surprised him when he tuned into Linda King’s Sunday morning program on GNN.  You can’t buy exposure like that, Richard pondered. Uncle Perry’s got to be thrilled with what that’ll do for the Planet’s circulation.  Unfortunately, it also means that he’s more likely to make those two permanent partners, which is about the last thing we need right now.

Richard’s thoughts turned to the abrupt change he’d observed in Lois.  The woman he endured over the past week was difficult to reconcile with the woman he thought he’d known for most of the past six years.  However, his uncle’s description of her from back in the day was a close fit to the strong-willed, uncompromising spitfire that he had been dealing with recently.  Is this ‘Mad Dog Lane’ that Uncle Perry raves about truly the real Lois Lane?  Richard wondered.

This other Lois was unquestionably a boon to the Planet’s circulation and the transformation that he’d witnessed in her professionally could not have been more dramatic.  Although he’d always known Lois as a talented and reliable reporter, her output in the past week had been among the best he’d read in years.  If that morning’s story was any indication of what to expect from now on, Lois wouldn’t be waiting long for the accolades that she coveted.  However, that incarnation of Lois Lane seemed to be as disastrous to their domestic relationship as she was advantageous to the Planet.

What about my Lois – the one who’d actually listen to reason after presenting her arguments? Richard lamented.  Is she gone forever, or did she never really exist at all, except in my imagination?  He reluctantly admitted that Lois’ position on their matters of contention had been consistent over the years, though never voiced as vehemently as they had been in the past week.  It also wasn’t Clark’s return that kept their finances and property separated – she’d stubbornly refused to merge them together to begin with.  It seems that Uncle Perry was right about that, Richard conceded.  Our issues really have been there all along – I just didn’t see it, and I didn’t take Lois’ objections seriously.  I thought her position was negotiable when it obviously wasn’t.

What have I really had all these years? Richard wondered.  She wasn’t willing to set a date even before Clark got back…  She was never going to have more kids with me…  Frankly, she’s never been willing to fully commit…  Have I had a fiancée or a roommate?  And what will I have if we get through this?  Will it be someone who’s fiercely committed to her career, but unwilling to make any time for home and family?  And what is going to happen to my relationship with Jason once joint custody starts up and he gets to know Clark as a father?

Richard pulled his gaze away from Lois and stared absently out over the river while he mulled over the realities of his relationship.  He found himself recalling countless memories of Lois over their years together and as he recalled each moment, he recognized the warning signs that he’d missed before:  her perpetual refusal to ever discuss her feelings; her surprisingly strong opposition to his marriage proposal and reluctant albeit incomplete acquiescence; her refusal to discuss a wedding date or wedding plans of any sort; her consistent opposition to the things he wanted most in their relationship; and the marked change in her personality after Clark came back and her near obsession with him.  He also recalled how closely in sync the two of them seemed to be, to the point of finishing each other’s sentences, even when she was obviously angry with him.  I’ve never come close to being able to do that, Richard acknowledged.  How do I compete with that and salvage this relationship?

He was pulled from his contemplation by the boys’ return, which caught him completely off-guard.  The two climbed on top of him and attempting to complete their capture of the enemy when Richard recovered, growling dramatically and tickling them to again send the five-year-olds into fits of hearty laughter.   Richard valiantly pushed his personal troubles from his mind and joined the boys in their game, chasing them around the yard.



Lois ended her latest call and set down her cell phone, unexpectedly grateful that it had been ringing off the hook that morning.  Most of the calls were from other news outlets wanting more information behind her front page story, including some invitations to participate in on-air discussion of Luthor’s apparent scheme.  However, she’d been unable to accommodate them – she didn’t dare risk tipping their hand yet.

Lois considered that the numerous calls had also provided a convenient excuse to avoid Richard and the open hostility that had developed between them recently.  The thought led her gaze out the back windows where she found Richard playing with Jason and his friend, with the muted sounds of their laughter filtering into the living room.  He really is a good man, Lois thought.  Even with us bickering as badly as we have been lately, he hasn’t let it get in the way with Jason…  Jesus, what the hell happened last night?

Lois was nearly as stunned by her reaction to Richard’s advances the previous evening as he was.   The circumstances had practically been the perfect setup for make-up sex and Richard’s overtures should not have been surprising.  In fact, she should have been just as anxious to reconnect.  However, she hadn’t been thinking along those lines and Richard’s advances had surprised her.  Geez, it’s not like it was something that we hadn’t done a hundred times before, and under far less favorable circumstances, Lois thought.  Why did it suddenly seem so… so unthinkable?  I care just as much for him now as I ever have, and my libido is as strong as ever, if recent dreams are any indication.

