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Relative History, Part 7
By: C. Leuch

Laura stretched as she crept into consciousness, a comfortable sigh escaping her lips. Her eyes popped open, and she noticed with some puzzlement that the bright morning sun was streaming in through an unfamiliar window, illuminating a room filled with unfamiliar furnishings. Then she remembered the previous night, and her confusion morphed into contentment. She closed her eyes again and mentally stretched, reaching out her senses, taking in everything that the Kent farm had to offer.

First, close to her, she heard her grandmother in the kitchen, putting together a big country breakfast that was surely more than three people could eat. Laura’s nose filled with the aromas of bacon and eggs, toast with butter and homemade jam, coffee and orange juice. Her stomach rumbled at the thought, but breakfast could surely wait for a few moments. Further out, she could hear her Grandpa working in the barn, the clicking of a socket wrench and gentle tapping of metal-on-metal indicating that he was working on some piece of equipment. If she reached out further, she could hear the activities at the neighboring farm a couple miles down the road, and the smells from their barn, the “fresh country air” as her Dad called it. Behind everything came the sounds of the bugs and birds and wildlife that called the country home, sounds that could easily be overwhelming given their sheer quantity. Taken all together, it was a very soothing picture, one that she could gladly get lost in.

Sometime before she drifted off to sleep the night before, after she had similarly stretched out her senses, she had realized something. The last time she came to this place as a kid, the summer before her grandparents died, she had been several years from coming into her superpowers, several years from the knowledge of who her father was. She was an otherwise normal kid from the big city, and to her the farm had never exactly been an attractive vacation destination. It was dusty and dirty, and so much buggier than she had ever even fathomed. Nothing was nearby, and even getting groceries required an eternity in the car. She was used to manicured lawns and plenty of kids her age around to play with. She was used to being able to walk or ride her bike to wherever she wanted to go, be it the park or the pool or the library. Smallville didn’t have a pool, and its library was smaller than the periodicals section in the Metropolis library, and if you wanted to bike somewhere, you better be prepared to spend the better part of the day trying to reach your destination. To her childhood self, this place might as well be jail. But now that she was here as an adult, one who could get to anywhere in the world in seconds flat, Smallville represented a place that was away from all the noise, the people…problems. It was freedom, acceptance, love. It was sanity in an often insane world, and she suddenly realized why her Dad loved this place so much. It also occurred to her that it was probably a place that was made that much better when shared with the people you loved. Matt was once an outdoorsman, someone familiar with nature. Maybe when she got home, she could convince him to take that up again, so they could have a few adventures in the country, alone, and experience this kind of comfort again.

She yawned briefly with the last vestiges of sleep before deciding that it was probably time to grab some of the food waiting for her downstairs. Without another thought, she got out of bed, shaking her hair out and absently braiding it into two strands as she made her way to the kitchen. She was currently wearing an oversized Smallville High t-shirt from the dresser in the room where she had slept, and her uniform pants, which were actually quite cozy for sleeping in. Reaching the first floor, she immediately caught the eye of Martha, who gave her a warm smile. “’Morning, sweetie!” she said, gesturing toward the table. “Pull up a chair and grab a bite. Jonathan should be in in a minute.”

“Thank you,” Laura said. “You didn’t have to do all this for me.”

“Pfft,” Martha said with a wave of her hand. “We don’t get company all that often. Anyway, I say any occasion is a good occasion for bacon and eggs.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” Laura said, pulling up a chair and digging in. Martha joined her a moment later.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Martha asked as Laura took a bite of toast.

“Well,” Laura said, wondering why she suddenly felt shy again. She supposed it was the thought of asking for help from her grandma or burdening her with her troubles, since Martha was supposed to be the person being pampered and made to feel loved on this trip. At the same time, though, how else could grandmas best show love than to cook for their grandkids and dispense good advice? “Dad and I have been going through your recipe box, and we had a couple of things not exactly turn out, so I was hoping to pick your brain.”

“Sure,” Martha said, grabbing for a piece of bacon, then hesitating as she surveyed the table full of food. “I think we might want to wait until lunch time for that one.”

Laura giggled. “No problem. I also have probably a dozen videos to show you.” She had wanted to watch them the night before, but it had been late when she arrived, and the excitement of her arrival had tired her grandparents out before they had gotten the chance.

“Those phones sure beat the heck out of VCR tapes. Much smaller, too,” Martha said, drawing a chuckle from Laura. They ate in silence for a moment, then Martha looked over at Laura again, her smile softening. “Your ring is beautiful,” she said, her eyes directed toward Laura’s left hand.

