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Fic: Maternal Instinct

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:17:15 GMT

Maternal Instinct (1/1)

Rating: PG
Category Harry Potter
Spoilers: DEATHLY HALLOWS
Characters: Andromeda Tonks, Remus/Tonks
Word Count: 558

Andromeda Tonks stared at the baby asleep in the crib beside her sloppily made bed. He was small for his age, like Nymphadora had been. He raised a tiny fist and rubbed his eyes, which she knew were blue, like his father’s. He hadn’t changed the color of them yet.

Teddy – oh how tears had sprung to her eyes when Remus had told her his name – whined in his sleep, fussed. He’d been fussy every night since he’d lost his parents at the hands of, not surprisingly, the Lestranges. Andromeda’s own sister, her own twin, had sent the curse to end Nymphadora’s life, to leave Teddy an orphan.

Narcissa had brought her the news. Narcissa, a sister she hadn’t spoken to since she married Ted. It had been a reunion pushed off for too long, and Teddy had begun to cry even before Narcissa had opened her mouth. It was like he already knew.

Narcissa’s family had been so deep into You-Know-Who’s circle that they feared ever getting out. And yet Narcissa’s family emerged unscathed. Andromeda, who had chosen to denounce her family, marry for love, give up everything familiar, live as a Muggle – she had lost nearly everything. She had made the harder choice, the right choice, and that choice had cost her her family.

Teddy yawned, a big, wide yawn that took over his entire face. Andromeda sniffled. She wiped at her cheeks, which were seemed to be wet all the time now. She touched the top of his head, smoothed back the wisps of currently mousy brown hair. He turned into her touch and smack his lips a few times.

Harry had offered to take him. She knew he was Teddy’s godfather, but even if she hadn’t believed Harry was too young, Andromeda would have never given him up. She and Ted had only ever wanted Nymphadora, had never discussed a second child. They hadn’t even been considering grandchildren and then suddenly Nymphadora had an announcement to make.

Ted had been the ecstatic one. He got along with Remus, approved, couldn’t wait to see his grandchild. Andromeda had been the one who didn’t approve. Not only was Remus much too old for Nymphadora, he couldn’t support them both, and on top of all that, he was a werewolf. But then again, Nymphadora had never done anything the simple way.

Her daughter and son-in-law’s excitement the day of Teddy’s birth had been contagious. And the moment the baby was placed in Andromeda’s arms, she fell in love. She would love Teddy his entire life, would never let him forget his parents, how brave they were – how foolish too – how happy and, yes, how in love they have been, taking chances for life and happiness in wartime. Teddy would grow up with an amazing godfather, friends who risked everything, and a grandmother who loved him enough for three lost family members.

Andromeda bent over the crib and brushed her lips across his forehead. She would be grandmother, grandfather, father, and mother to this beautiful and special boy until the day she could reunite with those whose place she was filling.

Fic: I Wanna Know What Love Is

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:02:20 GMT

Fic: Noticing Things

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:16:00 GMT

Title: Noticing Things
Fandom: Superman
Characters: Clark, Superman, Lois, Jason
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677

Clark didn’t have to wait long before seeing Jason again; Lois brought him to the Planet the very next morning. He found it difficult, he realized, concentrating on his writing, knowing Jason was just a few cubicles down coloring a picture, practically oblivious to Clark’s presence.

After he left Lois’s the night before, he had flown above the clouds to both seek out the sun and think – think about Lois, about Jason, about himself as both Clark and as Superman. He came to no good conclusion, however, and half of him hoped he wouldn’t be thrust into a situation where he had Jason smiling and laughing in front of him so soon.

Grimacing, Clark trained his hearing on Jason’s conversation with his mother while keeping his focus on his computer screen.

“Jason, sweetheart, what are you drawing? Is that Superman?” Lois asked gently, interested.

“It’s Mr. Clark,” he said.

Lois paused. “Clark?” she asked, strained. “But that looks like Superman.”

Jason murmured in affirmation.

Clark tensed, his already-heightened senses heightening further. Surely there was no way Jason had figured it out…

“See,” the boy was saying, “these are his disguise.”

“His glasses?” Lois asked, amused, but to Clark’s sensitive hearing she sounded like she was choking on the words.

He turned his face just enough to watch for reactions.

“Jason, Clark isn’t Superman,” Lois said sternly.

The boy only shrugged, never lifting his blue crayon from the paper.

Lois caught him looking at them. He raised his eyebrows and jerked back to his computer screen as if to show he was embarrassed to be looking at her the same time she had looked at him, and he hoped she wouldn’t think he was eavesdropping.

Lois cleared her throat. “But it’s a very good drawing anyway,” she was saying.

Sirens and a woman’s scream from across town drowned out the rest of Lois’s sentence, and Clark knocked his coffee cup over on his way out of his chair. The brown liquid stained his notes. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and, ignoring the coffee, hurried for the door.

“Clark!” He spun to find Lois looking at him. “Where are you going?”

“Ah, gee Lois, I forgot to pick up my suit from the dry cleaners, and I’m going to need it if I want to see your Pulitzer ceremony tonight.” His gaze darted toward the doors to the elevator. The sirens were burning his ears now, worsening. “I won’t be long.” Without giving her a moment to reply, he raced for the door.

Lois stared at the spot Clark had just been. She shook her head a bit, closing her eyes. He was always forgetting things, always rushing off to take care of some inane task.

“Mommy, look,” Jason said. He was pointing at the television suspended above her desk.

The color drained from Lois’s face.

“Just seconds ago, Superman arrived on the scene,” the reporter said, hope in his voice. “Three people have already been rescued from the building, and Superman has set to work on extinguishing the fire. It won’t be long now–”

Lois gripped the back of Jason’s chair.

“Mommy?”

She looked back over her shoulder at Clark’s desk, where the coffee was dripping over the side, then down at her son.

The corners of Jason’s mouth were turned down, and his blue crayon lay next to Superman’s head on the paper in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and looked at the TV, barely noticing the rush of blue and red in front of the camera. “Nothing, sweetheart, Mommy’s fine.”

“Mr. Clark will be right back,” he said in a tone that seemed meant to comfort her. He turned back to his paper and finished the glasses on Superman’s face, the glasses that Clark wore and Superman did not. “He just has to save those people right now.”

