Jason the Hero

Chapter 1: The New Girl

As soon as his father parked the car, Jason grabbed his backpack and was on his way to the school, relieved that he wouldn't have to endure anymore songs playing from his sister's Care Bears Movie. Just as he opened the door in front of the school, someone grabbed his free arm. Jason turned around to find Rebecca behind him giggling. "What?" he asked as they entered the building together.

"I didn't say anything," she answered even though she was trying not to laugh more.

"I know what you're thinking and just because of that, well, it doesn't mean I always know who's coming up behind me. Anyway we can't talk about it – he's just outside," Jason said lowering his voice, hoping that his father wasn't using his hearing at the moment.

Rebecca nodded and cleared her throat. "You just missed the big entrance. Evidently the Mayor's daughter is going to be in our class this year. They brought her in a stretch limo. I kind of feel sorry for her though; did you know she was actually wearing knee highs with a short skirt?"

It wasn't like his best friend to gossip and Jason rolled his eyes as they got to their lockers. "Yeah, and when did looks matter? I thought you said you didn't like gossip?"

"Well, I don't, but she's just in for a rough time if she doesn't find someone to tell her that the style is out. So Michaela's coming here for kindergarten?"

"Yep, if mom and dad can get away from her. She was excited about it until she realized that they would not be staying like they did for her interview." They finished at their lockers and walked the short distance to their home room class. Their school housed levels K through 12, and was the same Montessori Jason had attended since he was in Kindergarten. The upper-level classes were a bit more structured, but still fun and as they entered the room, Rebecca sought out Claire and Gretchen while Jason found Mike and Ben. Just as he sat down, ready to talk with his friends, Mr. Turner came in shutting the door which got their attention. He was not as much fun as most of the other teachers and demanded order, something that drove Jason crazy at times.

"Did you see the new girl?" Mike whispered as Mr. Turner sat down at his desk.

"Not yet. Is that her?" His friends looked up in front of the class and nodded but before more could be said roll call began and everyone was quiet.

Homeroom lasted a half hour in which time Mr. Turner made sure everyone knew the rules of his class, the most important being that no one could talk without raising their hand. If any of the rules were violated punishment involved a ten page paper written on why it was important to follow them. As class let out, Jason noticed some of the girls making fun of the Mayor's daughter and frowned.

"Leave it, she'll get the hint soon enough," Mike said elbowing him in the side as they walked down the hall. Their first real class of the day was science and Jason found himself paired up with Rebecca and the new girl. As they sat down on the stools in front of their work stations, Jason took a breath and introduced himself to her.

"My name is Sarah," she finally said keeping her eyes focused on the table in front of them. She sounded sad, almost lost and Jason felt sorry for her. "So um, do you live in the city?"

"No, we live just outside the city on a ranch. Daddy has a lot of property. He has horses, race horses."

She still wasn't looking at them as she talked and Jason could tell by the tone in her voice and the way she slouched further forward that talk of her personal life was uncomfortable.

As if on cue, Rebecca began to tell her about the school, about how long she had been here, and about her favorite classes. That seemed to make Sarah more comfortable because she looked at them as she began to talk again.

"Mr. Kent, maybe you can tell us a little about symbiosis." Miss Christian said as she came to stand next to their station. They had been assigned summer reading and Jason shut his eyes trying to remember what that that was all about, wishing he had his father's eidetic memory. "Uh, it has something to do with plants," he offered as she cleared her throat.

Everyone else around him began to laugh, but Miss. Christian was not impressed. "Maybe it will come back to you if you write a report on that, which I expect on my desk in the morning." Miss Christian was new and already Jason didn't like her.

When she was far enough away Sarah poked him and passed him a note. On it she had written that she was sorry. "Don't be, she's got a bug up her ass," he said, making both girls have to hold their mouths so that they wouldn't start giggling.

---

At lunch, Jason sat with Mike, Ben and a few of their other friends, and everyone seemed interested in what he had told Sarah and Rebecca about the new science teacher. "Wait, did Rebecca tell you?" he asked hoping she hadn't.

"Jack heard what you said, you really did say it?" Paul asked.

"Yep, she's got a bug up her ass," he repeated as everyone around him began to laugh. It was rather funny to think about, and Jason started to laugh with them before he heard someone clear their throat. He lifted his head and found the Headmistress standing there with her arms crossed in front of her. "Oh, hi," he said as he began to sweat.

"Jason, I need you to come with me."

Ignoring the guys as they began to whistle and make fun of him, Jason got his pack and after hefting it over his left shoulder he followed her out of the lunch room. All he needed was to have another paper assigned to him or worse his mom and dad called in because he was saying swear words.

