Superman Movieverse Forum

Chapter Twelve: Quantum Cats And Other Random Facts

--
Tristan arrived early to work the next day, dodging the news vans that crowded the driveway of the studios.

"No comment," he yelled over the reporters as they fired questions at him about his friend and co-worker, Jason. He finally got past the security and into the building where he tried to blink the flashes out of his eyes.

Tristan had worked on BreakOut for a little over a year so he’d dealt with the media before but this was ridiculous. Being recognised by tween girls on the street and running into the odd paparazzi when he was out was nothing compared to that onslaught.

“Hey, Tristan,” someone called from down the hallway. He turned to see Leo, the producer who’d aided Jason’s quick escape, coming towards him.

“Hey, man.” Tristan nodded, moving away from the door, “how’s it going?”

“Depends which camp you’re in,” Leo sighed, “the ‘Jason-should-be-fired-because-he-lied-to us’ or the ‘Hey-let’s-give-him-a-raise-because-he’ll-bring-more-veiwers-n
ow’.” He shook his head,

“Do you have to do either of those?” Tristan wondered aloud as they walked down the hall towards his dressing room. It didn’t seem quite fair to him that Jason should be fired for not exposing his father, nor did it really seem fair if he got a raise just because of that.

“Well apparently we have to do something,” Leo said with a shrug, “I swear the only thing that hasn’t been suggested is not doing anything and just leaving things as they were when he comes back.”

“Have they found out it was you that gave him that form?” Tristan asked with a grin. He knew they other producers couldn't really do anything about it anyway, in their contracts they were allowed one emergency leave a year with no repercussions. It was a tad inconvenient as it required all the shows they were away for to be rapidly re-written as had happened this week.

He’d used one when his mother had been in a car accident. And, he remembered, the only reason she was still alive was because Superman had arrived and gotten her out and to hospital quickly- he made a mental note to ask Jason to thank his father.

Suddenly he was jerked from his thoughts by a sharp pain in his nose caused by the fact he’d just walked straight into a door that had opened in front of him. “Oh my god!” a voice yelled, while another laughed in the background. “I am so sorry, Tristan,” Kate apologized as she closed the door behind he and helped him up.

“That really hurt,” Tristan gasped putting a hand up to his face to make sure his nose was still there. It was extremely tender but didn’t appear to be broken.

“I’m really sorry,” Kate said again, glaring at Leo who continued to chuckle. “It’s not funny,” she snapped.

“Sorry,” Leo said with a grin, “but it did look pretty funny.”

Tristan rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the sharp headache that was rapidly making itself known. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered as Kate lead him down the hall to the kitchen to get some ice, and hopefully painkillers. He wasn’t too mad at Leo though, he probably did look kinda funny just plowing face-first into the door.

“Why are you here so early anyway?” Kate asked, sounding rather annoyed at him. She’d probably be going on about how it was all his fault for arriving too early and being in the wrong place at the wrong time within a few minutes.

“You’re here early too,” Tristan pointed out, waving to Leo as he looked at his beeper and disappeared down the hall again, “and I was coming in to see if anyone had heard anything from Jason.”

“Why do you want to hear from him?” Kate asked, sounding even more annoyed as she rummaged through the freezer for a cold pack.

“Maybe because he’s our friend and I’m worried about him. Ow!” he yelped as Kate slammed the cold pack on his nose. “What was that for?”

“ ‘Our friend’?” She glared at him. “You know what real friends do?” she asked as she threw a bottle of painkillers at him. “Real friends tell their friends who they really are.”

“But he never really lied,” Tristan pointed out as he swallowed two pills, not even waiting for the glass of water Kate was filling up. “He just left out that his Dad, who is apparently Clark Kent, was also Superman.”

“Something pretty big to leave out, don’t you think?” Kate asked, sitting opposite him and sliding the glass across the table. "That you can fly and run faster than a speeding bullet?"

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really change who he is you know,” he tried to explain, “I don’t see how it’s different know that we know. Like Schrödinger’s cat.”

“Who’s cat?’ Kate asked, “How hard did you hit your head?”

“Schrödinger’s cat,” Tristan said, “it’s like a theory of quantum physics or something.” Kate raised an eyebrow. “What?” he asked defensively, “I’m allowed to know science stuff.” Kate raised the other eyebrow. “Fine,” Tristan sighed, “my ex-girlfriend’s cat was called Schrödinger and I made the mistake of asking why one day.”

“I think I’ve heard of it,” Kate admitted, “But what does any of this have to do with Jason?”

“Well, Schrödinger’s cat was put in a box and you didn’t know whether it was dead or alive until you opened it but it didn’t make a difference when you knew ‘cause the cat was still dead before you looked.”