Lois nodded vaguely, feeling her stomach churn and drop and her head grow heavy. There really was just no possible way, she thought, but she couldn’t seem to convince even herself.

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:29:12 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (5/?)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count: 1,641

Maybe it was the curiousity surrounding who his father was when he wasn’t Superman that made Jason seek out his mother, away from Richard. But the only place he realized he could do that was at the Daily Planet, because any other time Richard was at home when Lois was, when Jason was. Even the Planet wasn’t an ideal place, because his mother did have a job to do, but it was better than nothing, because, Jason knew, his mother would never pass up a cup of Starbucks. If Jason told her she couldn’t have it without a private meeting, then—Jason sighed as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out onto the press floor.

“Jason! What are you doing up here?”

He turned to find his mother’s partner, Clark Kent, looking at him through thin-framed glasses and in surprise. “Oh, I just wanted to see Mom,” he said.

“She’s out chasing a lead,” Clark said, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. “Can I leave her a message or anything?”

Jason shook his head slowly. He hadn’t seen Clark Kent in a while, he knew, but something about him— “No, it’s fine. I’ll just wait here. Her desk is that one over there, right?”

Clark glanced over in the direction of Lois’s desk and nodded. “Sure is.” He smiled lopsidedly.

“Thanks,” Jason muttered. He trudged over to his mother’s desk and sat, leaning as far back as the chair would allow, and looked at the ceiling. He hummed softly to drown out the sounds of the Planet staff chattering around him.

He had expected his mom to be in the office; if he’d known he’d have to wait to talk to her, he wouldn’t have come. He was starting to lose his nerve. Really, it wasn’t that difficult. He just had to say it.

“Mom,” he said, lightly, under his breath, “I know about you and Superman.” He shook his head and twisted his mouth. “Mom,” he tried again, “I know Richard’s not my dad.” Too negative, ungrateful. He loved Richard as a father. One more go. “Mom, remember that time Superman almost died and you took me to the hospital? Yeah, well I heard you tell him he’s my dad and so we’ve been hanging out and he’s been teaching me things and—”

“Everything alright, Jason?”

He almost lost his balance out of the chair but instead it slammed hard and noisily onto the floor. Knowing his cheeks were flushed, he looked at Clark and nodded. “Everything’s fine,” he got out in an embarrassed squeak.

Clark leaned awkwardly against the edge of the desk. “You looked a bit sick,” he said.

Jason shifted under Clark’s scrutiny. “No, I—I just have something to talk to my mom about and I’m just trying to figure out how to say it.”

“Is everything alright?” Clark asked again, his tone slightly deeper, firmer than before.

Jason blinked. “Uh, yeah, yeah, everything’s fine, I—just nervous is all.”

“Care to talk about it?” This time, when Clark spoke, it was a bit higher in pitch, more—Clark-like.

Jason frowned. “Not really,” he began, but he heard his mother and Richard in the elevator before the doors opened.

“Your mother’s back,” Clark said quietly.

Jason looked at him, surprised that he wasn’t looking toward the elevator doors. “How—?” He stopped and sat up quickly. He shook his head as if trying to erase the thought.

Clark stood and touched Jason’s shoulder. “Good luck,” he said, then stumbled over toward his desk.

Jason, wide-eyed, waited for his mother.

---

Jason was very distracted by Clark’s strange behavior the entire time he was trying to get his mother alone. He kept glancing over his shoulder towards Clark, but Clark remained hunched over his computer, typing away. “I just—if you could just give me a few minutes, Mom. It’s really important.”

“It can’t wait until after work, honey? You know I have deadlines. I have a job to do.”

“I know that. But when you get home, Dad’ll be there—”

She looked at him, her brow creased, frowning. “Why can’t your dad be there?”

“It’s—I just want to talk to you about it.”

Lois set her pen down and folded her hands on her lap. “Is everything alright, sweetie?”

“Yes! Yes, everything’s—” He changed tactics. “No, okay? I’m—I just need to talk to you. Can we use a conference room or something?” He’d never make it if he had to walk with her to Starbucks, and at least here they probably wouldn’t be overheard.

Lois touched his face and pushed his hair back off his forehead. “Your hair’s getting long,” she said softly, but she nodded in the direction of the conference room. He moved first and looked over his shoulder to make sure she followed.

Lois closed and locked the door behind her. “What’s the matter?”

Jason rubbed his knuckles. “I—remember when Superman got sick and we went to see him in the hospital?” he asked in one breath, looking through the door instead of at his mother.

Lois nodded slowly.

“Remember how you were talking to him and I was just standing around?”

She nodded again.

Jason took a deep breath. He needed to just let it out. The only problem was that he felt like there was so much more he needed to explain about it, so much more than just a simple, I heard what you said to him. He just didn’t want her jumping to any journalistic or, worse, wrong, conclusion. He held up a hand. “Will you let me say everything before you say anything?”

“Yes, of course, Jason, what’s this all about?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I heard what you were saying to him, about how he’s my dad.”

Lois paled and she stepped forward to the conference table and leaned into it. “You did? How?”

“I guess I can—I threw that piano, remember? On Lex Luthor’s boat?”

“I didn’t think you remembered that.”

Jason nodded. “I do. And I can hear everything now, and I heard you say that. So I know. I don’t know why you haven’t told me, but I’m not mad, not really, because I’ve been talking to him and he wants to help me. I mean, I want him to be my father too so I don’t do something stupid.”

“Stupid? How?” Lois’s voice shook.

“Like be too strong or say something about my hearing or my vision, even though that’s not that good right now.”

Lois nodded again, then pressed her palm tight against her forehead and breathed in deeply.

“So I just wanted you to know that I know he’s my dad and Richard isn’t, but I don’t want you to think I don’t want Richard because he’s still my dad too.” Jason was speaking more confidently now.

Over his mother’s shoulder he noticed Clark’s chin tilted toward the conference room and his hands hovering above the computer keyboard. He held his breath for a moment and shook that thought out of his head. Clark was just concerned about him, and about Lois.

“Nothing’s going to change, except I’m gonna spend some time with Superman and learn all the stuff he knows. He’s already told me some things, but I know there’s a lot more.”

Lois was silent for a long, tense moment. When she raised her face to Jason’s, she had tears in her eyes. She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice no longer shaking. She stood up straighter. “I should have told you.”

Jason shrugged. “It’s—fine,” he said. “I mean, yeah, maybe you should have, but I probably should have told you I knew, cause I’ve known for a long time too.”