However, Lois had not been dreaming of Richard.  That doesn’t count, she told herself insistently.  Clark is Superman.  Everyone fantasizes about Superman.  That had nothing to do with what happened last night…  Maybe I’m just too wound up over everything that’s happened the past few days.  Everything will be work itself out in a few days…

The sound of the patio door opening disrupted Lois’ ruminations and she looked up to see the two little boys tearing through the house to the kitchen with Richard walking slowly behind them.  He had a sad expression on his face, and avoided her gaze.  As Richard walked past her, Lois was again interrupted by her ringing cell phone.  She checked the caller ID, answered the phone and irritably complained, “It’s about time you called back, Smallville.”  When she uttered the familiar nickname for Clark, she noticed that Richard suddenly stopped walking and looked back at her with an angry glare.

“Um, we don’t have great cell coverage out here,” Clark explained.  “It took a while for me to get the message.”

“Well, you’re going to need to do something about that,” Lois insisted.  “I need to be able to get a hold of you.  What if there had been an emergency with Jason?”

“Is he all right?” Clark asked anxiously.  “I can be right there, if you need me.”

“Relax, Clark.  Jason’s fine,” Lois informed him in a softer tone.  “But still…  I need to be able to get a hold of you if something comes up.”

“Okay, I’ll try to figure something out,” Clark promised.  “Um, your message said that there had been a development?”

“Oh, right.  Luthor’s girlfriend showed up in Boston Friday night,” Lois informed him.  “She was using an assumed name, or rather, a stolen identity.  But her fingerprints were on the steering wheel.  Anyway, someone cut the brake line and disabled the airbag on her rental car and she slammed into a crowded restaurant in downtown Boston.”

“I read about that,” Clark muttered.  “Two dead, six injured.  The driver suffered two cracked ribs, but disappeared from the hospital a couple hours after the accident.”

“Surveillance cameras caught her walking out with a couple of Luthor’s prison buddies.”

“Sounds like he’s getting sloppy,” Clark commented.

“Sawyer doesn’t think he was really trying to kill her,” Lois informed him.  “She survived the crash, for one thing.  Second, if he really wanted her dead, he probably would have tried to make it look like an accident.  However, in this case the sabotage was fairly obvious.  And third, she complained to the officers on the scene that Superman was supposed to save her.”

“Does Maggie think Luthor staged it as a distraction?” Clark wondered.

“She’s not sure.  He may have just been sending her a warning,” Lois informed him.  “I’ve been looking for something that he might have wanted to distract Superman for, but I’m coming up empty.  There’s really no way to know if any of Friday night’s criminal activity was attributable to Luthor, assuming it would even have showed up on radar.  Boston’s a pretty big city with plenty of crime even without Luthor visiting…  The biggest event from Friday night besides the restaurant crash was an explosion at a shipyard maintenance shop that killed a guy, but that was a couple hours later.”

“Was the Vanderworth’s yacht there?” Clark asked.

“I haven’t been able to verify that.  I can’t find anyone at the Boston Port Authority willing to answer questions,” Lois complained.

“I may know a source who would have better luck,” Clark suggested.  “If they have the AIS records, too, it might even provide a bearing for us to follow.”

“AIS?”

“Oh, that’s Automatic Identification System,” Clark explained.  “It allows the Coast Guard and Port Authorities to track ships electronically.  Any ship over three hundred gross tons is required by law to have the system installed, and the Gertrude is probably around five hundred tons.”

“Do you think your contact can shake that information loose?” Lois asked knowingly.

“Maybe, if he can get away for a couple hours,” Clark replied simply.

“Does that mean you’ll need me to babysit Kara?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly impose,” Clark insisted.  “Besides, by mom usually doesn’t mind watching her.  The problem is that Kara’s been clingy and doesn’t like me leaving her behind.”

“Well, she’s also latched on to Jason, who’s here, and that might compensate,” Lois reminded him.

Before Clark had a chance to respond, Lois heard Kara in the background excitedly exclaim, “I want to go visit Jason!”

“She heard me, didn’t she?” Lois asked quietly.

“Um, yeah.  I may have a fight on my hands now if I don’t bring her over.”

“Well, then I guess you’d better bring her over,” Lois decided.  “It’s not a big deal, Clark.”

  “Well, if you’re sure...”

“Clark, I just said it was okay,” Lois reminded him irritably,

“Oh, um, sorry,” Clark stammered.  “Um, well, we’ll probably need about a half hour or so before we get there.”

“Does this mean that you still have your transportation issue?” Lois prodded.

“Um, yeah,” Clark admitted.  “I’ve got something in the works, but it won’t be ready until tomorrow.  I’ll explain it to you later.”

“Okay.  Well, you’d better get going.  See you in half an hour,” Lois said pleasantly.

“Good-bye, Lois.”

“Bye.”

Lois had barely ended the call when Richard bitterly complained, “You don’t have time for us, but you volunteer to babysit Clark’s daughter?”

“Knock it off, White,” Lois snapped.  “I’m getting tired of explaining myself to you, which is absolutely not going to happen in front of the kids.”

“Lois, we really need to talk about this,” Richard insisted angrily.

