Chapter 44: All the King’s Men

The press had assembled at the Jordan house again after the government’s announcement that the custody issues had been resolved. They’d seen the Jordan sisters return by car, but there’d been no press contact. There’d been no sign of Supergirl at all for a couple of hours.

Suddenly someone pointed: Supergirl was heading their way. However, she darted down to the private entrance she used without stopping to talk to the press.

One of the photographers shook her head — had Supergirl really been carrying two camping backpacks? She started to bring up the image she’d just taken on her camera’s screen.

She stopped when a ripple of excitement ran through the crowd of tourists behind them, and looked up again. She swung her camera up and started firing off pictures rapidly.

Superman was approaching, carrying a woman in his arms, just like in the movies. She had her hands laced behind his neck to hold on.

“Superman and Lois Lane,” someone murmured, awestruck.

They floated down to the front door, Superman smoothly transferring his passenger to an upright position, his arm around her waist. They landed lightly.

“Superman! Superman!” called the reporters cacophonously.

Superman waved, then cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Tomorrow! Press conference!” He smiled and waved again; then they went inside.

• • •


Kara was already waiting for them in the entryway, wearing casual clothes. Fred Douglas was there too, as was the usual retinue of Secret Service agents.

“Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane? I’m Fred Douglas, Department of Homeland Security. I’m your daughter’s main liaison with the government.” He reached out a hand and Clark shook it, followed by Lois.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Douglas,” said Clark. “Thank you for running interference for her while she was here.”

There was no “Department of Homeland Security” back home and something about the name disturbed Lois. It was just a name, though, so she swallowed her misgivings and added, “Yes, thank you.”

Mr. Douglas nodded. “Our pleasure. We have a room ready for you, for as long as you’re planning to stay. I believe we got word to you that the President would like to meet with you tomorrow, and hold a press conference afterwards?”

“Yes, we heard. Where is that going to be?”

“If you could make it to the White House that would be a big help to his schedule.”

Clark looked to Lois, who shrugged. “I think we can manage that.”

“We’ll be serving dinner in a little while, and this evening is open for any discussions you want to have with us. Feel free to relax until then.”

Clark nodded. “Thank you. I think we could use a little break.” He spun into his civilian clothes; even though they were used to Kara, the staff gaped at the display.

Kara, her cheeks crimson, exclaimed, “Dad! How can you do that in front of everyone? And in front of me?”

Clark blushed lightly himself. “Sorry, sweetheart. I forgot you could see.” Lois’s eyes were twinkling at his embarrassment.

“Just… just don’t do that again while I’m watching! And…” She trailed off. “Wait a minute. What was that place where you put your boots? And your cape? And were your other clothes… ?”

“Oh, that? It’s pretty handy. I’ll show you later.”

Just then Caitlin came bounding down the stairs. “Kara?”

“Hi, Caitlin.”

Caitlin looked between Lois and Clark. “Who… Oh, wait. Is this your mom and dad?”

“Uh-huh. But you already met my dad in Wilmington.”

Caitlin shook her head. “Oh, right. Sorry, Mr. Kent.” She smirked. “This secret identity thing works better than I thought.” She turned to Lois. “Um, Ms. Lane? Mrs. Kent?”

“Either is fine,” said Lois, smiling. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Caitlin. Thank you for being Kara’s sister.”

“Umm, it’s nice to meet you too,” said Caitlin, turning uncharacteristically shy. “And I, umm, had fun with Kara. It’s been nice having a sister. I mean, I have a sister — Emily’s my sister… well, she’s my stepsister… but she’s more like my mom than my sister. She mostly does mom things with me instead of sister things. So Kara is a sister-sister instead of a mom-sister.” She looked between the Kents. “You know what I mean?”

“I think we got the gist,” said Lois dryly. “And I’m looking forward to meeting Emily.”

Kara looked around. “I want to see her too. Where is she?”