She nodded. “Why didn’t you?”

He shrugged again and played with a broken piece of wood along the edge of the table. “I didn’t really believe it,” he said, “even though I kept doing all those things, those things he can do. And then I couldn’t stand it so I just called for him, like you always said to do if I needed him.”

Lois looked at Jason and smiled. “Good. I—he wanted to tell you, because he was worried about you, about when your powers might develop.”

Jason frowned. He hadn’t mentioned that. “He calls them strengths.”

“Yes, I’ve heard him say that before,” Lois said.

“So it’s okay if I keep seeing him and learn from him?”

“I can’t keep you from him,” Lois said. She tapped her chin lightly and closed her eyes for a moment. “Thank you for telling me.”

Jason smiled. With one hand now in his pocket, he walked to his mother and hugged her. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

She pulled back and thumbed his cheek. “I love you too.” She kissed his forehead. “Anything else you can spring on me today?”

He laughed half-heartedly. “No, that’s all. Thanks.” He waved a bit and left the conference room. The noise in the main office overwhelmed him, but he felt so much better for having told his mom everything. He had a feeling she needed time to think about it, that she would have more questions, more things to work through, but for the moment, everything was fine.

When Clark touched his shoulder, Jason jumped.

Clark wasn’t smiling like he usually was. “Have a moment?” he asked.

Jason swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“Not here,” he said, keeping his voice low, almost low enough so that only Jason could hear. “I’ll meet you on the roof.” He nodded firmly then left, weaving through the desks until he stopped in front of the elevator.

Jason watched Clark get on and watched the elevator go up. His mouth opened just slightly. “Oh no way,” he gasped. He ran for the next elevator.

Fic: At the Side of the Road

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:53:55 GMT

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:38:50 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (4/?)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count: 1,726

The shake of Superman’s head was sharp, firm. “Absolutely not.”

Jason clenched his fist, his breathing quickening. “Why not? Shouldn’t I be allowed to see what’s expected of me?”

Surprise crossed Superman’s face and he looked off in the direction of the call for help then back to Jason. “Yes, you should,” he said, and Jason’s pulse pounded with excitement until his father held up a hand, “but you’re not ready. We’ve only spoken so far; you haven’t done anything to control your powers, to see what you can and can’t do.”

“I can do anything you can do,” Jason protested, not very confidently. In truth, he had no idea what he was capable of; that was the reason he’d asked for help at all.

Superman tapped a booted foot once, then looked towards the city for a moment. “Then follow me,” he said, and in an instant he had taken off in a streak away from the porch.

Jason’s breath caught in his throat as he realized his father was challenging him. His breathing then stopped entirely when he realized that meant he’d have to fly. He ran to the railing and wrapped his hand around it. “Wait, stop!” he yelled, leaning forward. His father didn’t look back, now a speck on the horizon.

Jason panicked. What should he do? Should he go after him – well, try to go after him? His breathing wasn’t coming at all now, and he thought about how often he used to need his inhaler.

He put his foot on the lowest rung of the fence. In a quick movement, his knees were pressed against the top rung and his arms were out in front of him. With no air coming in through his nose or mouth, he stepped up onto the railing, closed his eyes, and jumped.

It felt as though he was falling forever. It took him so long to fall that Jason actually thought, for just a moment, that he was flying. The drop from the railing to the water below was about ten feet, and soon enough Jason realized the sick feeling in his stomach was because he was losing height, not gaining it.

The water stung, cold and like needles against his face and neck. When he opened his mouth to scream, he sucked in an ocean. He flailed immediately, struggling to stay on the surface though his soaked clothes dragged him down.

Jason had never been a good swimmer. He kicked and gulped for air, though he only managed to inhale more water. His chest hurt, and he couldn’t even figure out which way it was to the surface. He was Superman’s son, and he couldn’t swim, couldn’t find the surface, couldn’t fly.

He heard a woman’s muffled yell, his name, and then a strong arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him to the surface. He sputtered and gasped and struggled against his rescuer. Water rushed down his face; his clothes were sticking all over him.

A second person helped heave him out of the water. “Oh my God, Jason, what were you doing?”

Jason fell to his knees on the porch and, bent over, coughed. River water dripped off him and puddled on the wood. “I’m fine,” he said hoarsely, holding up a hand and shaking his head. “I was just – looking over the edge.”

“You looked like you were jumping, or trying to.”

Jason sat back on his haunches and wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Thought I saw something. I’m fine.”

Lois helped him to his feet and accepted a blanket from her husband to wrap around Jason. “You need to be more careful, Jason. What if we hadn’t been here? What if you had drowned?”

“Superman could have rescued me,” he muttered, turning to glance off down the river towards the city. He could still here sirens, but they were fainter now.

Lois’s cheeks turned pink. “Superman can’t be everywhere at once,” she snapped. “Inside, now.”

Jason looked to his dad but only got a shrug from him then trudged in through the sliding glass door. “I would have been fine,” he mumbled.

Richard put his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I know you think so, Jason, but your mother and I saw otherwise. You were struggling pretty badly there and couldn’t find the surface.”

“When did you come home?” Jason asked, pushing the blanket off and sinking onto the couch despite protests from his mother. “It’s not even five yet.”

“It’s Thursday,” Richard said.

Jason couldn’t believe he forgot. On Thursdays his parents hosted the neighbors for cards over dinner. Usually he made himself scarce, hiding in his bedroom, pretending to do homework, but tonight he didn’t want to do that. “Can I go out tonight?”

Lois spun and looked at Jason. “What? No, of course you can’t go out tonight. You almost drowned, Jason.”

“Mom, I’m fine, and I don’t want to be around when you have your stupid card club.”

“Jason –”

Richard cut his wife off. “Where do you want to go?” he asked calmly.

Jason shrugged and stood. “The mall, I don’t know. Somewhere else.” He ran a hand through his long, wet hair. “I can go see my d – friend. Go see my friend. Sam.” He looked out the door, still expecting to see Superman fly in. Why hadn’t he yet? He clenched his fist at his side.

“Have I ever met your friend Sam?” Lois asked testily.

“No,” Jason said. “Why are you being this way, Mom?”

“Because you just almost drowned!”

“But I didn’t!”

“Only because your father pulled you out!” Lois pointed at Richard. “If he hadn’t been here, you would have drowned.”

