Author's note: the ideas, and some of the wording, in this section are ripped bodily, bleeding chunks of plagiarism and all, from Perkulator's marvelous fanfic, "The Obituary" . Thanks to Perkulator for permission to use the obituary-reveal idea. Also, my thanks to mak5258 for the fanfic "POV" , whose mood and events were a major influence on this section. Both of these stories can be found on fanfiction dot net and are highly recommended.

The events in this section are based on the movies, "Superman II", "Superman II – The Donner Cut", and "Superman Returns".

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Step Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Perry looked over the deserted bullpen, the innumerable lights of Metropolis illuminating the night sky outside. He sighed and turned his attention back to the two mock-ups. In "Second-Coming" type, the headline proclaimed: Superman Is Dead. Perry shivered, hoping that the Daily Planet would have reason to run the second: Superman Lives.

Shaking his head, lost in thought, Perry thought what a tragedy it would be if Superman did die. Since his astonishing debut years before, the alien – no, the man, thought Perry, had made uncountable rescues, saved lives too numerous to mention, and been an inspiration to everyone. His absence for five years had only driven home how lucky Earth was to have such an adopted son. Without Superman, humans had fallen back into their old habits of misanthropy, selfishness, and despair. Having an inhabitant from galaxies away making the daily news tended to put mere international differences into perspective.

When Superman returned, it was if a frisson of excitement, a shock, had gone around the globe, electrifying everyone. Even Perry wasn't immune to the excitement, the sheer wonder of seeing the flying figure. It was like old times once again. Look, even Clark Kent had gotten tired of his world travels and come back to where he belonged at the Planet, thought Perry.

That was comforting. Perry had assigned Clark to the obituary files, a waste of Clark's superb reporting talents, but the only opening at the Planet right now. It didn't matter; soon enough a spot would open and Clark's byline would be back on the front page again.

Perry frowned – would Clark be partnering with Lois? The Lane and Kent byline had produced some of the Planet's best stories. But, as Perry had observed, Lois had hardly looked at Kent since he returned. Whether it was her relationship with Richard White, Perry's nephew, or having a child now, or just being Lois Lane and having ten stories on the back burner all at once, plus two major investigations and a stable of informants to keep happy – whatever, she had been extremely distant with Clark.

It was odd, though, how much Lois' son Jason liked the tall reporter. And Perry thought he knew why. The other day, Clark and Jason had been silhouetted against one of the tall Planet windows. Perry had happened to look up just at the right moment and saw the two figures. And the shapes, the silhouettes, the movement of the man and the boy, uncomplicated by speech or facial features, had told Perry right then that Jason was Clark's son.

He'd sat back at his desk, breathing heavily for a moment. It was a revelation that suddenly made sense, the puzzle pieces fitting together. Why had Jason been born "prematurely"? Why did he bear no resemblance to Richard? And – of course! – Perry could see it now – the blue eyes of Clark Kent, strangely diluted in color by his unattractive glasses, blazed out of Jason White's face.

Even the timing fit – Clark and Lois had gone off on that Niagara honeymoon investigation. At the time, Perry had thought that romance might be in the offing – Clark was clearly smitten with Lois, and Lois had been softening to where she was polite to Clark almost all the time. And that didn't count the occasional stolen glances that Perry saw Lois give Clark when she thought the latter wasn't paying attention. What could be more logical, more likely than that they'd fallen hard for each other, conceived Jason then? Perry had looked back in his old files – yes, Jason's birth followed that Niagara trip by an appropriate period of time.

So, that afternoon, Perry had spent quite a bit of time watching his nephew's putative child, deciding hours later that his lightning impression was correct – Clark Kent had fathered Jason White.

And that raised a whole flock of questions. Why hadn't Clark stayed and provided for his son? Perry knew Clark, knew him from years working together, and even more closely through the Friendly Friday meetings and the numerous meetings for coffee afterwards. From occasional oblique comments, Perry thought that Clark had actually wanted children. So, if Clark had gotten Lois pregnant, Perry couldn't imagine him going away. Clark was a stand-up guy who wouldn't abandon his child.

And yet he had. Just a few weeks after the rogue Kryptonian invasion, Clark had gone on his five-year world travel tour. And Lois had made no further mention of Clark.

The only thing Perry could figure was that Clark didn't know that Lois was pregnant. In fact, from what Perry remembered, Lois herself didn't know she was pregnant for about three or four months. Lois had always had an easily-upset stomach, and had attributed her morning sickness to too much coffee on an empty stomach. And Perry had newsroom sources in the "girl gossip" department. He'd heard that Lois had mentioned once that she'd always had irregular periods. (That is definitely TMI about one of your employees, Perry had thought at the time.) But later on he'd realized it made sense that Lois didn't suspect she was pregnant until all the signs coalesced into an unmistakable diagnosis.

So Lois was knocked up, and Clark was missing. The funny thing was that Lois never mentioned Clark during those months of her pregnancy. Of course, she'd taken up with Richard then (Perry wondered how much of that was rebound) and everyone assumed that Richard had fathered Jason.