To Lois' great relief, her cell phone rang yet again before she had an opportunity to respond to Richard.  She quickly picked up the phone and checked the display, frowning when she recognized the caller as her sister, Lucy.  She had called nearly a dozen times in the past two days and Lois dreaded the likely reason.  With her husband, Ron Troupe, also working as a Daily Planet reporter, Lucy seemed to be even more plugged into the office gossip that Lois was.  Lois knew that Kara’s proud declaration Thursday night was undoubtedly burning up the grapevine with Polly as a witness, and suspected that as the reason behind the spike in calls from her sister.  Lois hadn’t been enthusiastic to discuss the matter and had thus been screening her calls.  However, given the choice between another imminent argument with Richard, and an awkward conversation with Lucy, Lois immediately chose the latter and answered the call.  “Lucy?  Hi.  What’s up with all the voice mails?” Lois asked pleasantly.

  “Well, trying to make sure you’re still alive, for one thing,” Lucy answered sarcastically.  “I was beginning to wonder.”

Lois sighed heavily and wearily replied, “It’s been a bit hectic lately.”  She snuck a glance back at Richard, and was relieved to see him roll his eyes as he turned away and continued walking into the kitchen.

  “So I’ve heard,” Lucy replied pleasantly.  “Nice story this morning, by the way.  So… you’re partners with Clark again?”

“Um, yeah, looks that way.”

“Well, I’ve heard some very interesting stories about him recently,” Lucy replied teasingly.

Oh-uh, here it comes, Lois thought, and she asked impatiently, “Tapping into the Planet rumor mill again?  Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”

“Well, it was certainly worth it in this case,” Lucy declared cheerfully.  “This rumor came with pictures, including an adorable one of Jason in the bullpen, standing next to a little blonde girl who looked just like him!”

“Oh.  That,” Lois answered neutrally.

“Yes, that,” Lucy confirmed triumphantly.  “Apparently, the little girl is the long lost daughter of your old partner.  The same old partner who skipped town about eight months before Jason was born.”

“He didn’t know,” Lois blurted out defensively.  “And you don’t know a damn thing about what happened back then, so cut him some slack.”

“Relax, Lois.  I like Clark,” Lucy replied calmly.  “In fact, before he left I was really hoping that the two of you would hit it off.  But things didn’t quite work out the way I hoped they would, did they?”

“No, they didn’t,” Lois admitted.

“I also heard how that little secret came out…  How’s Richard taking it?” Lucy asked sympathetically.

“How do you think?” Lois answered curtly.

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse.”

“Well, it’s to be expected,” Lucy said understandingly.  “You let him believe the little rascal was his for all these years, and now he finds out that someone else got in there first.  That can’t be easy for him and he has every right to be angry.”

“I suppose,” Lois irritably conceded.  “But whatever happened six years ago doesn’t give him the right to make wild accusations about the present.”

“Oh,” Lucy replied simply.  After a moment, she added, “Well, you should still cut him some slack.  You did drop a pretty nasty surprise in his lap.”

  “Lucy, I really can’t talk about this right now,” Lois said quietly.  “Richard’s here, Jason has a friend over, and Clark will be over here with Kara soon.”

“Clark’s bringing Kara over?  Oh, Richard must love that,” Lucy replied sarcastically.

“He’s the only one some of our sources will talk to, and he can’t take Kara with him,” Lois explained defensively.  “Besides, the little darling is anxious to see her brother again.”

“So you’re babysitting?” Lucy asked incredulously.  “What did he have to do to talk you into that?”

“There are extenuating circumstances here, and it’s more for Kara than it is for Clark,” Lois insisted.

“Sure it is,” Lucy answered skeptically.  “Tell you what – why don’t you bring the kids over here after he drops her off.  The girls are close to Kara’s age, and Ron can keep them all entertained while we talk.”

“You don’t fool me for a moment there, little Miss Innocent,” Lois declared.  “You just can’t wait to grill me over all this.”

“Lois, I am shocked, shocked, that you’d even suggest such a thing,” Lucy replied melodramatically.  “Is it so surprising that I might just want to catch up with my big sister, especially after you almost died Monday?”

“Don’t overdo it, Luce.”

“Seriously, Lois, it would probably do you good to get out of the house for a little bit and socialize,” Lucy argued pleasantly.  “From the sound of things, you’ve been working non-stop since you came to after fainting on that plane Monday, and if things really are as stressful with Richard right now as it sounds like they are, it’s got to be driving you nuts.”

Lois shifted her gaze to the kitchen, where Richard was pouring juice for the two boys.  The prospect of spending the rest of the afternoon trying to avoid another argument with him gave Lucy’s invitation sudden appeal.  Lois was silent a moment, and then said grumpily, “Fine.  We’ll come over, but you’d better explain Jason’s sister to your kids before we get there.  I don’t want them pestering Jason or Kara about it.”