• • •


Emily lay on her side, staring at the wall. You knew the odds were they would find her. No matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn’t quite grasp the reality. She was no longer Kara’s foster mother, and sometime soon, Kara would be gone from her life forever. She was happy for Kara and her family, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. The three of them had been through too much together.

On top of that, now that Kara’s parents were here, all of Emily’s doubts about whether Supergirl had been a good idea were back in full force. She hoped the Kents wouldn’t be too hard on her.

It was funny: she knew they were Superman and Lois Lane, but somehow she could only think of them as “Kara’s parents.”

And after they left, what were she and Caitlin going to do? How were they going to live?

There was a knock on her door, and she sat up on her bed. “Yes?”

The door opened and Kara poked her head around. “Emily?”

Emily tried to keep her heart under control; this was temporary, no matter how long it lasted. “Hey, sweetie. Come on in.”

Kara came in, followed by Caitlin. “My parents are here too. Do you mind if they…?”

Emily shook her head. She’d love some alone time with Kara and Caitlin, but that part of her life was behind her now. “Of course not.”

Mr. Kent she’d already met, though she hadn’t seen him out of uniform and he looked quite different — no surprise. He came in with his wife, hand in hand. “Hello, Mr. Kent.”

“Clark, please.”

Emily smiled faintly. “OK, Clark.” She turned to Lois. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Lane.”

The older woman looked her over carefully. “I’m glad to meet you too, Emily. Kara has been telling us a lot about you.” Emily was unsure how to take that until Ms. Lane’s face relaxed into a smile. “Please call me Lois.”

Emily nodded, relieved. “She’s told us a lot about you, too.” She looked between the two of them. “So… I expect you’ll be going home soon?” She managed to keep her voice from wavering.

Lois and Clark looked at each other, and came over to sit on the bed. “We will, but we have some things to take care of first,” said Lois.

Emily frowned. “Like what?”

“Well… like you,” Clark said.

“Me?”

Clark nodded. “And Caitlin. We’re very grateful for what you did for Kara. You gave up a lot to take care of her and protect her.”

“How could I not? I was responsible for her.”

Lois shook her head. “You’d be surprised. Many people would have washed their hands of her the minute things turned difficult. You stuck with her.”

“So we want to help figure out a way for you to get your lives back together,” finished Clark.

Humpty Dumpty, thought Emily. “Do you really think that’s possible?”

“As Mr. Wells likes to say, nothing is impossible.”

Emily nodded, then blinked. “Mr. Wells?”

• • •


“What do you mean, ‘indefinitely’?” asked Emily, shocked.

Fred Douglas leaned forward. “Dr. Jordan, the public is very interested in you and your sister.” He nodded at Lois and Clark. “Now that the Kents are here, the SMPA contingent’s plan has backfired. They look like they were trying to break up Superman’s family, while you were defending Kara as a surrogate for her parents.

“So your favorables, and the public’s interest, are only going to increase. We don’t see that ending any time soon, and that means you’ll need security.”

“But with Kara and her family going home,” objected Emily, “aren’t people going to lose interest in us after a while?”

Caitlin nodded. “That’s what Becca Hunter said. She said people lose interest in celebrities if they don’t do anything ‘interesting.’” She made air quotes.

Mr. Douglas shook his head. “Becca is a bright young lady, but she doesn’t understand. You are not just celebrities. It’s ironic, considering we had a revolution to get rid of a king, but Americans have a fascination with royalty. Sometimes it’s the real thing, like the British royal family, but we have our own, home-grown variety too.

“The President and his family for one, but there are others who go beyond mere celebrity. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Elvis, the Beatles, Neil Armstrong.” He nodded at Kara. “Kara is in that category. She is this world’s first superhero. Billions of people love her.” He spread his hands. “And on top of that, based on what we said about her father and New Krypton, many people believe she’s a Kryptonian princess.”

Kara hid her face in her hands while her parents smiled affectionately and Caitlin smirked.

Lois added, “It’s the same with Superman. He’s been around for eighteen years, but the world still watches everything he does.” She squeezed Kara’s shoulder.