“No.” Kate frowned. “I have heard that before but I didn’t know the name. And I’m pretty sure the theory was that the cat was poisoned and everything changed when you knew.”

“Why would it change when you knew?” Tristan asked, “If you have a dead cat in a box why would it be different if you knew, it would still be a dead cat in a box.”

“But this thing with Jason is not about whether we know what’s in the box or not,” Kate told him, her voice rising, “it’s about whether or not we were told when we were given the damn box!”

"But why?" Tristan asked again. "Look, I don't know your entire genealogy and I don't mind. And it wasn't really Jason's cat in the first place- it was his father's box- or cat… or dead cat…" Tristan trailed off awkwardly.

"You picked a bad metaphor, just admit it," Kate said, looking amused as he frowned in confusion. "And I'm pretty sure your theory was wrong from the start."

"Fine, I'm not a physicist, so sue me," Tristan sighed. "But can you please just try and see this from Jason's point of view. It wasn't like he was the one with the secret identity, sneaking out to save people's lives and catch criminals. It was his Dad's secret wasn't it?"

"Did you watch TV last night?" Kate asked, seeming a bit calmer but clearly still angry.

"Yes," Tristan answered warily, wondering if he was going to regret that.

"Well then you would know that Jason has been hiding stuff from us as well, or did you somehow miss the hours of coverage devoted to how he helped his Dad and brother and sister with that apartment fire?" Kate sat back and crossed her arms, daring him to deny that Jason had had his own secrets as well.

Tristan sighed, he was starting to get tired of the argument, he didn't like arguing with his friends. But he felt the need to defend his other friend as well. "Can't we just get to rehearsal and talk about this later?" he asked.

Kate sighed. "How about this?" she started, "We stop arguing, go to rehearsal, then don't bring this up again until Jason comes back. He's the one who should be explaining and it shouldn't come between us."

"Agreed," Tristan said with relief, checking his nose in a mirror as they stood up.

"So what are we doing about the cooking segment then?" Kate asked, changing the subject back to work as they headed to the sound stage. "Jason usually runs that and neither of us know a thing about food."

"We'll figure it out," Tristan assured her, "maybe they'll just postpone it, Jason comes back to work next week."

I hope, he added silently. The argument with Kate, even though temporarily on hold, had proved that even his friends were quick to condemn him. He just hoped others would try and think before they judged.

--
"You're named after a car part, I was named after Superman," Clark Ross said, grinning across the table.

"Shut up." Axel Ross, his younger brother glared back at him. "I was not named after a car!"

"Were too," Clark shot back.

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Not!

"Too!

"Not!"

"Enough!" Lana snapped, making both children jump as she slammed the heavy chef's knife she was carrying down on the table to emphasize her command.

Both her children stared at her in shock before Clark looked pointedly at her knife. "Jeez, Mom, we'll stop just step away from the knife."

"What?" Lana asked in surprise before noticing what she had used to bang on the table. She looked at the large, rather lethal looking, knife and burst into laughter. "Well now I know what to bring next time you won't get out of bed."

Clark stuck out his tongue and Axel giggled as she shook her head. "Clark, you were named after Clark Kent, our friend in high school," Lana reminded him, "long before he became Superman and you know very well that Axel was named after my grandfather."

"See?" Axel grinned triumphantly at his brother.

“What are we seeing?” Their father asked as he wandered downstairs, looking like he’d just rolled out of bed.

Lana rolled her eyes as her husband stumbled to the table, so much for the country myth those those raised on a farm were early risers. “That Axel was named after a car part,” Clark jumped in quickly before his mother or brother could respond.

“Clark, you know that’s not true,” Pete sighed, turning to his wife lightly as she sat next to him and handed him his breakfast. “Thanks dear.”

“So Mom,” Clark asked with a mischievous grin, “was Superman a good kisser?”

“Clark.” Axel’s mouth dropped open as her stared at his brother in shock.

Lana felt herself go red as Pete chuckled beside her. “That’s got absolutely nothing to do with you,” she said, giving him a stern look as she tried to look annoyed rather than flustered that her son would what to know such a thing.

“Well she only went out with him once so what does that tell you?” Pete asked, shooting his wife an amused look over his coffee mug.

“I think we should leave early today,” Lana said, quickly changing the subject. “I’ll bet you anything the reporters in town have more than doubled since yesterday and we don’t want to be late for school.”

"I bet Chris and the others don't have to go to school today," Axel told her, with a hopeful expression.

Pete laughed. "Nice try, but if I know you Uncle Clark those kids will be packed off to school like any other day. No doubt they'll be keeping as normal as possible."

"That's a bit hard don't you think?" the younger Clark asked with a frown. "I mean, it's pretty big when everyone finds out your Dad's the most powerful and famous man in the world."

