Chapter 51: Extraordinary People
Kara raised her hand to knock.
“Come on in, sis.”
She opened the door and peeked around the edge. “How long have you been able to do that?”
“A couple years now. Remember when I started wearing glasses?” Jordy was pulling his shoes on.
“Oh yeah.” She watched him tie his shoelaces. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna go hang with Greg and Nick. We’re gonna try out Nick’s new game.”
She nodded.
“Why? Did you wanna talk about something?” He went to his closet and grabbed a jacket.
Kara frowned. “I don’t know. Dad and I talked about… you know… helping out?”
“Ah. You got ‘the talk,’ huh?”
“I guess.” She sat on his bed.
“I got it back when I was your age.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s like getting your learner’s permit. You don’t want to wait, but you have to.”
“It’s just…” She trailed off.
Jordy sat down carelessly in his desk chair, one leg hooked over the arm. “What?”
“I got to like helping people, is all.” She sighed. “And I miss my powers.” Before her kidnapping, like every kid she’d wondered what it would be like to have Superman’s powers, but she’d never coveted them. Now that she’d had them for a couple of months it felt like a part of her was missing.
“I don’t know when you’re gonna get your powers back, but you don’t have to have powers to help people. You know that.”
Kara thought about that. Her Girl Scout troop did do volunteer work. Maybe she should see if there was something like that coming up on the troop’s web site. She smiled.
Just then Jordy’s eyes lost focus and he tilted his head, concentrating. His expression turned grim.
“What is it?” asked Kara.
“Earthquake in the Philippines, a bad one. Dad’s probably—”
Dad blurred into the room, already in his Superman uniform. “I have to go, kids. Mom and the others won’t be home for a couple hours yet. Jordy…”
Jordy sighed. “I was gonna go to Greg’s house…”
“I can stay by myself,” said Kara. “I’m not a little kid!”
“Honey, I know you’re not a little kid, but…” Dad stopped and smiled. “I guess I’m just being overprotective after you were kidnapped. If you can be Supergirl, then you can be responsible on your own for a few hours. Just, make sure you don’t open the door without looking to see who it is, OK?”
“I know, Dad.”
“Oh, and don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the caller ID…”
“I
know, Dad.” She smiled. “I’ll be fine. Go on, people need Superman.”
“When Mom gets home, let her know where I’ve gone, OK? Though she’s probably already helping plan the Planet coverage on her phone while she shops.”
“I will.”
“Oh, and can you make yourself lunch? There’s plenty of stuff in the fridge…”
She rolled her eyes and made shooing motions. “Dad, I’ll be fine! Go!”
Dad nodded and disappeared.
• • •
Of course, after she’d been alone for ten minutes, she’d remembered that Tempus had technology that allowed him to appear inside the house without using the door. Consequently she jumped a little at every creak the house made, which for a one-hundred-ten-year-old brownstone was not infrequent.
She tried to read, but was just a little too nervous for that.
She did make herself a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch. She accidentally touched a hot part of the toaster oven and discovered she was not invulnerable, yet.
She finally sat herself in front of the TV and turned on the news, hoping to see her father in action. The news channels weren’t covering it nonstop, but the combination of a big disaster and Superman was interesting enough that they spent a portion of each hour on it. By switching between the various networks she was able to watch him half of the time.
The rest of the news was pretty boring, though. Actually, before the kidnapping she wouldn’t have been interested enough in the earthquake to watch it, either. Being a superhero for a few weeks changed your perspective. Not to mention knowing Superman was your dad.
The earthquake was a bad one, and it looked like he’d be there for some time. The networks were estimating that it would take Superman at least into tomorrow to rescue all the people trapped in collapsed buildings.
It would be faster if he had some help, she thought.
Sooner than she expected she heard a key in the front door. She shrank slightly; Tempus wouldn’t have a key, would he?
But it was Mom who walked in, followed by Laura, Caitlin, and Emily. She relaxed.
“Where’s Daddy and Jordy? Are they here?” asked Laura.
Kara shook her head. “Jordy went to Greg’s house. Daddy had to, umm…” her eyes strayed to the TV, “go to work.”
“Oh,” said Laura, disappointed. “Daddy has to go to work a
lot. I wish he could do it on the phone like Mommy.” She looked to the television. “Ooh! Is Superman on TV?”