Emily frowned. “Even if that’s true, what does it have to do with Caitlin and me? We’re not superheroes.”

“Dr. Jordan, you and your sister may not be superheroes but you’re in that special category too. You’re members of the family, like Martha Kent or Alfred Pennyworth. And like Grace Kelly, you’re not commoners any more.” He shrugged. “I’m afraid the magic has rubbed off on you; you’re part of the story, now. Once the Kents go home, you’ll be all that’s left.”

Emily just sat there for a few moments, slack-jawed, then shook herself. “Then what do we do? How are we going to live? I can’t afford to pay for the kind of security you’re talking about, even assuming I can find another job. Is the government going to continue protecting us?”

“The President can direct the Secret Service to protect anyone by executive order, and he plans to do so, at least in the short term. Long term, we believe we can work out a way to keep you two safe. As for a job, we believe we can find something, though it probably won’t be in Milford.”

“But we’ll have to live like this, right?” asked Caitlin. “With the press watching us, and bodyguards and everything?”

“For the foreseeable future, I’m afraid so.”

Emily looked to Kara’s parents. “What we really need are secret identities, like Clark.” She half-laughed.

Caitlin buried her face in her arms on the conference table. “I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to leave Milford, either!”

“Honey,” said Emily. “We may not have a choice.”

“I’ll never see any of my friends again!” sulked Caitlin, muffled. Emily rubbed her back.

“Could they maybe come home with us?” asked Kara quietly.

“What?” asked Lois.

“Why don’t they come home with us? No one knows them back home, just like no one knows Dad is Superman.”

“Well…” began Clark. “Huh.”

“A completely different world?” asked Emily. “How is that better?”

“You said you need a secret identity,” reasoned Kara. “It would be kind of like that.” She looked down. “Plus I’d still get to see you,” she admitted.

Emily opened her mouth, then closed it and thought. She shook her head. “We couldn’t just pop over there. We’d have no documentation, nothing. We’d be non-persons. I wouldn’t have my medical credentials; Caitlin wouldn’t have any school records.”

“Actually…” said Clark.

“What?”

Lois and Clark exchanged looks. “We know guys who know guys,” offered Lois.

Mr. Douglas frowned. “What, you mean forged documents? That can be dangerous if someone researches them in depth.”

“Not quite,” said Clark. “Superman saved the heads of all the U.S. intelligence agencies about fifteen years ago, when their plane was about to crash. And then about six years ago, he… well, I’m not supposed to talk about that.” He shrugged. “They said if he ever needed a favor… I’ve never called that in.” He looked to Emily. “It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for Kara.”

“Hmm,” said Douglas. He didn’t elaborate.

You wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Kara. Emily chastised herself; she had to do what was best for Caitlin and herself, not make a decision based on emotion. “It still seems like too much of a risk. Suppose we can’t make it work there? Suppose it’s too strange, too different? We’d be stuck. It’s a one-way trip, isn’t it?”

“Well, no,” said Clark. “It’s not exactly a trip to Bakerline on MARTA, but we could bring you back here if it wasn’t working out. We know how to get here now, and we plan to keep the time machine.”

Emily and Caitlin looked at each other. “I’d rather stay here in Milford, Em, but if we have to leave everyone we know behind, anyway…” Caitlin looked over to Kara. “And we’d still get to see squirt here.”

Emily nodded slowly. A thought struck her. “What about… Dad?”

Caitlin’s face fell. “We’d have to leave him behind too, wouldn’t we?”

“I thought…” began Kara, but she didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“Yes, he’s gone,” said Emily. “But we still visit him twice a year.”

There was a heavy silence.

“Dr. Jordan,” offered Douglas compassionately, “it’s entirely your decision, but if you decide to move to that other world, we’ll make sure your father’s grave is tended.” He spread his hands. “Even if I have to pay for it myself.”

Emily just stared at the table for a while, her thoughts seething. “As kind as the government has been to us, I don’t like living this way; I don’t like Caitlin having to live this way. But moving to Metropolis is a huge leap, even if we could come back. I don’t know if we can do that. As much as I dislike the public spotlight, that may be the better option. I have to think about this.”