Laura wiped her hand on a napkin, then extended it toward Martha so she could get a better look. “Thank you,” Laura said in a small voice as Martha grabbed her hand. The ring was modest, to be sure. Matt didn’t have much money and didn’t work at a high-paying job, and he had been too proud to ask CJ for any money to buy the ring, though CJ probably would’ve lent it to him in a heartbeat. It was no doubt more than Matt could afford, but it really was quite beautiful. What it didn’t have in terms of sparkly bits it made up for in style, and it made her feel special just to wear it.

“Why don’t you tell me about your fiancée?”

Laura leaned back in her chair and momentarily pondered where to start. “Matt and I met in college. We both worked for the school newspaper – he was going to make a career out of journalism, but for me it was more of a hobby. We became friends pretty quickly, though friends were all we were for a long time – years, really. But over that time he started to become important to me in a way that I didn’t realize at first. He was the person who made me laugh, the one I turned to for advice; he put up with my stormy moods and never seemed fazed by my bluster-“

“I’m having a hard time believing that you have stormy moods or could ever be blustery,” Martha said with a wink. “You seem awfully sweet to me.”

“I’m Lois Lane’s daughter. Trust me, I can bluster with the best of them. I certainly come by it honestly,” she said. “Thank you, though. Anyway, Matt could give just as well as he received, but never in a way that was mean spirited. When we had disagreements or different perspectives on issues, he always thoughtfully articulated his perspective, and even if I didn’t ultimately agree with him, I could always respect where he was coming from.

“I look back on it now I wonder how I never saw the way he looked at me, like everything I said was the most interesting thing in the world. I think maybe I didn’t want to see. But eventually I opened my eyes, and what I saw made me feel…special. Even after he found out everything about me, he never looked at me differently. And maybe that’s what ultimately made me fall hard for him – the fact that he greeted my special talents with grace and admiration and humor. Even when he realized that he would always be the physically vulnerable person in the relationship, he understood that it didn’t mean that we couldn’t still be equals, that he could still make a contribution to the relationship even without superpowers. Of course, the fact that he plays guitar didn’t hurt, either.”

“Of course,” Martha said with a grin.

“He really is talented. The whole journalism thing hasn’t worked out so far, but that’s a testament to the state of the industry in 2025. He doesn’t let that stop him, though. I’m so proud of the initiative that he’s taken since graduation, finding a job that still lets him be creative, and writing a novel in his spare time. If he can get his foot in the door in the publishing industry, it could open up a whole world of possibilities.” Laura looked at her Grandma, wondering if she should push on with what she intended to say, knowing that it would open the door to another conversation altogether. It was one she wanted to have, though, especially with someone who had always been so adept at knowing just the right thing to say. Taking a deep breath, Laura decided that this really was the right time. “We will be starting our lives together with so much hope, so many plans…and we haven’t even talked about the possibility of me going out and doing the superhero thing. But now it’s going to have to wait, all of it.”

Martha‘s expression morphed into confusion. “Why would that be?”

Laura sighed. “Because despite our best planning and grand visions for the future…I’m pregnant.”

The look of joy on Martha’s face was genuine. “Congratulations!” she said, putting her hand on Laura’s arm. “Oh I’m so happy for you!” After a moment, he smile began to fade as she caught the inference in Laura’s words. “You’re happy, too, aren’t you?”

“I’m ecstatic,” Laura said without hesitation, and she truly was. The more that others showed their happiness at the news, the more joy she felt. “And Matt…I just told him before I came here, and he was over the moon. But all the big things I still want to do with my life – getting a master’s degree, establishing my career, introducing a second identity – seem very far away now, and I can’t bring myself to tell my Mom and Dad.”

“Oh, honey,” she said with empathy. “All any parent wants for their child is to be happy. You don’t need the perfect job or the perfect future – things never turn out the way you plan, anyway. All you need is love, and a baby represents the purest form of love there is. They say the best things come when you least expect them, and that sure seems to apply here. I’m sure your parents will agree.”

Laura smiled widely. She knew her grandma could help put things in perspective. “So I should tell them,” she said, the words a statement rather than a question.

“When you get back home, preferably.” She patted Laura’s arm, then looked down at her plate. “In the meantime, let’s dig in before our food gets cold.”

“The food’s getting cold?” Jonathan said as he walked in the door. Laura still couldn’t get over how young and vibrant he seemed.

“Not yet – you’re just in time,” Martha said.

Jonathan’s eyes fairly danced as he looked between Laura and Martha. “Good to hear it,” he said, detouring to the sink to wash his hands, then sitting down at the table with them. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to spending my day with my two best gals.”