Jason opened his mouth to argue but snapped his jaw shut at the sight of a blur of blue and red outside. “Fine, I’m sorry. I wasn’t careful. I shouldn’t have been playing around on the porch. Next time I’ll be more careful. But please, let me at least run down to the park. I want to jog.”

“Just a minute ago you wanted to go to the mall,” Lois said, confused. She looked at her husband who shrugged. “Now you want to go to the park?”

“I’ll be home before dark,” Jason said, grabbing his sneakers and pulling them on. “I promise.” He hurried for the door, ignoring his mom and dad and hoping Superman was still around.

--

“I can’t fly,” Jason burst out the moment he was in sight of his father hovering in a secluded section of the park down the street from his house.

Superman lowered himself to the ground. “Are you alright?” he asked, concerned.

He rolled his eyes. “My dad pulled me out, actually. He and Mom came home early. At least someone was there to catch my stupidity.”

He tilted his head to the side and frowned. “It wasn’t stupid, Jason. It took me a long time before I was able to fly. All I could do was jump really high, but I always came back down.”

Jason nodded and wet his lips. “Why was that the last thing?”

“I didn’t say that,” Superman countered. He eased himself onto the ground and uncrossed his arms. “I’ve never known, really known, anyone else like me. You’re developing your strengths in different ways than I did. And I have no basis for comparison, or for supposition.”

Jason almost felt intimidated that his father had to be his father in that suit, but he’d already asked about secret identities and he knew he wasn’t ready yet.

“Does Mom know who you are when you aren’t Superman?” he asked suddenly.

He visibly hesitated and then shook his head. “She does not.”

“Then how did you and her—?” Jason started to ask and then stopped, his face flushing deeply even though he couldn’t feel the heat rising against his skin. “I mean, if you and her—but how did she—?” He really didn’t know how to ask it.

Superman’s stern demeanor fell and he touched his fingertips to his forehead and closed his eyes. “It’s a long story, Jason, and it’s complicated. I regret parts of it now, looking back.”

He nodded slowly, not fully understanding.

Superman exhaled deeply. “Your mother did know who I was. She figured it out and we – had a relationship. It got to be too hard. She couldn’t talk to me without saying she didn’t want to share me. I knew it was too hard. I couldn’t stop being who I was; I tried that and failed. Superman is who I am. I realized that.”

Jason understood less now. He looked at his father with wide eyes and his mouth open just slightly, as though he wasn’t completely hearing him even though he was. “Wait, what?”

“I’m not telling this properly.”

He shook his head.

“When your mother and I decided to have a relationship, I gave up my strengths. I became human for her, and that was at a time when Earth needed me the most.”

“But you have your powers now,” he pointed out.

Superman nodded. “It’s complicated. I did what I had to do, and I saved who needed saving. But in doing so, I couldn’t save myself because I realized I was Superman and couldn’t not be and your mother–” He sighed tiredly. “I felt that it was too hard on her, having to share me, that I couldn’t be there for her like she deserved. So I took the memories from her.”

“You—? You can do that?”

“Jason, please know that I never meant to hurt her, to hurt you, to—after it happened I left to find Krypton, like I said. That was one of my biggest regrets.”

Jason didn’t know what to think, how to think about this man who stole his mother’s memory like that. “So she doesn’t remember anything? She wouldn’t have remembered how she got pregnant with me?”

Superman nodded.

“How is that possible? What did she think when she just woke up one day and was pregnant?”

“Jason, I don’t know,” Superman said. His voice was firm, almost hard. “You’d have to ask her.”

“That would mean telling her I know about you.”

Superman nodded and was silent for a moment. “When you’re ready to do that, I’ll be ready to tell you who I am.”

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:36:48 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (3/?)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count: 733

“It’s been a while,” came Superman’s greeting as he landed softly on the porch. He crossed his arms, assuming his natural stance a few feet away from Jason.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Jason explained, “and I wanted to make sure I knew what to ask you when you came by. I wrote it all down.” He patted his jeans pocket then held up a hand. “Don’t read it yet, please.”

Superman shook his head.

“Thank you,” Jason said. He inhaled deeply and sat on the edge of a lawn chair, the same one he sat on last time Superman had visited. It had been two and a half weeks since their discussion about the sun and Kryptonite, and Jason knew he had much more to learn. But he had other things he wanted to know because he tried to understand his powers, he’d decided. That was the cause of this meeting.

He rubbed the side of his neck and tugged on the hair growing past the nape of his neck. When he looked at Superman, he could only see the tights, the cape, the S emblazoned on his chest. “Do you have to always come around in that outfit?”

Superman raised his eyebrows. “What else would I wear?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Something normal? Jeans, maybe. Can’t you be who you are when you aren’t being Superman?”

He tensed. “I’m not ready for that yet,” he admitted.

Jason was going to argue, but he realized he wasn’t ready for a lot of things either, so he couldn’t be upset at Superman for it. He nodded. “That’s okay. I understand.” He curled his fingers against the side of his thigh. “So that was my first question and I’ll just go to the next. What happened between you and my mom?”

The moment he asked it, he knew it would be another question he wouldn’t be getting the answer to.

Superman looked away, his lips pursed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes began to close and he shook his head slightly. “Jason, I –” He lowered his head and shook it gently. “What happened between your mother and I happened a long time ago.”

Jason couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“I left her when she needed me; I left everyone. When I came back, you were already five, and she and Richard were together.”

That didn’t answer the question, Jason wanted to say. That was telling him what he already knew. “Where did you go?” he blurted.

Superman looked at him and blinked. His eyebrows arched. “Your mother never told you?” he asked, in a tone that suggested amusement.

“Why would she?”

“She wrote that article,” Superman said, “so I assumed she would have told you something. Or that you’d read it.”

“The article didn’t say why you left,” he said pointedly. “And I’m not supposed to know you’re my father, so why would she tell me anything about where you went?”

The corner of Superman’s mouth quirked in a way reminiscent of Jason when he himself was trying to hide a smile. “Point,” he conceded. “Truly, the answer is simple. Astronomers thought they’d discovered the remains of Krypton, but I needed to see for myself. When I got there, nothing was left. It was a graveyard. But I needed to try. When I came back, everything had changed, including Lois. That was the hardest part of it.”

“You really didn’t know about me?” Jason sat up a bit.