"You're going to school," Lana told him, rolling her eyes. However she knew he was right, but no matter how bad it was for the kids she knew it had to be a thousand times worse for Clark.

It was one thing for people to find out your Dad was secretly the world's protector but for the world to find out you had been tricking them for over two decades? She prayed Clark was alright, they'd been trying to get in touch with him since the news had broken but it had proven impossible. She just hoped Clark knew they'd be there for him if he needed them.

"So how's the school handling the sudden media interest?" Pete asked when the boys went upstairs to get their stuff.

Lana shrugged. "We've tried to tell them it's really got nothing to do with us 'cause he's not here anymore but you can imagine how well that did," she sighed.

"Yeah." Pete shook his head. "Man, it seems so weird to think that everyone knows now." Lana just nodded in agreement, it was always hard when a familiar situation changed. "I gotta get dressed, anyway," Pete said with a sigh, leaning over to kiss her she got up. "Did I tell you the Harrisons called?"

"No, what happened?" Lana asked in shock, she hadn't given a thought to the Harrisons since this whole thing started and now she felt guilty. "Are they okay?" Yesterday had brought a swarm of media to Superman's hometown and she could only imagine what the Harrisons were going through, living in the house the Man of Steel grew up in.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had bought the Kent farm five years ago after Martha and Ben had passed away, then a young couple with a newborn looking to escape the city, they had quickly taken to country living and they were now part of Smallville itself and expecting their third child in a few months. "I hope Lynn's okay, stress like that can't be good for her now."

"That's why I'm heading over, a few of us are going to see if we can help with anything. So far the media are staying off the property but Frank seemed worried when he called last night," Pete explained. "And if all else fails, hey, I was Superman's best friend in high school, maybe they'll be more interested in that than his old home."

"One of his best friends," Lana reminded her husband. "And good luck."

"You too," he replied, "I have a feeling we may need it."

--
"So can you fly?"

Lucy Kent had to fight the urge to turn and slap the person behind her. It was the seventy-fifth time she'd heard that question this morning and it was really staring to bug her.

She tried to pretend she hadn't heard but apparently her friend Sasha wasn't the least bit bored of basking in the glow of Lucy's sudden popularity. Not that she'd been unpopular before, of course.

"She can't yet," Sasha replied to whoever it was, "but she can do a ton of other stuff like seeing though walls and the super-speed and-"

"Sorry we gotta get to class now," Lucy interrupted, pulling Sasha into the girls' bathroom. "Sasha, how many times do I have to tell you, don't tell anyone exactly what I can do."

"But-" Sasha looked confused at Lucy's sudden reluctance to be the center of attention.

"I know I told you," she sighed, taking a moment to make sure no one was about to come in before continuing, "but you're my friend and I trust you. The thing is, until I know exactly how my parents are playing this, we should just not say too much about my powers. Okay?"

"Fine," Sasha said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey." Lucy frowned. "What was that for?"

"Well it's just odd to me how you always wanted to be famous but now that you are- with paparazzi camping outside and everything- you suddenly don't want it." Sasha sighed and raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Sorry if I thought this was what you wanted when you said 'famous'. Oh, and by the way," she continued, her tone becoming more angry, "sorry for thinking that because you were my best friend we shared everything. I tell you everything about myself but you couldn't be bothered to mention the small fact that… wait what was it again- Oh, yeah! Your Dad just happens to be Superman and you can do all these amazing things as well?"

"Oh," Lucy muttered, rather stunned by the outburst. It hadn't really occurred to her that her friends might have been hurt by the revelation of Superman's secret identity. After all, it hadn't really been her secret to tell. Maybe one day she would've like to do what her Dad did and rescue people but that day was long off, secret identity or not.

"Well?" Sasha was still glaring at her and Lucy didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry?" she tried, but even to her the words sounded hollow.

"No, you're not."

"No, you're right, I'm not," she admitted, glaring back at her friend. She opened her mouth again but she was interrupted by the door to the bathroom opening up. "This is a private conversation," Lucy snapped and the door swung shut again. She frowned, trying to remember what she'd been about to say. "Look," she started, "if I had been running around in tights and a cape behind your back you'd have every right to be angry. But this was my Dad's secret, not mine. Oh, god, everyone knows my Dad wears tights," she felt a brief and currently irrelevant flush of embarrassment at that realization but she pushed it back.

"I thought you wanted this, remember the first thing you said to me when we were seven?" Sasha asked. "Something along the lines of 'Hey, I'm Lucy Kent and I'm going to be famous when I grow up' ring a bell?" Sasha frowned at her, "Look me straight in the eyes and tell me that the first thing that went through your head wasn't that this was a good thing."