Laura raised her eyebrows. “You just met me last night and already I’m one of your best gals? Wow, Grandpa, you know how to flatter a lady.”

“Don’t I know it,” Martha said with an affectionate glance toward her husband.

Jonathan laughed. “I can’t help it,” he said. “I know a good kid when I see one. Now, can someone pass the bacon?”

Laura obliged, and settled in. Yes, this was a completely different Smallville experience than what she remembered, but it was so much better. She tried to burn the moments into her brain so that she would remember this, but then she realized, just as she had used her phone to record messages from the future, now that she was here she could bring some messages back with her. Her smile widened as she ate, knowing that all was right with the world.

---

Lois had awoken to the subtle feeling of being watched. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, especially once she realized that the eyes on her probably belonged to her husband. But as the last vestiges of sleep fell away, she remembered what had transpired the previous night, and how she had gone to sleep alone. With a start, her eyes popped open, and she could see Clark perched on the edge of the bed. “Good morning,” she said, stretching. He smiled, but she could see the sadness in his eyes.

“Morning,” he said, acting as if he wanted to bend over and kiss her, though something held him back. She watched him ball up his fists and sit up straighter with a sigh.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, sitting up and reaching for his cheek. He turned his head into her touch, closing his eyes.

“I don’t know. About the same, I guess. I don’t really want to push my luck and try anything until I know for sure…”

“I understand,” she said, trailing her hand down his shoulder to his arm before taking his hand in hers. “So how do you want to handle today?”

“Well, Jon and I were talking last night, and he pointed me in the right direction on how to fix all this. So I think I’ll probably head down to STAR labs sometime this morning.” He ran his free hand through his hair. “Until then, I don’t think I should go anywhere or do anything, just in case.”

Lois squeezed his hand. “I think that’s very sensible.” She glanced toward the clock and frowned. “And I need to get moving if I’m going to make it in to work on time.” They smiled at each other for a long moment, then she got out of bed and started getting ready. As she left the bedroom, Clark stepped into the shower. She quietly made her way down the stairs, aware that they still had a visitor. Getting a glimpse at the living room as she reached the landing, she noticed that he was still asleep. With a small smile, she diverted to the kitchen and breakfast.

Throwing together a quick breakfast was fairly routine – grabbing some bread and cramming it in the toaster, pouring a glass of juice, gathering the butter and jam and waiting for the toast to finish. It was probably the least exciting part of her day, but this morning, something caught her eye. Normally, staring absently at a dark corner of the kitchen would give her mind a chance to wander, to formulate her approach to the day and mentally review the work assignments she still had to complete. But today she noticed what appeared to be a power chord going into one of the cabinets. Curious, her mental checklist was abandoned as she went to check it out. Opening the cabinet, she saw…something. It looked like a glass screen on one side with a protective case around the sides and back, and it was no thicker than a pencil. On the front was a large button, which just seemed to be begging to be pressed. Pressing it, she marveled at how the screen activated, with words telling her to swipe the screen to unlock it. Following the directions given, the device made a noise, and suddenly a photo popped up, one that appeared to be of Jon – in glasses, no less – a woman, and two children, and the photo had dozens of smaller photos and icons on top of it. “Whoa,” Lois said, wondering for the first time just what the device was supposed to be.

At the bottom of the screen were four icons, one of which appeared to be a phone. Touching that part of the screen, a list of people and phone numbers popped up. One name – Diane – matched his wife’s name. Others, though, looked more familiar than they should – there were entries for “Mom” and “Dad,” and the home number for each matched the number that had been hers ever since she moved into her first apartment, a fact that caused goosebumps to rise on her arm. Touching the entry marked “CJ” – Clark Jerome? Clark Junior? – brought up a record of when the number, out of Gotham City if the area code was any indication, was last called. Touching the number brought up a warning that the phone was in “airplane mode,” whatever that meant. Lois wanted to navigate back to the screen she had previously seen, but couldn’t quite figure out how to do that. With a shrug, she pressed the big button again, and she was brought back to the first screen. One of the other icons at the bottom looked like a camera. Curious, Lois touched that one, and suddenly, a live image of the room in front of her came up. If she moved the device around, the picture moved, too. It was a video camera! In the upper left corner of the screen was a smaller, still picture. Touching that brought up a picture, taken earlier. It was of the same woman she saw on the first screen. This must be the photo gallery, Lois thought, but she couldn’t figure out how to see more photos. Out of frustration, she drew a squiggle with her finger on the screen, and noticed that as her finger went side to side, the photo seemed to slide. Picking up her finger and touching the screen again, sliding it to the side, she made the photo change to another. She smiled in triumph, and noticed that this photo was of two dark-haired little kids at a park, one a boy and the other a girl. Sliding her finger to the side again and again, she noticed more photos of the children, some also with the woman in them. This must be Jon’s family, she thought as she paged through the photos. His wife was all smiles, and the children were absolutely adorable. He had mentioned the wife in their discussions, but never the children. Why was that, she wondered? He was obviously a proud and attentive father, if the photos were any indication. Maybe he didn’t think the information was important, she thought, but those kids seemed to be a big enough part of his life that in his place they would be the first thing she mentioned to others. There had to be some other reason…