He shook his head. “I would never have left if I did.”

Jason felt his father’s affection and love flood over him like the sunlight when it moved out from behind a cloud. He heaved once and smiled with relief. “I – I think I needed to hear that,” he confessed.

Superman opened his mouth but jerked his head to the right.

Jason heard it too, a distant wail of a baby and a woman’s panicked scream. It always happened, every time, and yet Jason expected it. His father was already walking toward the sound, poised to leap into the sky. “I want to go with you,” Jason blurted.

Superman turned sharply. “What?”

He stood, straightening to look taller, broader, than he actually was. “I want to go with you,” he repeated. He stared at his father, pleading with almost-identical blue eyes. “I want to help. Please.”

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:04:48 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (2/?)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count:

Two

Jason knew it wouldn’t be easy, understanding everything his father agreed to teach him.

“My father – your grandfather – sent me to Earth on the eve of the destruction of our world, of Krypton. The red sun of Krypton was different from the yellow sun here on Earth. It is this sun that gives me – us – strength.”

Jason nodded. “I thought there had to be a connection,” he admitted. “I always feel better in the sun. What would a red sun do? Would we be different on Krypton?”

“We would be normal on Krypton,” Superman explained. “The red sun would oppose our powers, just as Kryptonite does. You’ve heard all about that, haven’t you?”

“I’ve read my mom’s articles, if that’s what you mean,” Jason replied. He shrugged with one shoulder and leaned back against the lounge chair on which he was perched on the deck. “I know it’s pieces of your home world, meteorites that make you sick.” His mind returned him to the day he’d first shown his strength, before he hurled the piano, and the stick of glowing green Lex Luthor had held out at him. He screwed his eyes shut.

“Yes,” Superman said, “Kryptonite acts in a similar way to the sun of Krypton, though rather than countering the powers in a natural manner, it fights them and hurts us.” He stopped. When he spoke next, he sounded nearer than before. “Have you seen Kryptonite before?”

Jason opened his eyes to find Superman a few steps closer across the deck. He nodded. “On the boat with Lex Luthor. It was hypnotizing.”

“It does have that effect,” Superman said.

Jason shuddered a bit and rubbed his upper arm. “I just couldn’t stop staring at it,” he said, “and Lex Luthor could tell. He asked Mom who my father was. But she just said Richard, and she wouldn’t let me go. And later then I threw the piano.”

“Your mother told me about that,” he said, almost sounding impressed. “I’m glad you could save your mother.”

“I couldn’t let him hurt her,” Jason admitted in a small voice.

“You did the right thing,” Superman said, and he put his hand on Jason’s shoulder. He squeezed gently, reassuringly, and held there until Jason looked up at him. “I was proud of you then,” he said, “and I’m proud of you now, for seeking me out.”

Jason shook his head, his tongue heavy against the roof of his mouth. “I just don’t want to do anything stupid,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. How did you get used to it?”

Superman sat then, casually on the lawn chair beside Jason, and he pushed his cape out from underneath him. “It took a while,” he admitted. “And I didn’t even learn where I came from until I was older than you are. My father – my earth father – died after high school, and that was when I found a crystal buried with my spaceship in the barn.”

“You have a spaceship?”

He nodded. “My parents sent me to earth in a spaceship, and I crashed on a farm in Kansas. The people who owned it adopted me, took me in as their own son.”

“So you were raised normal?” Jason asked.

“As normal as could be.” He chuckled reminiscently. “They loved me even when I started displaying powers, and they kept my secret.”

Jason looked past his father again and pursed his lips together. Superman shared his powers with the world; he didn’t keep it a secret as Jason did. What kind of secret could Superman possibly –? “Oh duh,” he muttered. “Of course you don’t just go around being Superman all the time. You’re someone else too.” Jason felt stupid for having never made the connection before. A superhero always had a secret identity. Why would Superman be different?

Superman straightened, his shoulders back and his jaw set. “It’s true; I don’t go to the supermarket in the cape.”

He could feel himself start to laugh, and he smiled widely, shaking his head. “Right, yeah, of course you don’t. I don’t know why I ever thought you did.” Laughter was threatening at the thought of Superman buying microwave dinners in his tights.

Superman raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but he shut it quickly and inclined his head just slightly.

Jason heard it too; his parents were getting out of a taxi and coming up the front walk, talking about the sanitary workers’ strike. He looked back to his father and shrugged. “You’d better go.”

Superman stood. “You should tell them soon,” he said in a fatherly manner.

Jason rolled his eyes. “I know, I know. I will sometime, when I’m ready.” The front door opened; his mother called out his name. “Just not right now.”

His father held his gaze for a moment and then nodded again. “I know. Good night, Jason.” He looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes through the back wall. Jason knew he was looking at his mother, but that was a question for another time. Superman turned back to Jason. “Let me know when you want to talk next.” Then he was gone.

Jason watched him fly away.

--

Jason set a fork on the left side of each of the three plates he’d already set on the table. He put two wine glasses above his parents’ plates and a glass of ice water above his. He knew alcohol wouldn’t affect him in any way as he assumed it didn’t affect Superman, but he couldn’t mention that to his mom; admitting that would mean admitted that he knew the truth, and as he’d just told his father, he wasn’t ready for that.

Lois slid a plate of spaghetti onto the table. “Courtesy of Rico’s,” she said with a smile.

“At least you spared us all your homemade meatloaf,” Richard joked, kissing her on the cheek.

“Now, Dad, you know she’s gotten better,” Jason returned. “It only tastes like half-rotted animal rather than dead animal now.”

Lois’s cheeks flushed attractively as she slid into her chair.

Jason sat too, but he turned to look at the TV just in time to catch a news bulletin remarking that Superman had arrived on the scene of a high-rise fire.

“Jason, TV,” Richard said, and he waited for Jason to lean for the remote and punch off the television. “Thank you.”

Once grace was recited and wine poured, Jason addressed his mom. “Do you know who Superman is when he isn’t being Superman?” he asked.

Lois looked at him over her fork, which was halfway to her mouth. “What?”

Jason realized he hadn’t brought Superman up in ages. “Well, I just mean, he doesn’t walk around Metropolis in the cape, right? So he has to be someone else when he isn’t being Superman.”

Lois lowered her fork.

“I’m sure whoever Superman really is,” Richard said, “his identity is safely hidden. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone knew who Superman really was?”