Mom obviously already knew what was happening, but Kara watched as the penny dropped for Emily and Caitlin. They drifted over to the living room and watched the coverage, still standing with their coats on, holding their shopping bags.
“Yes, honey,” said Mom. “That’s why I was spending so much time on the phone with Uncle Perry. There was a big earthquake in the Philippines. Daddy went to work because of that.”
“Where’s the… the Philip-eens?” asked Laura. “Why is it called that? Can you only live there if your name is Philip?” She frowned. “What are the girls named?”
“No, honey,” said Mom, smiling. “That’s just the name of the country. It’s near China.”
“Oh. Can I watch Superman, Mommy?”
“Why don’t you go put your new clothes away first, OK?”
“Uh-huh!” agreed Laura; she scampered up the stairs.
Kara watched her little sister go. “Some of the video is kind of sad, Mom. And also…” Her eyes motioned to Superman, who was being shown lifting rubble to clear the way to some trapped survivors.
Mom smiled. “We can let her watch a little. If we
never let her watch him…” She left the thought unvoiced, but Kara understood.
Emily realized that she and Caitlin were standing there holding shopping bags and the front door was still wide open. “Oh — we should probably get the rest of our shopping out of your car.”
“Here,” said Mom, handing over her car keys. “Just lock it up when you’re finished.”
Emily nodded and took the keys; she and Caitlin put their bags at the foot of the stairs and trooped out the front door to unload the rest of the shopping.
“Mom?”
Her mother’s eyes were on the television. “Yes, sweetie?”
“They’re saying D… Superman is going to be busy till tomorrow at least.”
Her mother came and sat beside her, putting an arm around her. “That’s the way it goes sometimes, honey. Him being gone for a day or two isn’t a new thing; you just know the reason, now.”
Kara nodded and continued watching, feeling a strange tension between guilt for not helping, and relief at not having to.
• • •
Kara hovered above the shattered fuselage, indecisive, as the wind and snow howled around her. There were so many bodies… was there anyone left alive? She couldn’t hear any heartbeats.
She was terrified and wanted to stay aloft, but she seemed to be sinking lower, closer to the ground. She looked over the dead: the men, women, children. Suddenly, her breath caught in her throat.
One of the dead children looked like Laura. Against her will, she looked closer.
It
was Laura.
And there was Jordy. And Caitlin. Jessica. Bailey, Megan, and Kevin. As she looked over the bodies, she saw the faces of her family and friends. Emily. Even Mom and Dad. “They’re all… dead,” she whispered. “All of them.”
“Yes, they are,” said a voice. She whirled around.
It was Tempus.
“And now it’s your turn.” He pulled out a giant piece of Kryptonite, which for some reason was in the shape of a stylish handbag; he slung it over his shoulder. Kara fell to the ground, knowing she was in tremendous pain.
“Why? Why do you want to kill everyone?”
Tempus stopped applying lip gloss and turned away from the mirror. “Because you’re a geektard loser, that’s why. Isn’t that enough?”
“No,” whimpered Kara. It was starting to get dark. “No…” Everything faded away.
“Sweetheart?”
Her mother’s face swam into view as Kara opened her eyes. Behind her, Caitlin sat up in bed, half asleep. “Are you OK?
“What happened?” asked Kara, sniffling.
“You were crying in your sleep; Jordy heard you. Were you having a bad dream?”
“I… I guess.” The memory of it was already fading.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I can’t really remember it now. What time is it?”
“About four-thirty. Can you go back to sleep?”
Kara looked up at her mother, and relaxed. “I think so.”
“OK.” Mom kissed her forehead, leaving a safe, warm feeling behind. “See you in the morning.”
• • •
“What are you doing?”
Kara turned to look at Caitlin. “Oh, hi.” She turned back to her closet, and sighed. “Just checking that I have clean clothes for school this week.”
Caitlin came to stand beside her. “So you’re going back tomorrow?”
“I guess. I talked it over with Mom, and I feel OK. Plus I’m already over a week behind on my schoolwork.” She rolled her eyes. “Even though I went to school for nine weeks in Milford.”
Caitlin looked over Kara’s closet. “Mind if I look?” Kara shook her head, so Caitlin started flipping through Kara’s clothes.
She started grinning. “Some of your T-shirts are pretty funny.” She pulled one out. “I
love this one!”
“Really?”