Her exploration of the device was interrupted with the popping of the toaster. With a grunt, Lois pushed the big button again and put the device back where she found it, closing the cabinet door. While preparing and eating her toast, all she could think about was the family in those pictures, and why Jon hadn’t said anything. If she was right and he was their son from the future, a theory that seemed even more plausible if that device was any indication, then maybe…he didn’t WANT them to know about his children. But why?

What if…he didn’t want them to know that he could even have children, and by extension that THEY could have children? Clark seemed quite dismissive of the notion when they had discussed it the other night. Absent Jon’s presence, she probably would’ve been skeptical of the idea, too. In the face of so many questions about the biology of their coupling, she and Clark would probably go to Dr. Klein and have tests run, uncomfortable tests. What if in his world they had been told, as result of those tests, that they couldn’t get pregnant? What if he had been a surprise? If that were the case, then knowing now that they could have children might lead them to taking precautions that they wouldn’t have taken otherwise, which might lead to him potentially not existing at all.

Lois took a long look into the living room at his sleeping form. During their earlier discussions, he had mentioned that his parents had two other, natural children. If she was right and Jon was also their natural child, then that meant that she would wind up with three children. Yes, Lois Lane, terror of the newsroom, with a trio of kids. The thought was staggering. She never thought of herself as the motherly type, but Jon had been nothing but complimentary when he spoke about his parents. It was entirely possible that at some point in the future she would turn over a new leaf, that Martha’s influence would finally rub off on her. Or maybe she had more inside herself than she ever realized. But it was also entirely possible that she was completely wrong, although she didn’t think that was the case. Her instincts now were just as good as they had always been, and her gut told her that she had found the truth.

It was probably time to wake him up, she decided, walking purposefully into the living room and perching herself on the edge of the couch. Before doing anything else, she allowed herself a long look at his face. The strong resemblance to Clark was still obvious, but the more she looked, the more she could see herself there, too – in his nose and in the shape of his mouth. All of a sudden she wanted so badly to gather him up in a hug, to let him know how much she… loved him. The feeling was so strong and inexplicable, based on hunches and the idea of what he possibly was, but it was also undeniable. Mothers often said that they loved their children the first time they saw them, and she had always been somewhat skeptical. Now that she knew who he was, though, she knew it was true. The urge to embrace him only grew stronger as the moment wore on, but she forced herself to refrain, if only to maintain the peace. Instead she put her hand on his shoulder, jostling him lightly. “Daddy just wants a few more minutes,” she heard him mumble, bringing a smile to her face.

“Jon?” she said, jostling a little harder.

“Not now, Ma,” he said, more clearly this time, the words causing her heart to beat harder. He rolled over so that he was facing the back of the couch.

“It’s time to get up,” she said gently.

“Jeez, Mom,” he said, stretching his arm up and opening his eyes. Almost as soon as he realized where he was, his eyes grew very large, and he looked at her with something akin to terror for the briefest moment before taking a breath and molding his features into something decidedly more neutral. He gave a humorless chuckle and sat up. “Wow, what a dream I was having,” he said, and Lois nodded slowly.

“Must’ve really been something. You referred to yourself as ‘Daddy’ at one point.”

“Maybe it was a nightmare,” he said with another dull chuckle, deliberately looking away from her as he sat up.

“What, you don’t want kids?” Lois said, trying to meet his eyes. “I mean, Clark and I…we haven’t really talked about it, but we haven’t been married all that long, either.”

He shook his head and frowned. “That’s not…. It was just a bad joke, I guess,” he said, bringing his eyes back toward hers. Suddenly there was something more in his expression, something deeper than a weak attempt at humor. She thought for a moment that he would leave the conversation as it was, avoiding the substance of their conversation in favor of the superficial. But then his gaze seemed to harden, almost as if he had made a decision, and suddenly he was talking again. “At first my wife and I were both so busy that we agreed that kids could wait. The wedding was so sudden that we figured we needed that bit of stability in our lives. But after a while things began to become…not hollow, I guess, but we both realized that there could be so much more. Then my brother had his kid….”