“He’s an alien,” Lois said quietly and a beat after her husband. “He probably just goes to some ice castle when he’s not being Superman.”

Jason pursed his lips. “You don’t think he has an apartment uptown?” He tried to sound like he was joking, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t believe his mother hadn’t cracked the secret to Superman yet.

Lois leveled her gaze at him. “Jason, please. Can’t we talk about something else?” She shared a look with Richard then looked back at her son. “How was school today? Did you get your chemistry test back?”

Jason sighed. He could see that his mother wasn’t going to help him any. He would have to go straight to the source. “Fine. I got an A.”

Fic: Skinny Dipping

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:49:18 GMT

Skinny Dipping (1/1)

Rating: PG-13
Category: Smallville
Spoilers: all seasons, Aqua mentioned in particular
Summary: It's a really hot day in Smallville.
Word Count: 1,812
Beta Thanks: mark_clark and trixiemcbimbo@DI.

Clark knew it was too hot even if his body did automatically acclimate to the heat wave. He climbed up to his loft and frowned at a sudden blast of cool air. He stopped at the top of the steps to find Lois, wearing Daisy Dukes and a plastered-to-the-skin tank top sprawled out on the floor, a fan pointed straight at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, letting his eyes drift from her hair fanning out around her head down her curves to her long, tanned legs.

She didn’t move, and for a moment, she didn’t answer. “This is the coolest place in three counties,” she finally said. She craned her neck to look at him. “You’re not even sweating.”

She was sweating though, he noticed. Sweat glistened along her collarbone and beaded at the spot just above the swells of her breasts.

He cleared his throat and jerked his gaze to her face. “I’m used to it.”

“That’s not normal, Smallville.” She pulled her hair away from herself, exposing the back of her neck, and his gaze lingered.

“Do you, uh, wanna go swimming?” He stared, the image of her with water dripping from her skin taking over the image of her lying on the floor of his loft, shining in sweat. He blinked and shook his head. No, this was Lois, not Lana, not Alicia.

Lois rolled onto her stomach. “Swimming? Did you forget what happened last time I went swimming?”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on Lois, are you really going to let one bad afternoon keep you from enjoying another?”

She propped her chin up on her hands and kicked her bare legs up behind her. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying something on me.”

“Trying what?” he asked, voice catching. Suddenly, as she scratched her calf with her toe, he was too hot. It’s just the heat, he told himself, and just Lois.

She laughed and pushed herself to her feet. “Yeah, sure, Smallville, let’s go swimming. It’ll beat spraying water into a fan and hoping for the best. Why is your farm still locked in the last century, before air conditioning?”

“Because air conditioning is expensive,” he snapped, immediately regretting his tone but not doing anything to apologize. “Let me go get my trunks.” He turned to jog back down the stairs but she touched his elbow.

“What do you need your trunks for?”

Clark could hear her heartbeat quicken at her own suggestion, and it puzzled him. “Uh, what—what do you mean?”

“Oh come on, Smallville, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” Her eyebrows arched, and she brushed her arm by his as she hurried down the steps. At the bottom, she turned and looked at him over her shoulder. “What’s the matter, you not up for a little adventure?”

Clark couldn’t take his eyes off her, and he was aware of his heart pounding and hers still quickening. “Lead the way, Sailor.” He grinned when she scowled at him.

--

When Lois walked past him to the edge of Crater Lake, on the far side away from where anyone else might be taking a late afternoon dip, Clark found himself thinking only for half a moment of his one and only skinny dipping experience, even if it had been in a dream. He found himself more aroused than not at the idea that this was very real. It only slightly surprised him that he felt that way; after all, he was with Lois.

“Don’t let me catch you peeking,” she teased, as she tugged the hem of her tank top over her stomach.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured and turned his back on her.

He could just imagine what was happening behind him, and he itched to turn around. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen all of her before either, he thought. He could picture her toying with the hem of the tank top before stretching it and her arms over her head and tossing it aside. Then she’d quickly unsnap the back of her bra and let the straps slide off her arms. She’d wait a moment before tucking her fingers against her shorts’ zipper and then easing them – and her underwear, which were pink, if he remembered correctly – down her long legs.

He felt a splash of water behind him.

“Come in, Smallville, the water’s nice.”

He turned around slowly, finding Lois a few feet out into the lake, the water lapping around her shoulders. He smiled at her. “Feel nice?” he asked.

“Mmn hmn,” she said. She pushed her wet hair off her face, the swells of her breasts rising to the swells of the water.

“Turn around,” he said before pulling his shirt over his head.

She looked at his dripping, sculpted chest and nodded slowly before slinking through the water, turning her back to him.

Clark was having trouble breathing evenly, and he watched her the entire time he pushed his jeans and boxer shorts over his hips and kicked them off his feet. He was surprised she didn’t try to peek. When he had stripped completely, he ran into the water off to her side and ducked under.

When he came up he found himself just inches from Lois’s back. He reached down and grabbed her knee, pulling her under and laughing at the surprised and uncharacteristic yelp she let out.

The skin behind her knee was smooth and when she kicked and squirmed his fingers touched the back of her thigh and slightly, just slightly, higher.

Lois came up, sputtering. “Watch those hands, Smallville.”

He pushed the water off his face and shook his hair away. “Sorry,” he said, spitting out the water that had caught in his mouth when he’d come up.

She punched him in the shoulder. “Just don’t let it happen again,” she said. For some reason, the teasing tone she usually adopted with him was gone. She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms against her chest.

He nodded and moved his arms gently in the water around them, never taking his eyes off her.

She looked around, slowly moving her arms to tread as well.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t let you drown.”

“Lot of good you did me last time,” she scoffed.

Clark splashed her in reply.

“Besides,” she continued, returning the splash, “I don’t need a lifeguard.”

“Of course you don’t,” he countered, and he took a deep breath for show and went under. He swam away from her and swatted at her feet, which were kicking softly at him. He came up a few feet away and looked at her. “Can’t catch me,” he teased.

She gasped and took off after him.

Clark laughed and swam half-heartedly away from her. She touched his leg, then his shoulder, and lunged for him. He froze, every inch of him on fire despite the cool water. He looked down at the top of Lois’s head for a moment before she pushed away from him with a jerk.

“Lois,” he said.

She shook her head but soon that teasing smile had returned. “What, didn’t think I could catch you?”