"We are having a hard time with your sister. She has been upset since your parents left her in her class, and has hidden under one of the smaller shelves. I was hoping you might be able to get her to come out so that her teacher can talk to her."

Instantly, Jason was relieved that he wasn't going to get called on what he had said in the lunch room, though now he felt a little annoyed at being pulled away. Michaela was shy, and had never dealt well with new situations, and Jason hoped that she would listen to him and not get all weepy.

Her class was one he remembered well and without being told which shelves she was hiding under, Jason made his way to the far end of the class and knelt down. "Michaela," he called out.

"Want Mommy," she whispered, so softly that without his super hearing it would have been hard to understand her.

"I know you do," Jason answered as he sat down on the floor. "Did you know that this was my classroom?"

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't have the same teacher you have now, but I really liked it. I loved drawing pictures for mom and dad," Jason said thinking about Richard. Michaela didn't know about him and he wondered if they would ever tell her about that time in his life.

"I don't like Gina. She took my doll away and I told her it wasn't very nice but she said I was stupid. I told the teacher and she said I'm a tattle tale. I want to go see Mommy."

Jason sighed and shut his eyes. "If she takes it again then you take it back. She'll figure it out pretty fast that you're not going to let her be mean to you and she'll stop."

"I want Mommy," she whispered as she began to cry again.

Jason stood up, feeling bad for the little squirt. He looked around and saw a little girl with red hair push down another girl, and wondered if that was Gina. The teacher went to her and led her over to a chair he remembered well, The Time Out Chair. "Hey, I think they put her in time out. Michaela, you need to come out now, okay?"

Her teacher came back to them and together they managed to coax her out for story time, so long as Jason sat with her. He looked at his wrist watch and saw that he was missing History, something he didn't really mind as he sat down on the floor hugging his sister as she sat on his lap. The fact that the Ms. Grace was reading The Little Engine that Could seemed to comfort Michaela. It was a story she loved to hear and when it ended she ran eagerly to a small round table gabbing away with another little girl. Jason took his leave of her, hoping that she would make it through the rest of the day.

---

By the time two o'clock rolled around, Jason had a mountain of homework to go along with the stupid paper on symbiosis. He went down to the first floor and found Michaela standing in line with all of the other kindergarteners. She was talking to the same girl he had left her with and didn't notice him as he walked up to her. "Are you ready to go see Mommy and Daddy?"

"No, I am going home with Cora."

"Not until you ask permission," he said as he took her hand. She didn't try and pull away from him but drug her feet as they went out to the buses. Having to watch after Michaela was not Jason's idea of fun and when he got on behind her he saw Preston Jones and tried to ignore the older boy's expression.

"Hey look, Kent has to hang around the little babies."

The boys around him began to cackle and Michaela turned and ran behind him. "Shut up," Jason muttered as he walked past them.

"What did you say to me?" Preston asked as he stood up. He was a whole foot taller and grabbed Jason by his upper arm.

"You heard me," Jason said as he reached out with his free hand and held on to his sister. He knew he shouldn't start anything especially with Michaela with him, but Preston was a jerk and knew exactly how to stir things up.

"I think you need a lesson in respecting your superiors," Preston said.

"Alright, you two, sit your butts down before I send both of you to the Headmistress," yelled the bus driver.

Preston backed off and Jason guided his frightened sister to the back of the bus. He sat down next to Sarah and lifted Michaela onto his lap hugging her close.

"He wanted to hurt you," Michaela whispered.

"Nah, he's just like that girl in your class. He wouldn't have done anything," Jason reassured as Sarah offered them a cookie.

The cookie made his sister happy, something Jason was grateful for and on the way Michaela told Sarah about her new dolly. "My Nanna got her when she was in China, and I named her China. She wears real baby clothes and a real diaper. I want to bring her in for show and tell."

Sarah smiled at her, and Jason leaned his head back, shutting his eyes as he focused his hearing on what Preston and the other boys were saying. Sometimes it bugged him that he didn't have any more abilities than just his hearing and his speed. He was also pretty strong and it took a great deal more to hurt him than most of the boys his age. Lucius Fox once told him that his body would likely stay dormant longer than his father's had. He said that the virus was the cause, and even though he had been healed there was no telling what the long-term effects would be.

When the bus finally stopped, Michaela wanted to stay with Sarah, and Preston and his friends were making fun of him again. "Come on, Kayla, we will see Sarah tomorrow."

Reluctantly, his sister took his hand and Jason kept her on the safe side away from Preston as they passed him up. "Tomorrow, behind the school," Jason said

"I'll look forward to it, Kent."