• • •


“Honey?”

Kara looked up from the copy of People she’d been perusing with Becca Hunter; the President’s daughter had wanted to see which movie stars existed in Kara’s world. Kara had recognized about half of them, but then she hadn’t seen as many movies as Becca, so there might have been more in common. Sophie was trying to peer over her sister’s shoulder.

Her mom was standing in the doorway with Becca’s mom. “Yes, Mom?”

“Your father and I are finished meeting with the President. We’re going to go downstairs for the press conference now.” The President had asked to meet with Dad alone, but he’d responded that Superman was a partnership of himself and Mom, and she was in on everything.

“Oh. OK.” Kara got up off the bed, taking care with her dress, and turned to Becca and Sophie. “It was fun visiting; thanks for having me over. I don’t know if I’ll see you guys again.”

Becca smiled. “It was fun hanging out with you, Kara. If I don’t see you again, have a safe trip home.” She got up, and the two girls hugged lightly.

“I want to say goodbye too!” said Sophie, bouncing off the bed. She ran over to collect a hug from Kara.

Kara followed her mother out to the central area of the living quarters. Her father was in his Superman uniform, talking quietly with the President. The two men were regarding each other with a calm, steady gaze.

“Mrs. Hunter, thank you for having us here,” said Mom.

“It was my pleasure.”

Dad and the President shook hands, and the President gestured towards the elevator. “Shall we?”

“Bye,” said Kara, waving, as she trailed behind her parents. The President’s family waved back.

Soon they were in the White House elevator, accompanied by the President’s Secret Service detail. Kara had the distinct impression there was some topic hanging in the air that her parents and the President would have liked to discuss, but couldn’t since she was present. They kept looking at each other. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

Her dad was in uniform, but she wasn’t. Her parents had explained that they wanted the press to focus on him and give her some space. She was OK with that.

Mom took her hand as they followed Dad and the President into the press room. “This feels weird,” whispered her mother. “I’m usually on the other side of that podium.”

Kara nodded.

• • •


“These people are in serious trouble,” said Mom. “How did this version of Earth get so screwed up?”

Kara glanced over at her parents; they were all flying back to Milford together, her mom in her dad’s arms as before. She liked seeing them like that. She liked being together with them again. It felt like a missing piece of herself had been restored.

She’d changed to her Supergirl uniform, and used that spin trick Dad had shown her to store her civilian clothes. It was great not to have to carry them around!

“There’s so many things going wrong it’s hard to know where to start,” agreed Dad.

“And that press conference,” fumed Mom. “Nothing but softball questions! What happened to the adversarial press here? I wanted to go out in the audience and ask President Hunter some tough questions myself. These people are stenographers, not reporters!”

“I noticed that myself the other day when I was reading the news on the web.”

“Perry would never stand for this kind of reporting in his newsroom. What this world needs is the Daily Planet. And the President is right, this world needs Superman, too.”

“That’s funny,” giggled Kara.

“What’s funny, sweetie?”

“In Kevin’s movie, that version of you wrote an editorial called ‘Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.’”

“That version of me was an idiot. Every world needs Superman.” Mom hesitated. “That’s why the President asked us to stay.”

“What?” squeaked Kara.

“Of course we said no, sweetheart,” added Dad immediately. “Don’t worry, we’re going home.”

“He said this world desperately needs Superman, and he’s right. Just not this Superman. Or Supergirl.” Mom smiled at her.

“No way!” said Kara. “I want to go home.”

“Maybe Mr. Wells can help them,” mused Dad. “We can talk to him about it when we get back.”

“So when are we going home?” asked Kara.

“Not till Monday at the earliest, honey,” said Mom.

“Monday? Why?”

“Well, we’re still waiting to see what happens with your foster family. And your father and I remembered one other thing we have to take care of.”

“What’s that?”

“We realized you’ve been in school here for eight weeks. We need to go to school with you and meet with your teachers.”

“What?”

• • •