He swam toward her, lowering himself so the water lapped against his chin. He circled her. “I let you.”

She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder again. “Next time, don’t cop out like that, Smallville. I’m not a little girl; I can take it.”

“I know you can,” he muttered.

Her mouth opened just slightly before snapping closed again. She dipped her head back then ran her hand back through her hair again before letting it fall over her shoulder and neck. She looked at him then brushed the water from her eyes.

Clark couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wanted to blame it on the heat but he wasn’t hot anymore. He could blame it on the water cascading over her. If he tried hard enough he could blame it on anything. But the actual fact of the matter was, all these just heightened the truth: he was attracted to Lois Lane.

“Lois,” he said again, moving deftly through the water toward her again.

She moved backwards. “What?” Her heartbeat had sped up again, and she kept her gaze fixed on him.

“Why are you swimming away from me?”

“I’m not,” she countered quickly.

He reached for her and found his hand grabbing at the side of her ribcage, higher than he’d intended. But he surprised them both by not pulling away. “Yes, you are.” He looked down at her.

With the water lapping around them, it was nearly impossible to stay still. He flattened his hand against her skin, his thumb inadvertently brushing the side of her breast.

She sucked in a sudden breath and her eyes widened. “Clark,” she breathed.

His legs tangled with hers and he fought to keep his torso from touching hers too. He didn’t need that distraction. He didn’t think he could think straight if he had that distraction. With his other hand, he pushed her hair behind each ear and touched her jaw with the back of his hand. “Lois,” he returned.

She normally would have made some flippant remark or used her dry wit to laugh off the situation, he thought, but she wasn’t saying anything. Her breathing was shallower than ever, and her heartbeat – Clark thought he’d be able to hear it even without super hearing.

She shifted against him and her arm crept its way up his arm to curl around his shoulder, keeping them steady. She swallowed hard.

He said her name again then leaned in toward her, ignoring the way her foot ran up the back of his calf and her hand caressed his bare stomach underwater. They were treading on serious ground.

It was Lois who jerked forward to press her mouth against his, and the force of her lunge brought them flush against each other.

Clark kissed her back, nudging his tongue between her lips and sucking gently on her lower lip until she gave in and opened her mouth for him. He moaned when their tongues touched. His hand on her side tensed and tightened as her breasts crushed against his chest and other areas were almost perfectly aligned as well.

He pulled away from her as if burnt, realizing how close they had suddenly gotten. He ran his hand back through his hair and looked everywhere but at her. “I—” he said. “I just remembered I need to milk the cows.”

Lois caught his foot as he tried to swim away, and he gurgled underwater for a moment before surfacing next to her.

“Don’t get fresh with me again, Smallville.” She gave him an amused look then punched his arm – hard.

He didn’t even bother looking hurt as she swam away.

End.

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:27:40 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (1/?)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count: 1,616

One

Concentrating in class was becoming increasingly difficult, Jason realized, as he stared at the chemistry exam in front of him and realized all he could focus on were his classmates’ self-murmurings or the teachers down the hall and across the hall lecturing on subjects that weren’t chemistry. If he could zero in on a chemistry teacher, though, he wouldn’t be having the problem of not knowing the exam answers. But Jason knew even if he could find another chemistry class, he wouldn’t cheat like that. He couldn’t; it wasn’t in his nature to use his super-hearing that way.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, right, Jason, relax,” he whispered to himself, but he could feel the pen in his hand bending under the pressure of his stress. He closed his eyes and willed himself to relax.

Finally, he inched the tip of his pen to the space under the first question and began working. As long as he read each question under his breath and kept his hearing focused on the classical music flowing in from the teachers’ lounge, he could work well enough on his exam.

The superhuman powers Jason had pretended he would never develop had been strengthening since the start of high school. It seemed that with the onset of his human maturity (pimple break-outs, a deeper voice, hormones) and freshman year starting, also came an additional set of problems – his Kryptonian powers.

Jason didn’t want to tell his mom about it; he wasn’t supposed to even suspect that his dad wasn’t his dad. But he couldn’t just let what was happening to him keep happening to him. What would happen if next time instead of a hole in the wall the whole thing came down? How would he explain that?

After his test he hurried out of the classroom, head down. He ducked to the left and immediately out the nearest door. Chemistry was last period, thankfully, and Jason could run into the sunshine almost immediately.

The sun always made him feel better, no matter what was wrong. A moment’s sunlight shining across his face could change his mood from sour to immediate relief. There were days Jason ached for the sun, ached to feel its warm rays and take comfort in its heat. He couldn’t explain it like he could explain his super powers as genetic from his real father, though he suspected somewhere inside him that the two were related.

He stepped outside and lifted his face into the sun, and he smiled. He could hear his schoolmates’ conversations louder and clearer outside, and he could hear the man on the cell phone in his car as he sped past and the NPR program on his car radio. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

His mother constantly reminded him that Superman was “always around” – all Jason had to do was say his name. She never elaborated or mentioned why Jason might be special enough to warrant a private audience from the man of steel, and Jason never asked. He also never called for Superman, not even when he was still young and idolizing him and all he wanted was for Superman to fly him high in the sky like he had when he’d saved him and Mom and Dad from Lex Luthor.

Even though Jason never asked Superman to drop by, that didn’t mean his mom never did. In fact, Lois and Superman made it a point that Superman see Jason whenever he could, under the guise of a strange friendship like Lois and Superman had once shared. Jason knew never to question the visits, and no one ever told him Superman was his father.

Once, when Jason was in grade school, he almost asked his mom about Superman; it was right after Superman saved a boy about Jason’s age from drowning in the ocean. Then, a few years later while he was mad at being grounded, Jason almost yelled at his dad, yelled that he didn’t have to listen to him because he wasn’t his real father, but something held him back and he didn’t. So, like he had when he was five years old, after he stood in a barren hospital room and heard his mother tell Superman he had a son, Jason continued pretending Richard White was his father and he didn’t suspect otherwise.

Jason stopped at the curb and looked at the Metropolis skyline in the distance. Softly, just under his breath, he spoke. “Superman. It’s Jason. I feel dumb asking like this, but can we talk? I’ll be home in ten minutes and Mom’s still at work.” He narrowed his eyes at the tops of the tallest buildings, half expecting to see a flash of red and blue streaking through the sky, but he saw nothing. Unsure whether he was upset about that or not, he turned down the street and walked home.