---

As soon as they entered the bullpen and Michaela saw their father she let go of his hand and ran as fast as she could straight into his arms. Jason picked up her small backpack which she had dropped and carried it past the workstations and into one of the small meeting rooms. He wasn't much in the mood to talk and had his mind on tomorrow. Fighting Preston would land him in a heap of trouble but something had to give.

"Jason, how was your day?" asked Clark as he entered the room.

"Fine, I guess. I need to use your computer. I have to look up some stuff on symbiosis for a paper due in the morning."

"I don't have any more to write today, so that will work out. Is something wrong?"

That was something that bugged him at times, his father's ability to know when something wasn't quite right. Jason sighed. "We have a couple of new teachers this year. They are a lot stricter about things, more structured I guess. We don't have as many small groups as we did when I was in primary school; I guess it's just harder to get used to.

When his dad sat down next to him Jason sighed. "Dad, why do you and Mom always say that fighting never solves anything? I mean, look at Superman and Batman, they are both strong and smart, a lot more than criminals, so why don't they just lay down the law?"

"Why don't you and I take a walk?"

For a split second, Jason thought about staying where he was, but then he stood up and followed his father out through the bullpen, and into the lobby. They rode the elevator to the rooftop and when they arrived and without a word, he walked over to the edge of the building. Looking down on the city from this height made everything look like some of his old toys.

"Jason?"

"Why can't you and Uncle Bruce just make them afraid?" He asked as he turned slowly around, avoiding looking at his dad. It made him mad at times that they didn't lay down the law. Uncle Bruce was more forceful in his methods, and Jason didn't get why his father couldn't do the same.

Clark knelt down in front of him and Jason looked up at him. "Jason, you know why I don't use force. Showing them by example has always been the way I help other people. Yes, there are times when I want to do more, but that was not the way your Grandfather or your Granny raised me."

"But before you knew did you ever fight anyone?"

"No, I once showed off. There was a boy named Brad who was on the football team and he…" His dad paused for a moment and stood up. "Jason, I have to go. Tell your mom I shouldn't be too long, and we will talk about this some more when I come back."

Jason watched as his father launched into the air and in a few seconds there was no sign of him. He walked slowly back into the building and thought about what he would do tomorrow. The other thing he hadn't considered was that he likely wouldn't get very far by having the fight at school. It would be broken up before it started, but if it were to take place after school somewhere in Centennial Park, there wouldn't be one thing school could do to him.

---

"Jason, where did you go, and where is Daddy?"

"Michaela," Jason muttered suddenly remembering that she would be with him. "He had to do some stuff." Jason walked past her back into the meeting room. After getting his science book he went over to their father's desk finding his sister playing on the computer. "Hey, squirt, I need to do my homework."

"But Mommy said I could use this one," she whined

Not willing to argue with her, Jason walked over to his mother's desk waiting for her to stop typing. "Mom, I need to use Dad's computer to look some stuff up on a report, but Michaela is on it."

"I'm just about done with mine," Lois said as she stood up. Jason followed her back and in a moment he had a relatively quite place to work.

---

It was almost seven thirty when they got home that night, and while his dad got his sleeping sister out of the car, Jason headed into the house where he was greeted by Lucky. He dropped his bag and let her jump up on him, laughing as she licked his face. "I missed you, too."

"Jason, go on and take her out," his mom said as she passed them by.

Lucky had a doggy door, which led to a fenced-in area in back of the yard, but when they were home she got free run and she needed that before everyone went to bed. Jason walked back out the garage door laughing as Lucky ran out ahead of him jumping around and barking. It was still daylight, and Jason chased her around before playing her favorite game, fetch. He could throw the ball almost all the way into the woods, which gave Lucky plenty of exercise.

Once Lucky was tired out, almost a full hour later, Jason went to his room and got ready for bed. He had managed to finish everything they had assigned him and was quite sure his brain would explode with all of the stuff he had learned. His paper on symbiosis turned out to be seven pages, and his mom had even been impressed, which meant he should get a good grade unless Miss Christian had something against him, and that would be his luck.

Once he was ready for bed, and Lucky had snuggled in next to him, Jason thought about tomorrow. His dad hadn't had a chance to talk to him, and was already gone again, which didn't help. There was a small part of him that considered talking to Bruce about all of this but Jason put that out of his mind. His other problem was Michaela. If she saw him fight she would get really upset and that would add to his trouble. Somewhere among all of his thinking, Jason did manage to go to sleep, and dreamed about flying around the world with Rebecca and Sarah.

---

By lunch the next day, Jason had heard it from several people that Preston had his number, but really didn't care.