Lucy winced as she glanced through the walls to outside the school and saw the huge crowd of news vans still surrounding the school. "I'm sorry," she apologized, this time meaning it, turning back to Sasha, "believe me, I haven't changed, I do still want to be famous. But more for stuff that we do rather than who my Dad is. Although," she added with a shrug, "you do have to admit this gave me a bit of a head start."

Sasha didn't say anything for a while but finally she sighed. "I'm sorry too then," she apologized.

"What for?"

"I've been trying to just act normal this morning and hang out with you. And it has been kinda fun with you being the center of attention and all, but really I need some time away from you to figure this out," Sasha tried to explain. "I am hurt that you didn't tell me about this and the fact that you seem to think I'm being unfair by feeling like that just hurts more." Lucy gaped at her, but Sasha didn't seem to notice. "I'll see you later, okay. Say Hi to your fans for me," she shot back over here as she exited the bathroom, leaving a very confused Lucy in her wake.

This day wasn't turning out at all like she had thought.

--
"Where have you been?" Sophie asked angrily, storming into the living room as she glared at Dean. He opened his mouth to explain but Sophie kept going. "What happened to 'someone needs to tell them how wrong they are'? Last night you even swore at the man on TV but today, when you actually had a chance to come defend your own father you'd rather sit at home doing nothing?"

Dean waited for her to finish before trying again. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, trying to figure out a way to tell her what Ella had said. He still didn’t quite understand it himself to be honest. “I was talking to Ella,” he said.

“Oh,” Sophie seemed to accept that as a good start, at least she looked a little less pissed off at him. She sat down on the seat opposite him and frowned. “What’s going on with her anyway? She was acting really weird last night when I talked to her.”

Dean nodded. "Weird is right," he agreed. "But where's Jason? I think he should hear this as well."

Sophie shrugged. "He's still at the Planet, being the one born out of wedlock and raised by another man for five years apparently makes him a lot more interesting than the rest of us."

Dean nodded, he could understand that, maybe he should have gone to the Planet to defend his father but Ella's shocking revelations had thrown him. He wasn't sure he'd be in the best state to give a proper defense of his family with that on his mind. He wasn’t good at keeping a lot of things on his mind at once.

"So I guess we're waiting for Jason then?" Sophie asked with an impatient sigh. "By the way, have you been watching the news lately?"

Dean nodded. "Evelyn's Dad?"

"Yes, poor Jase. Apparently Evie still wants to marry him but you know how Jason feels about family matters, there's no way he'd do what he had to if he doesn't come around." Sophie shook her head and Dean wondered what she meant by 'what he had to do'. Then again Dean wasn’t the only on to have inherited some of his mother's traits.

"How was Harvard?" he asked, keeping an ear out for his brother.

Sophie shrugged. "They're not kicking me out but I'm on academic suspension while they investigate an allegation of cheating against me."

"Cheating?" Dean asked in surprise. He wasn't really surprised someone had accused one of them of something like that, he was surprised it had happened so soon. "I'm sure you'll prove them wrong," he said encouragingly.

"Thanks," Sophie sighed, "Dani's helping too, she's taking this all remarkably well."

"I can imagine," Dean chuckled, he'd meet his sister's roommate a few times, she was the only other person Dean had meet who understood that not everything had to be a such a huge deal. It wasn't hard to believe she had accepted her friend was half-Kryptonian with nothing more than a shrug.

"Jason's coming," Sophie said after a moment, at the same time Dean noticed his heartbeat leaving the Planet building.

"I hear you know what's up with Ella," Jason said by way of greeting as he landed.

"Jason Kent were you eavesdropping on us?" Sophie asked, trying to sound stern but her amusement leaked through.

"What's going on then?" he asked, shaking his head at his sister.

Dean moved uncomfortably in his seat. Ella had only made him promise no to tell his parents but he was sure she wouldn't be too happy if she found out he told their siblings either.

"You can tell us, you know." Sophie gave him a concerned look, "you're our little brother, you can trust us." She frowned as she looked a this large frame folded into the chair. "Well, our younger brother at any rate."

"I know I can trust you," Dean told them, almost rolling his eyes at the thought he might not trust his family. "It's just I'm not sure you'll want to hear this anyway."

"Look, You've got Mom's ability to absorb shocking revelations with ease and Dad's calm rationalization and non-existent temper to go with it. If this thing with Ella has you upset- Then no, I'm not sure I want to know," Sophie said with a sigh.

"But if it's something that will help our sister, we need to know." Jason sat down next to Sophie. "I'm feeling pretty numb right now from everything else that's going on, so it's probably a good time to tell us."

"I guess." Dean nodded and leaned forward. "Okay, Ella made me swear not to tell Mom or Dad but you probably shouldn't tell her I told you this either…"
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