Perry had thought so, too, until five years later, a stance, a posture, and similar blue eyes made the Clark and Jason relationship apparent. He wondered that no one else in the newsroom noticed it. Even Lois made no mention of it. She hardly ever looked at Clark, talked to him only distantly and professionally. Perry wondered if she had considered Clark being the father and wasn't talking to him because of his abandonment, or if Lois, too, genuinely thought Jason was Richard's son.

The boy seemed to know, though; Jason headed to Clark every time he was in the newsroom – and that was frequently, given that Lois and Richard lived for, by and with the Daily Planet. And Clark always seemed open and friendly to the boy, always happy to see him. Perry had seen the tall reporter more than once bend over to talk to Jason in a quiet voice.

Perry wondered if Clark himself knew that he was Jason's father. Perry didn't think so. Perry couldn't imagine Clark not wanting to be a part of his son's life. And Perry had heard nothing from Lois and Richard about Clark questioning Jason's paternity.

DNA testing? Perry thought. Would he mention it to Clark? Or to Lois? No chance. That would open a can of worms. Think of the lives it would change, Perry mused. Perry was a firm believer than when you opened a can of worms, the only way to re-can them was to use a larger can. And Lois, and Richard, and Jason, were happy now. Why uproot their lives? And Richard was Perry's nephew. Family loyalty had to count for something, didn't it? Perry swatted down the gnawing little reminder that Clark was almost like a son to him. And Lois is like a daughter, he told himself savagely. It's two to one. I'm not going to mess up Lois and Richard for Clark.

Of course, it didn't matter right now; Kent was out sick, having tripped on some debris from the earthquake. So Perry had a few more days to ignore that niggling little voice of conscience deep down inside.

He sighed and forced his attention back to the mockups. Superman Is Dead versus Superman Lives. Which was it to be? No matter, the Planet would be ready. Perry went back to his monitor, pulled up the obituary file.

Like most news organizations, the Daily Planet had files on the famous and not-quite-dead-yet. Aware that the Grim Reaper eventually visited everyone, the newspaper kept pre-written obituaries, articles on the person's life and accomplishments, able to be pulled out at a moment's notice. Perry pulled out Superman's file, expecting to find it in need of updating.

Except it wasn't. Good for Kent, thought Perry. He must have been a Boy Scout, because he was always prepared. It was all there – Superman's astounding debut, synopses of Lois' articles through the years that had told Earth so much about its adopted son, a quick overview of Superman's greatest feats and rescues, his five-year trip to Krypton, Superman's foes through his career, and how Superman had foiled Lex Luthor's most recent nefarious plot. The plot that had done so much damage to Metropolis, thought Perry, looking at the tarp covering the hole in his office wall where Superman had shot through to catch the Daily Planet globe before it fell to the ground. Not incidentally, saving Perry White's life in doing so.

Kent ended the article by saying poetically that Superman had no known survivors, but had always considered the entire Earth a replacement for his own lost home and family. Perry nodded his head slowly, mentally thanking the Man of Steel. He re-read the obituary, preparing to place it into the front page mockup. Then a tiny alarm bell rang in his head. What was it? Perry trusted his journalistic instincts.

He re-read each sentence of the obit, checking automatically for errors in spelling and grammar. None, of course; he didn't expect any with Kent. Debut – check. Born on Krypton, check. Could fly, has heat vision, super-breath, etc., etc., – check. Saving the Golden Gate Bridge – check. Stopping the criminal careers of blah blah blah – check. Five-year trip to Krypton, just got back – check. No known survivors – check.

No, go back. Wait a moment. Five-year trip to Krypton? How had Clark known that? Perry sat down slowly as he considered it. Obviously, the only person who had known at the start was Superman. But Superman had told Lois. And Lois had told Perry, when she handed him the hard copy of her story, "Superman Returns". And Perry hadn't told anyone. He had been holding Lois' interview for the Sunday edition. And Lois had told Perry that she hadn't told anyone else.

So – as Perry checked the time stamp on Clark Kent's edit code – how had Kent known about Superman's trip to Krypton the day before Lois turned in her interview? Unless he'd spoken to Superman first. But why, then, wouldn't he have mentioned that? Lois had been at an interview with Perry and Clark, and both had heard her passionately complain about being forced to do the Superman story when she wanted to investigate the blackout. If Kent had spoken with Superman first and gotten the scoop about the trip to Krypton, why hadn't he mentioned it then? Perry thought for sure that Kent would have mentioned an interview with Superman, to save Lois from having a job that she passionately complained about. Did Kent have some sort of nondisclosure agreement with Superman? He'd never mentioned any such thing, and certainly Kent had gotten his share of Superman stories in the past.

Perry paced the length of his office, considering this. It just didn't feel right. He'd learned to trust his instincts. He looked at the muted TV monitor; tuned to an all-news channel, it was replaying a montage of previous Superman feats. The camera focused on the caped superhero as he blew, then turned to focus on the burning building. The fire died, and the camera turned back to focus on Superman once more before he gave an awkward wave and flew away.