"Why didn't you show up, did you chicken out?" Mike asked as he began to cackle.

Frustrated by Mike's constant questions, Jason put his fork down and glared across the table at him. "Hmm, let's think about it. If I would have shown up how far do you think I would have gotten?" He asked as he stood up and gathered up his things. "Maybe I have other plans that will work out better, something that will let this fight get to an end. So why don't you and everyone else just get off my back for a while and let me take care of where I'll deal with Preston?" Jason stormed away, feeling somewhat vindicated after that.

As he was getting into his locker Jason heard Rebecca's approach and shut his eyes.

"You aren't going to go through with it are you?" Rebecca asked as he emptied his books into the small space and got what he needed for his first three classes.

"I wasn't going to but now it's what they want," Jason answered as he shut and locked everything back up.

"And since when did you start listening to the stupid squad?"

Jason turned around to face her. "Rebecca, he's never going to lay off until I do something, and I'm not going to break anything, besides if he hits me hard enough and say he does break something is it really my fault?"

"You're despicable, Jason Kent." Rebecca stormed off toward their first class of the day but Sarah stayed by his side. "So um…" He wasn't really sure what to say to her.

"If you fight him, who's going to watch Michaela?"

"I haven't figured that one out yet," he answered truthfully.

"My father is out of town, I could come with you two, but I think Rebecca is right. That sort of thing isn't always the best way, I, well, I just don't think you should." She walked off toward the station they shared and Jason heaved a deep sigh, feeling confused.

---

Ben was the one who delivered his note to Preston, and Jason managed to get on the bus with Sarah and Michaela before they did. By the time Preston arrived, Sarah had Michaela distracted and Jason watched him as he cracked his knuckles before he sat down.

There would be a wait while Preston and his goons got off at the next bus stop, but not enough of one for Jason to get Michaela up to their parents and try and find an excuse to get back down to the other end of the park. He really hoped that his dad would be out of town, because the fight would be short-lived if he wasn't. Jason knew well that with his super hearing his father would know about the fight, and more so if Michaela saw any of it and started to panic.

As they got off the bus, Preston cracked his knuckles again and Jason laughed at him, feeling reckless as he did.

"Jason, why is Sarah getting off the bus with us?" Michaela asked as it pulled away.

"Well, we wanted to take you to the park," he said, smiling, as his sister did a little dance. She loved the park and Jason had a feeling this would all work out. They went over to the lake and while Michaela and Sarah played on the merry-go-round, Jason snuck away from them and went to his meeting place. Upon his arrival Jason found Mike, Ben, and a half dozen of their friends milling around the statue of Superman. Ignoring their questions, Jason looked up at the replica of his father trying to swallow the sudden fear he felt about going through with this.

All too soon Jason heard Preston laughing and shut his eyes listening for his sister first. She was still playing which was good.

"What's the matter, Kent, you having second thoughts?"

He opened his eyes to find Preston towering in front of him. Without hesitation Jason let out a yell and plowed into the taller boy knocking him off his feet and on his butt in just a small second. Jason went for the face landing one good punch before Preston pushed him off. Almost losing his balance, but not quite, Jason steadied himself and avoided a punch to his own face. The second one landed against his left side and Jason gasped in pain as another one took his breath away from him. Focusing hard on speed, Jason launched toward Preston again knocking him on his back side.

"Get him, Jason," Mike yelled. That encouragement was all he needed. Jason punched Preston right in the nose, causing him to bleed and groan at the same time. "Had enough yet?"

"You little shit," Preston spat.

Jason punched him against his right cheek harder than he had meant to, and more blood came pouring out of his mouth. That was when he heard her crying. He got up and turned around to find Michaela watching him with big tear-filled eyes while Sarah tried to comfort her. As he started toward them, something big and heavy knocked him off of his feet. Jason hit the ground as Michaela started to scream for Superman and all of the other kids took off.

Preston turned him over and got in a few good punches as Jason tried to cover his face. Suddenly the weight on the lower half of his body was gone, and as Jason coughed and wheezed he heard his mom's voice and his dad's, but his head was hurting to much to focus on them. Fighting had been a bad move on his part, really bad.

What he didn't realize was that he was still covering his face and that he was shaking as though someone had dropped him in ice-cold water. "Jason," said his mom from his left side. He felt her hands moving his away and shut his eyes so he didn't have to look at her.

"Oh, Jason," was all she said, and he felt like crying. His whole body hurt and he felt like he was going to lose his lunch if anyone moved him.

"Can you sit up?"