“And you wanted that, too,” Lois finished, and he nodded.

“So we decided to start down that path,” he said, though he didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t give any indication where the path had led. The Lois Lane of old would have taken that thread and pulled at it until his story unraveled, but she had already deduced that he was being deliberately vague for some reason that was important to him. Lois took the hint and didn’t prod him for additional information.

“Did you ever think about what kind of parent you’d make?” Lois asked, drawing an almost startled expression from him. “Personally, I’ve never pictured myself as a mother.”

“Why?”

“Well, given that I learned everything I know about parenting from my mother, I always figured any poor kid unlucky enough to find himself under my care would be doomed to an array of neuroses and insecurities. He or she would probably grow up highly resentful.”

Jon’s smile was warm, and when it met his eyes, they almost twinkled. “Are you saying that being the child of Mad Dog Lane would automatically inflict your kid with baggage?” at her nod, he continued. “I have to point out that any child you have would be fathered by Superman – what do you think THAT would do to him?”

“God, I hadn’t thought of that,” Lois said, and Jon laughed gently.

“I think that all a kid needs is to know that they’re loved, and everything else will take care of itself,” Jon said, and Lois nodded thoughtfully. It was a pretty laid back view of parenthood, and Lois had to wonder how anyone carrying the Lane genes could ever be so well-adjusted. Yet, inexplicably, here he was.

“It sounds like your parents did all right by you,” she said, expecting him to break eye contact and nervously change the subject, be he looked at her warmly for a long minute before speaking.

“My family has always been very close…we still are, even now that everyone has moved out of the house and built their own lives. But a little humor and a lot of love go a long way and cover for a lot of sins. Were my folks perfect parents? Of course not, because nobody’s perfect, but they did try to be good examples, they taught me right from wrong, and they made me the person I am today. The best I can do is try to emulate the example they set with my kids…if I get the opportunity.” The last part was tacked on almost as an afterthought, though Lois hadn’t heard it.

A single tear formed in the corner of her eye, and she had to turn away to avoid letting on how much his words meant. Abruptly she stood, deciding that the conversation had gotten a lot deeper than she had expected. “I should probably get going to work now,” she said, subconsciously reaching up to her eye and shooing the tear away. It was at that moment that Clark made his way down the stairs, and she was suddenly grateful for the company.

“Hey there,” he said, slipping his glasses on his face. Jon held up a hand in greeting, and Lois made her way over toward the desk to grab her briefcase.

“I was just telling Jon that I should head out,” she said, gesturing toward the couch. “Shall I tell Perry that you’re not feeling 100%?” she asked him.

“The problem is that I’m feeling about 700%,” he quipped.

She smiled. At least he was trying to keep a positive attitude. “Well, I know I’m leaving you in capable hands.” She walked up to him, cupped his arm, and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Clark kept his hands in fists like he had earlier, and although he smiled gratefully at the gesture, she knew this day would probably be torture for him. With that, she gave a glance back to Jon, then left for work.

---

Almost as soon as Lois left the house, all the wind seemed to leave Clark’s sails. Jon watched with some concern as Clark slipped dejectedly into the chair in front of the desk, eyeing the computer. “I, uh, should probably get cleaned up,” Jon said, reaching up to feel if his hair was as messy as he imagined. If anything, he decided with a sigh, it was worse. “Then, maybe, I can make us some breakfast? My father-in-law gave me the family recipe for huevos rancheros and I’ve gotten pretty good at making them, at least according to my wife.”

Clark nodded and mustered a half smile. “That sounds good. I have to say, it’s nice to have someone else around who can whip up a nice, home cooked meal.”

“What, Lois doesn’t cook?” Jon knew what the answer to that question was in his time, and he had vague memories of his mother sticking to sandwiches and pre-packaged meals when he was a kid.

“She’s trying, don’t get me wrong, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Clark said, some of his good humor coming through at last. Jon chuckled, knowing that, much like Rome, Lois’s cooking skills would take a very long time to develop.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Jon said, clapping Clark on the shoulder as he passed him on the way to the staircase. Jon was always quite appreciative of the fact that superspeed gave him the ability to essentially fast forward through some of the more mundane aspects of life, which included getting ready in the morning. Though he could certainly appreciate a long, hot shower, especially on cold days, today was all about getting through it so that he didn’t have to leave his Dad to his own devices for too long. He hadn’t proven to be the best decision maker of late, and Jon feared that if an emergency came in while he was showering, it could lead to Clark deciding that he needed to do something about it.