“Sure! Just because I’m a jock doesn’t mean I don’t like geek humor. I like Doctor Who too, remember? You should wear one of these when you go back!” She turned to Kara, and noted the pensive expression on her face. “What?”
Kara looked down. “I don’t wear those to school. Not any more, anyway.”
Caitlin stopped her rummaging. “Is it that girl you were talking about? Paige?”
“Yeah…”
Caitlin put her hands on Kara’s shoulders. “Kara… you’re a superhero.”
Kara looked up, puzzled. “I guess. But nobody can know, so it doesn’t matter.”
Caitlin shook her head. “The only person who needs to know it is
you. Also, you’re a really nice person, and really smart.”
Kara nodded slowly. “Paige think I’m dumb for being into science and math.”
“Didn’t you say your birth mom was a scientist? So you’re following in her footsteps; I bet she’d be proud of you.
You should be proud of you, and not worry about Paige. She’s probably just jealous because you’re a better person. And I bet she’s also jealous because you’re prettier than she is.”
Kara’s cheeks turned pink. “That’s what Mom says…”
“Your mom is scary smart, Kara.”
Kara smiled a little. “Yeah.” Her smile faded. “But the other kids think Paige is cool.”
“I’m sure not
everyone thinks she’s cool;
I sure don’t. Just be yourself, and I bet you’ll find friends who like you for who you are.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, I do. It worked for me. And for
you, in Milford. So when Paige gives you a hard time, just remember which one of you saved over two thousand lives and got to know the President and his family personally.” Caitlin grinned. “And which one of you is an alien princess. That’s way cooler than Paige will ever be.”
Kara tilted her head and thought about that for a while, then smiled and started rummaging through her shirts. “I guess I could try wearing one of these again tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow? Don’t kids at your school wear their costumes on Halloween?”
Kara frowned for a moment; then her eyes widened. “Tomorrow… tomorrow is Halloween again? Oh my gosh, it
is!” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “My costume!”
“Ruh-roh,” said Caitlin.
Kara ran out her door shouting, “Mom! Mom!”
• • •
Clark carefully checked the surroundings before darting down through the back window. Tired and filthy, he was about to step into the shower when he heard “Oh no…
now what are we going to do?!” from downstairs.
Worried, he turned his vision on the dining room, only to find all the females of the household hovering around Lois at the table, as she wrestled with fabric and their sewing machine. He relaxed; it looked like a household emergency, not one requiring Superman.
Five minutes later he walked down the stairs, happy to be in clean clothes for the first time in over twenty-four hours.
“Daddy!” squealed Laura. “When did you get home?” She ran to hug him, with Kara close behind. Lois, Emily, and Caitlin turned away from the sewing machine to watch.
“A little while ago, pumpkin.” Clark kneeled down and sighed contentedly as he hugged his daughters. He’d dug out far too many children on this rescue, and not all of them had survived. As it always did, coming home to his own children helped revitalize him. Even after all this time, he never forgot to be thankful for something that, growing up, he’d been certain he’d never have.
“You were gone so
long, Daddy!” complained Laura.
“I didn’t want to be, sweetheart, but I had to work.” He and Kara exchanged glances; words weren’t necessary, now that she knew.
Clark held onto his girls for a while, his eyes closed and a smile on his face, then released them and stood up. Lois moved in and embraced him in their stead.
“Was it rough?” she whispered, inaudible to anyone but him. She felt him nod. “I love you,” she added more audibly, leaning back in his arms to look up at him.
Clark cupped Lois’s cheek with his hand. “I love you too.” They kissed enthusiastically.
“Yuck!” exclaimed Laura.
Clark laughed and continued to hold Lois in a loose embrace, both of them smiling. “So, what are you all up to?” He let Lois go but kept an arm around her.
“Mommy is trying to do our Halloween costumes, but she’s having trouble,” Laura confessed. “Aunt Emily tried to help but they’re still not done.”
Lois’s ears turned pink.
Clark knew better than to tease her when she was this frazzled about something. “I guess we kind of forgot about your costumes with everything that’s been happening. I’m sure Mommy and I can get them finished tonight.” He looked to Lois. “Maybe after the kids are in bed?”
Lois understood the message and nodded in relief.
Superman to the rescue… again. Clark couldn’t sew other than minor repairs, but Martha sure could. When Laura went to bed at eight, it would be seven in Smallville.
“But right now, I want to enjoy the rest of my Sunday with my family.”
• • •