Something about the way Superman turned niggled Perry's memory. A sensation of déjà vu…He reached for his remote control and replayed the moment. He slowed down, paused at the spot where Superman turned away, just before the hero leapt into the air. Perry could see the mussed ends of Superman's black hair, the outline of his cheek, his profile.

Perry began musing. Superman was tall…Clark Kent was tall as well, although apparently shorter than Superman. And Clark had that perpetual hunched-over stoop. Superman had been on a five-year trip to Krypton. Clark Kent had taken a five-year travel trip around the world. Superman was in a coma; Clark Kent had fallen and was out sick. Both men had black hair. Clark wore those dorky glasses, of course….

Suddenly it hit Perry and he sat down heavily. He looked at Superman, paused in profile on his TV. His heart began racing and he found himself gasping for air. His legs became shaky and he collapsed into his desk chair. He laid his head down on his desk, made himself breathe deeply. His hands trembled.

He knew that face. He knew that profile. He saw it almost every day in his office, disguised under a pair of thick black-framed glasses. Why hadn't he noticed it before? It was obvious now. Superman was Clark Kent. They were the same person. Perry wished he was still drinking so he could have a stiff belt right now. Then he took back the wish – even in shock, losing his sobriety was nothing to joke about.

Perry sat at his desk as the trembling gradually faded. He watched the continuous Superman coverage, and gave a short laugh. He'd had Superman – Superman! – working for him at the Daily Planet. Yep, Perry White was Superman's boss. And he hadn't known it. He'd bossed around the most powerful man in the world, giving him orders, sending him on assignments, critiquing his writing. Although not so much of that last. Kent – no, Superman – was a remarkably good writer.

Then Perry's mind began working again, slowly. Random thoughts chased themselves through his brain, Perry unable to hold one still for any length of time.

I guess that's why he knew about the trip to Krypton before Lois did – he shouldn't have put it in the obituary. But he didn't plan on the obit being needed, did he? If we didn't need it now, his time stamp wouldn't matter – but that's what doesn't add up... Has he been X-raying me all this time? That explains how he got so many scoops, doesn't it?...What about the hearing thing? Has he heard every bad thing I've said about him? Not that there's much bad to say about Clark Kent – he's kind of…gray. Just gray….. Why does he work here? He could do anything. Literally…So that was him who saved my life two days ago, catching the Planet globe before it smashed me like a bug….And he goes to AA meetings. Superman goes to Friendly Friday Metropolis AA meetings. Ohmigod, I've been offering sobriety advice to Superman! Why didn't you see this before, Perry? You call yourself a reporter?

He forced himself up, walked over to get a glass of water. As he drank, his trembling hands spilled water down the front of his shirt. "That was the start of my drinking problem," Perry muttered, unable to stop quoting the line from the movie "Airplane!" to himself. As always, the line brought a smile to Perry's face.

He took a deep breath and sat back down. OK. Take it one step at a time. Perry chuckled again, almost hysterically; he knew all about steps.

One: Superman was Clark Kent. Or, Perry thought, narrowing his eyes, was it more appropriate to say that Clark Kent was Superman? After all, Perry knew that Clark had a history going back to childhood in Kansas. Clark had a birth certificate, a hometown, and parents. Perry had seen pictures of Clark's mother and father. Clark had mentioned that his father had passed away some years ago, and his mother lived quietly on their Kansas farm. Perry pulled his mind away from speculation on Clark's parents. Were they, had they been, super-powered too?

But back to the first step. Superman hadn't come to Earth's astounded attention until about ten years ago. Clark was thirty, thirty-five? So, Perry thought, his lips twisting in a sardonic smile, maybe Superman was the costume? Everybody thought that Superman had come to Earth as an adult – certainly that was the impression that the hero gave in all his interviews. But if he'd come here as a baby – that would explain a lot of things, thought Perry. Like his fluency in English, his Midwestern accent, his familiarity with Earth customs and culture. Why had Perry never thought about this before? Once again he asked himself.

And if he came as a baby, the Kents must have raised him to adulthood. They must have known. Perry felt a reluctant admiration for the couple who had raised Clark. Keeping a secret this big…

Oh. Oh. Oh. Forget the steps. Hadn't Perry just been thinking about this? Clark Kent had a son. Superman had a son. Jason White was Clark's son. He was Superman's son.

How could this be possible? How could an alien interbreed? Perry, this sounds like a plot to some fifties B-movie, he chided himself. But he found his heart rate rising again. He'd already convinced himself that Clark was Jason's father. Just because Perry now knew that Clark equaled Superman didn't change that.

And that, Perry realized, changed what he had to do. Perry had to let Clark know that he was a father. Did Jason have superpowers? He'd certainly showed no signs of any when he hung around the newsroom. Did Lois know? Did Richard? Was the Kryptonian ancestry dominant in some fashion? What if the kid developed some sort of powers? Who could help him control them?

Only Superman, Perry realized. Jason White needed a father. And Clark Kent needed his son. Forget going step by step. Perry had to level with Clark right away.