He rolled on his right side, the one side that didn't feel like he was being stabbed by knives and pushed up using his right arm to support himself. That was when his nose started to bleed.

The moment his mom tried pinching it closed while holding a handkerchief to it Jason cried out and nearly fell backward as his breathing became labored. "Where is… where is Michaela?"

"She's safe," Lois said as they heard an ambulance approaching. His mom sounded scared and Jason fought to gain some semblance of control before they came to take him away. "Mom, I'm fine," Jason tried even though his nose continued to bleed.

"You are most certainly not fine." The tone of her voice had changed and Jason knew he wouldn't get his way in this.

---

It wasn't enough that he had a broken rib and another one that was fractured, or that his nose had been broken. Along with that Jason was also grounded for at least the next three weeks, which meant no TV, no reading for fun, and staying in his room unless he needed to use the bathroom. Now as he lay in his bed still in a great amount of pain, he also felt guilty. His father had not said a word to him since they had come home from the hospital, and Jason tried to think about what they had said about Preston who had also gotten a broken nose and had lost a few teeth as well. That was little comfort as his thoughts turned to his sister who had still been upset when they arrived.

"Jason?"

He turned his head slowly toward the door and saw Michaela standing there dressed for bed in a pink princess nightgown. "Come here," he whispered and she obeyed walking slowly to his side.

"I'm very sad. You hurt that boy, and he hurt you. Why did you do that, Jason?"

It was painful, but Jason moved over and in a moment Michaela was resting beside him. "I did it so he would leave us alone. He's always been mean, and sometimes you have to show guys like that who's really in charge." Even though he spoke the words, Jason wasn't convinced of that theory anymore and Michaela seemed able to see through that.

"That's not true and you know. I didn't push Gina because she would just get meaner. You need to say you're sorry and then you can be friends with him."

Michaela's way of thinking was so simple and innocent, and Jason wished the world was like that but he knew better. "Yeah, maybe."

"Tell me a story, Jason."

"Once, a very long time ago there was a beautiful planet. It was really cold there and the buildings were not like the ones we have here on earth. They were much grander you see, made of crystals."

"Like the crystal earrings Mommy has?"

"Yep, just like those. You see, this planet was a great place to live, even though it was cold because they didn't fight like we do here. Everyone got along and worked to make life better. It was a really great place to be and the people thought that they would live like that for all time. But there were two people, a very smart man named Jor-El and his wife Lara who knew that there was something very wrong."

Michaela yawned and Jason winced as she snuggled closer to him. "Did they tell the other people?"

"Jor-El tried to, but they didn't want to believe him. They said that there was another reason for what was happening."

"What did Lara and Jor-El do then?" Michaela whispered sleepily

"They promised not to tell anyone else, and they promised to stay there. But you see, they had a baby," Jason said and stopped as his dad come into the room. Michaela was asleep and she didn't make a sound as she was lifted into his strong arms.

Once they were gone, Jason thought about that story, one his father had told him lots of times and wished that they could be like that, only not as stubborn as the Council had been when his Grandfather told them that they were in danger. Sometimes he wished he could meet Jor-El, and ask him about fighting, to see if there was a way around the basic rule of turning the other cheek.

His father soon returned and was quiet as he sat down on the bed. "What you did today was wrong," he began.

Jason wondered if he should tell him that Mom had already said the same thing, but decided better of it. It was evident by the way he spoke and sat that he was still angry and Jason didn't want anymore punishment.

"I didn't think Michaela would figure it out."

"I'm not talking about your sister, though I'm very ashamed of you for that," he said, making Jason's heart beat painfully in his chest.

"Why did you fight him?"

Jason took in a breath and let it out trying to think of a good reason. "I didn't want to. I was going to do it this morning but I didn't. At lunch Mike said that everyone was waiting for me, and I felt obligated to do it then. I just wanted him to see that I'm not someone he should mess around with."

"So you broke his nose and caused him to lose five of his teeth, and you thought you would teach him a lesson? Jason you are going to be strong, maybe as strong as I am…"

"You don't know that, Dad, you don't know anything like that. Fox even said there were no certainties, or did you forget?" Jason spat, letting his temper get the better of him.

"I think you need time to cool down," his father said as he stood up. Before he left, he leaned forward and gave Jason a kiss on his head. "I love you."

When he was gone Jason reached behind, pulling one of the pillows out from where he was propped up and threw it across the room even though it hurt to do that. He leaned back and bit back the urge to cry, wishing for once that his life would go his way.

---

AN: Thank you Htbthomas for the beta read, and thanks to the rest of you who read my stories. Please review, I got alot of hits but very few reviews, and I now allow anonomous reviews too so feel free.