As if to highlight the problem, when Jon made his way back down the stairs a couple minutes later, he found Clark waving away smoke from the computer keyboard. Jon cocked his eyebrow and was about to ask what happened, but Clark shook his head. “There’s a fine line between being a fast typist and being a ‘super’ one,” he said.

“You just need a better keyboard,” Jon said with a wink. STAR Labs had helped him with that problem a while back, but only after he had burned out more than a couple keyboards in similar fashion. It took technology a while to catch up with his speed, but now he could compose an article in seconds. “Now, breakfast,” he said, striding toward the kitchen. He no sooner crossed the threshold than he became aware of a police alert for a robbery downtown. Turning his attention toward Clark, Jon could see that he heard the bulletin, too.

“Duty calls,” Clark said with a sad glance toward the wall with the suits hidden behind it.

“This shouldn’t take too long,” Jon said, then grabbed a suit and quickly headed toward the scene. Hovering high in the sky, he observed the commotion on the street at the robbery scene with a critical eye. This was just the type of activity that the red kryptonite problems of the last couple days had made him wary of – a non-violent crime that could be easily staged, in an area filled with people. Although the robbers were brandishing guns, they didn’t seem too serious about using them, and nobody on the street appeared to be anxious to get in their way. The crime was still too fresh for the police to be there yet, so there was very little possibility of anyone getting hurt. Jon was happy to watch the situation develop, and use the time to scan the crowd. Activating his x-ray vision, he immediately saw that he had been right to be wary. There, at a table in the little café next door to the bank, sat a man holding a suitcase lined with lead. The lead lining might as well be a neon sign, and it fairly screamed sinister intent. As soon as he saw it, Jon had no doubt about what was inside.

The robbers were now in their vehicle, the tires screeching as they pulled away. Jon made a note of the car’s make and model, as well as the license plate, then turned back to the man with the kryptonite. Even if the briefcase wasn’t a giant red flag, his clothing would certainly have caused alarm bells – he was wearing a long trenchcoat, pulled tightly closed, with a fedora on his head. Even his location, concealed in the shadows cast by the early morning sun, seemed designed to obfuscate. A normal person at the scene would probably have trouble making out the man’s face, but fortunately Jon wasn’t a normal man. With a quick burst of x-ray vision, Jon revealed the suspect’s face, and what he saw shocked him. “I’ll be damned,” he muttered as he instantly recognized who it was.

He had known in general terms about his father’s 1997 run-in with red kryptonite from some of the stories that had his folks had told over the years. Because of the nasty run-in his brother had with the rock a year or so earlier, those stories were actually pretty fresh in his mind. But in all the discussion of what had happened and why, the actual villain of the story had gone unmentioned, and now Jon knew why. No wonder he had never heard much about Jerry White…he had probably spent most of Jon’s formative years in prison.

With a mental shake, Jon forced himself to locate the get away vehicle again. By now it was a few blocks from the crime scene, barreling through midtown at a pretty dangerous clip. After a few more moments and with the knowledge that they were probably out of the effective range of the kryptonite, Jon flew down and landed a half block in front of the vehicle. At first it seemed as if the robbers were looking to play a game of chicken with him, but at the last moment they thought better of it and stopped. When they tried to run instead, Jon quickly intercepted each man, grabbing them in a secure yet slightly uncomfortable location and heading toward the nearest police station. Luckily for him, the locations of the police stations hadn’t changed in Metropolis over his lifetime. After dropping them off and explaining what happened to the startled officer, he quickly headed back toward the brownstone.

Landing in the living room, he didn’t even bother to take off the suit. Clark looked at him questioningly, and Jon was pretty sure that he looked as dazed as he felt. “I know who’s behind the red kryptonite problem,” he said. As Jon told him everything that had just happened, Clark stood up slowly, his initial shock quickly replaced with the type of resolve that Jon was very familiar with.

“I need to call Lois,” Clark said, taking one step toward the phone before his stomach let out a growl that was probably audible to the neighbors. He stopped abruptly, acutely embarrassed, then looked at Jon, who started to laugh almost as soon as their eyes met. A moment later Clark was laughing, and all tension in the room was gone.

“After breakfast?” Jon said, quickly changing into normal clothes.

“Deal,” Clark said, and with that, both headed into the kitchen.

Breakfast turned out well, and Jon found himself enjoying spending one-on-one time with the younger version of his father, especially now that an end to his current problems was in sight. In an odd way, it was like talking to himself, and it made Jon wonder what the passage of years would do to him – would he wind up telling bad jokes like the older version of his dad seemed to do whenever possible? Would his relatively tame rough edges be smoothed out and his personality mellow? Would his experiences in life leave him with the easy confidence that Clark would eventually develop in place of his current brashness? Would he someday look back at his younger self and shake his head at the follies of his youth? No, Jon decided, he probably wouldn’t, because he had a mentor who had tried to ensure Jon didn’t make the same mistakes he had.