--

Jason wasn’t surprised to find Superman waiting for him when he got home. The man hovered just above the back porch, his cape billowing behind him. “Jason,” he said, uncrossing his arms, sounding concerned. “Is everything alright?”

Jason nodded quickly. “Yes – no – I just – I had some questions for you.”

“You are just like your mother,” Superman murmured, and anyone besides Superman and Jason wouldn’t have heard it.

“So can I ask a few questions?”

Superman nodded.

Jason took a deep breath. “And you’ll tell the truth no matter what I ask?”

He nodded again.

“Right, you never lie,” Jason said, but he couldn’t keep just a hint of bitterness out of his voice. He shook his head. “Never mind, look –” but he stopped suddenly, noticing a siren and a scream coming from somewhere on the other side of the river.

Superman had turned slightly, just enough to show Jason he had heard something.

“Go,” Jason sighed, “she sounds like she’s in real trouble.” It didn’t register with him that he’d said it how he said it. He held up a hand and looked off in the direction of the distress call.

Superman hesitated for only a moment. “I’ll be back,” he said in the split second before he flew away.

Jason released his tight breath and tried to follow the streak of blue and red across the sky. His shoulders relaxed as he leaned against the porch railing and hung his head. An interruption made this harder, but Jason couldn’t let Superman not be, well, Superman. It would probably be even more difficult now that Jason slipped up about his super hearing too.

He dropped his face into his hands and trained his hearing toward to the place Superman just flew to. He couldn’t hear the screaming anymore, or the sirens, or anything but a gently whoosh of wind.

Jason turned.

Superman stood just a few feet away.

“Is she okay?” Jason asked, moving until his back rubbed against the railing and he gripped it at his sides. “What happened?”

“You heard it too,” Superman said, and it was a statement not a question.

Jason nodded anyway.

“How long?” The other man’s voice was barely a whisper.

Jason’s gaze faltered. He glanced off towards Metropolis. “A couple months,” he lied. Then he regretted it, regretted lying when his father didn’t – well, rarely at least – lied. “About ten years.”

It seemed to take a moment for Superman to do the math, and then he nodded too firmly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Jason countered, surprising himself without any hint of anger or bitterness. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Superman was always calm, collected, stoic when necessary, full of emotion only when with Lois, Jason had noticed, but at that moment, something broke across his face, and he turned away. “How did you figure it out?”

“Besides the obvious super strength, super hearing, and x-ray vision?”

Superman’s head jerked up. “You already have x-ray vision?”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, for a while now. What’s wrong with that?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, just that I didn’t start that until I was almost sixteen.” His eyes looked even bluer than usual against the backdrop of the crisp, cloudless sky.

Jason drew himself up to his full height, which was still a head shorter than Superman. “I’m fifteen,” he said.

Superman shook his head just barely. “I’m sorry, Jason. I lost count. I –” He rubbed his chin. “Let me rephrase. When did you figure it out?”

Jason looked past Superman – his father – and in through the sliding glass door. On the mantel stood a line of family photos, plus his mom’s Pulitzer for that article, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” A muscle next to his mouth twitched. “I heard her tell you, that day in the hospital.”

“You’ve known all this time?”

“I thought maybe I’d imagined it,” Jason admitted, “because you’d just saved us and any connection to you would be pretty cool. But then I started hearing things, and I couldn’t forget what happened with the piano then too. And a lot of other things since. But I didn’t want to ask Mom because she didn’t want to tell me.”

“We should have told you, Jason. I’m sorry.”

He stayed silent again and nodded vaguely. “Yeah, you should have. But you didn’t and I know anyway.”

Superman didn’t say anything.

“So, I wanted to talk to you ‘cause I want you to be my father now. I don’t want to do something stupid or have something happen that I can’t control. You’re the only one who knows what it’s like.” He looked at Superman, hopeful.

For a moment, nothing, and then Superman smiled.

Fic: Like Father, Like Son

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:18:50 GMT

Like Father, Like Son (Prologue)

Summary: Jason White has a very big secret. He's been keeping it since he was five. Now, Jason's fifteen. This is his story.
Rating: PG
Category: Superman Returns
Disclaimer: Superman and co. belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bryan Singer, the screenwriters, etc. etc. Read: Not me.
Word Count: 479 (subsequent chapters will be longer)

Prologue

Jason White always pretended that he never heard what his mother whispered to Superman in the hospital when no one thought he was going to survive. He pretended that, at five years old, idolizing the superhero that saved him and his mom and dad, he had imagined that his mother had bent down next to Superman, lowered her voice, and told him that he, Jason, was Superman’s son.

He stood on the other side of the room, his fingers tracing the large S emblazed on Superman’s suit. It felt rubbery, like the kickball in gym class. The cape was smooth though, almost like his mother’s silk shirts, but thicker. He heard his mother talking, heard every word. He looked at her once; she was bent over the bed, hand on Superman’s chest, hair over her shoulders. She didn’t seem to know he was looking at her.

And she didn’t know he heard her tell Superman he was Jason’s father either, but then again Jason didn’t really believe he’d ever heard it. That’s what he kept telling himself, even later that night when he thought he heard Superman call him his son in his bedroom while he was sleeping.

It was a dream – wishful thinking that he only remembered once he felt the breeze and ran to the window to find Superman hovering over the river. “Good night!” he had called out, confused at the blurry line between his dream and reality.

The next morning he had practically forgotten all about it. He was, after all, five years old and more concerned with science and mixing fruits and milk in the blender with his dad. He also liked sitting on the dock beside Dad’s plane and letting his toes drag in the water. He liked crashing around the Daily Planet’s office with a wastebasket on his head like a monster, growling and knocking over staplers. He even liked drawing pictures on Mr. Clark’s desk when Mom and Dad were out on an assignment.

Every so often, when Superman was on the news, rescuing more people like he had Jason and his parents, Jason would hear a strong voice in his mind: You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father. And the father, the son.

But it didn’t mean anything to Jason, not when there were more important things like sharpening his blue crayon so he could draw Superman or sneaking a bite of his mom’s egg roll even though he knew it would make him sick later.

So he pretended he hadn’t heard the whisper or heard Superman in his dreams and instead lived his life as normal Jason White, son of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Lois Lane and Daily Planet assistant editor Richard White. That was enough for Jason.