Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu

Chapter 1: Mystery

Summary: Lois slowly remembers details about the time that was erased. When she remembers it all, how will she react?

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, but thank you for letting me explore the wonderful world that is Superman. If you sue me, you'll have to get in line behind all my other creditors...

A/N: Although this is a sequel to Superman Returns, it also owes heavily to the ending of the original theatrical release of Superman II (not the recent Donner Cut). One of the issues that I wish had been dealt with in SR is Lois' memory wipe. The novelization and prequel comic seem to make clear that Lois truly believes that Richard is Jason's father until nearly the end of the film. So how did she come to the conclusion that Superman was actually the father if her memory had been erased? Conversely, if her memory was not erased, as Bryan Singer has suggested in interviews, why does she not seem to know Clark's identity? It seems out-of-character to me that he would sleep with Lois without her knowing that vital fact.

This story explores Lois' point-of-view as she comes to terms with her memories, and deals with the consequences of Superman's decision to all persons involved. Enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Déjà Vu

Chapter 1: Mystery

Lois rubbed an affectionate hand over Jason's tousled locks one last time before standing to leave the room. They had been sitting together watching the stars for about an hour, hardly speaking.

"Mommy?" Jason had asked after a particularly long pause, "Do you think he'll visit us a lot?"

She smiled and bent down to kiss the top of his head. "I think so. He said we would see him around, and I know he meant it." Jason turned his head to look up into her face. She continued, "After all, Superman never lies…"

He nodded slightly, grinning. He trusted her implicitly - he was young enough not to think any other way. It warmed her, but scared her a little, that she held his little heart in her hands. Did he have any idea that Superman was his father? They seemed to have such a connection in the brief time that the Man of Steel and her son had interacted. She worried what this would do to him. So once again, she told herself she had made the right decision in keeping the truth from him until he was older.

Jason yawned, and blinked his eyes tiredly. "Maybe you'd better turn back in, sweetie," she suggested.

"What if he comes back?" he protested weakly.

She placed a comforting hand on his small one. "I'll wake you up if he does… I promise."

"Okay," he agreed, really too tired to argue. He crawled beneath the covers again, and was soon fast asleep.

Lois walked slowly down the stairs. She glanced at her computer in the den, the unfinished article, but found her thoughts too disorganized to continue. Maybe it was time to go to bed herself.

Richard stirred slightly as she got back into bed. He had always been a heavy sleeper, able to doze even when she was up late typing an article on her laptop right beside him. She gave his back a rub. He groaned in his sleep, turning toward her. The slight smile on his face pained her to the core.

There were so many secrets between them now… When Richard had asked her, point-blank, "Were you in love with him?" she had dissembled.

"He's Superman. Everyone was in love with him."

"But were you?" he had pressed, looking into her eyes for any hint of the truth.

"No," she had told him.

She had been afraid to admit it at the time. But from the moment she first laid eyes on Superman again on the rescued airplane, she knew that she still felt something. And then all of the emotions she thought she had long worked through came bubbling back to the surface. How dare he try to waltz back into her life again! She was happy… she had a great guy, a beautiful son… Her Pulitzer-winning article 'Why The World Doesn't Need Superman' could probably have been entitled 'Why Lois Lane Doesn't Need Superman' with very little alteration.

Leave it to him to prove her wrong with his first act of return. If not for him, she would be either frozen in space or reduced to bits. Later, on the roof of the Daily Planet, his presence had been so overwhelming that she had nearly kissed him.

It was just as well that she had missed the Pulitzer award ceremony. She would have felt like a fraud accepting the award for an editorial on a piece that was so clearly not true. Perry had tried to assure her that it didn't matter, "Lois, Pulitzer Prizes are like Academy Awards. Nobody remembers what you got one for. Just that you got one." But she secretly felt a bit relieved… Lex Luthor's scheme had been good for something at least.

And she couldn't forget what that ordeal had revealed as well. Her little boy, her brilliant, fragile, prematurely-born boy… truly was Superman's son.