As Jon cleaned up the kitchen, Clark called Lois to tell her the news, and it turned out that Lois had news of her own. While Jon and Clark were eating, a bruised and beaten Jerry White had stumbled into the Daily Planet newsroom and confessed to everything. Apparently, the crime family that had paid him protection money to keep Superman at bay didn’t take kindly to failure. Jerry voluntarily told the entire story of how he had found out about and acquired the red kryptonite, then practically begged Perry to take him to jail, if only to get out of the clutches of the crime family that had sent their goons after him. “So it’s over!” Jon said with a clap of his hands after Clark hung up, and Clark nodded enthusiastically. It was as if the weight of the world was suddenly taken off his shoulders. “Well, except for the lingering effects of the kryptonite.”

Clark waved away the concerns. “I’ve been okay today. And I’m sure that spending a nice, relaxing day at home will help this all go away.” It was a pretty cavalier attitude, and Jon frowned at the dismissiveness of it, though he didn’t say anything further. He didn’t want to be a killjoy, but he was a realist, and the reality was that nothing had actually changed, at least not as far as Clark’s health went. If Clark didn’t want to face the truth, then that meant that Jon would have to stick around a little longer to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing happened.

With renewed enthusiasm, Clark got back to work at the computer, first doing some researching, then writing an article that had been assigned to him that morning in his absence from the staff meeting. There was no big story to author about Superman’s lack of control over the last couple days, because as far as the public knew, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Superman, and there was no such thing as red kryptonite. And absent the red kryptonite angle, the Jerry White story really wasn’t a story, just a cautionary tale of what could happen when running afoul of organized crime in Metropolis. Despite the fact that this left Clark with some boring story on political maneuvering in Washington, he seemed about as happy as Jon had ever seen him.

For his part, Jon busied himself with the best morning television that 1997 had to offer. There was Regis Philbin, relatively young and spry, and Bob Barker on The Price Is Right, still asking people to spay and neuter their pets. The prices on everything from cans of pet food to the new cars seemed to be half of what they would be in Jon’s time. On a couple of occasions, Jon found his viewing interrupted by minor emergencies, but nothing that took too much time. Everything was going so smoothly that as lunchtime approached, Jon found himself contemplating how long Clark would need to stay incident-free before he could make his exit. Before those thoughts got too far, though, he heard Clark’s breath catch in his throat, followed by what could only be a hiccup. Then, suddenly, all hell broke loose. Looking toward where Clark had been, all he could see was a blur ricocheting off the walls.

Jon moved quickly, intercepting Clark and wrapping him in a bear hug until the energy coursing through him abated. Once they could both relax, Clark looked around, and Jon noted with some relief that the damage was limited to the area immediately surrounding the desk. One thing that he remembered clearly from his parents’ red kryptonite stories was the fact that its effects had caused untold damage to their house. Jon could easily image the episode leading to holes in the walls and broken furniture and knick-knacks if he hadn’t been there to help, and once again he was grateful for his presence. Depositing Clark in the righted desk chair, Jon shifted himself into superspeed and cleaned up the mess in a matter of seconds. Coming to a stop, he matched eyes with his father, and he could see that the relief that had been there at the thought that the red kryptonite was now off the streets was completely gone, replaced with a now familiar wide-eyed helplessness.

“You need to get to STAR Labs and stop this,” Jon said, trying to sound firm, leaving it unsaid that if he had done so earlier, this episode would’ve never happened. “It’s not just going to go away with a little R and R and a positive attitude.” He gave Clark a look that dared him to argue for a few long seconds, then sighed and relaxed, diverting his gaze to the window. “I need to get home,” he continued quietly. “As fun as it is to spend time with you and Lois, Jonathan and Martha, my family in my Metropolis needs me, too. Once we get you straightened out, I won’t have any other reason to stay….”

“Your rescue party?”

“Showed up last night.” Jon looked back at Clark, and was a little surprised to see shock and sadness on his face.

Slowly, Clark began to nod. “I’d be lying if I told you that didn’t want you to stay. And a selfish part me of me just wants to forget about STAR Labs and stay right here, or go hide away in some secluded mountain fortress until everything clears up. But I can’t do that to Lois, and I can’t do that to you, either.”

Jon exhaled and gave a half smile, a little gesture that mimicked his father in a way that even Clark seemed to recognize. “Thank you. Look, I know it’s hard sometimes, trying to find that balance between desire and necessity, between what’s best for you and what’s best for your family, or the world. But you’re the one who taught me how to make the right decision, and I’m better because of it. That I’m able to return a little bit of that…” Jon gestured, then forced himself to stop. These sounded suspiciously like the words a future son would say to a past version of his father, and he didn’t want to continue down that path any further than he had to.

Clark stepped forward and laid a hand on Jon’s shoulder, his eyes speaking of understanding. “Let’s go,” he said.

“You want me to come along?”

“You’re providing the transportation,” Clark said with a crooked smile. “Besides, it might be time for you to meet Dr. Klein.”

Jon’s eyes widened with recognition. Dr. Bernard Klein, personal physician of Superman for 20 years, and of Jon and his siblings for most of that time, too. He was also the one who told Jon’s folks that they couldn’t have children, a fact that had been repeated many times when Jon was a kid, most notably when his mom found out she was pregnant with each of his siblings. Given Dr. Klein’s curiosity and knowledge of Kryptonian anatomy, Jon wasn’t too sure he wanted to go face-to-face with him right now – if anyone could figure out the truth, it was him. “Tell you what, I’ll drop you off and then be on my way. I’m sure Dr. Klein is a really nice guy, but the fewer people who know I’m here, the better.” Jon shrugged.

“So, then you’ll be leaving?” Jon nodded. “I think maybe Lois should meet us there so she can say goodbye.

“Yeah,” Jon said with a small voice. A moment later, Clark was on the phone, telling Lois to meet them at STAR labs in ten minutes.

Ten minutes was an eternity for someone who could move as fast as Jon, but now that he knew these would be the last ten minutes he would be spending in this place, it went by entirely too quickly. Clark took the time to change into a suit at normal speed, careful not to exert himself and cause another episode. Jon took the opportunity to surreptitiously grab his phone and charger, and leave a little note of thanks on the desk. After a moment of thought, he also found a pen and wrote a note to his brother on the inside flap of what would become his favorite, most dog-eared book. The note was a silly inside joke, something that might make him question his sanity in his teenaged years and could certainly be played for laughs when he got home.

When the time came to leave, Jon changed into his own uniform, gladly leaving the blue spandex and red cape for its rightful owner. There really was only one Superman when you came right down to it. Jon provided the flight to the office, which took a matter of seconds. A quick scan located Lois in the alley next to the STAR Labs building, hiding deep in the shadows. Jon landed, depositing Clark next to his wife, though he still seemed unwilling to touch her for the time being. Lois and Clark exchanged a non-verbal greeting, then both turned to him. Clark extended his hand, and Jon shook it. “It was so great to meet you,” he said. “If only we had more time….”

“I wish it was under better circumstances,” Jon said, then looked at Lois, who was regarding him with an odd expression. Even since their conversation that morning, Jon had felt that Lois knew something, or at least suspected something, that she shouldn’t know. It was hard to put his finger on how or why he thought that, though he knew his mother well enough to know when she was holding back or when she was humoring him. She looked at him for a long moment, and even though he stuck out his hand for her to shake, she just looked at it.

Clark watched the interplay with some curiosity, but after a moment, he turned toward the side door to the building. “I should go in and get this over with,” he said, reluctance still heavy in his voice.

“Are you sure green kryptonite will do the trick? That there’s no other way?” Lois asked. She turned her eyes back toward Clark, and Jon slowly brought his hand back to his side.

“It makes sense,” Clark said. “And even if it goes too far and takes all the powers away, at least we’ve solved the problem.”

Lois looked back at Jon, the question lingering. “The only other way is to wait for it to go away. But given the number of times he’s been exposed, it could be a while. And in the meantime there’s no telling what kind of destruction might happen.”

Lois sighed. “You’ll stick around to make sure everything goes okay?” she asked Jon. At his nod, she turned back to Clark, putting her hand on his arm. “I’ll be here, if you need me.” They looked longingly at each other for a few moments, then Clark nodded and stepped away.

“Wish me luck,” he said softly, walking toward the door.

“You won’t need it,” Jon said, drawing a half smile from Clark as a reward. Once Clark entered the building, Jon addressed Lois again. “I’m going to go across the street, away from any potential effects of the kryptonite.”

“Take me with you,” Lois said quickly, almost too quickly. “I, uh, still need to say my goodbye.”

“Okay,” Jon said. It felt odd picking his mother up, cradling her as his dad always did. The gesture was more intimate that he had hoped, but at the same time, carrying her with an arm around the waist like he held strangers didn’t seem right, either. The flight was mercifully short, and they quickly landed atop the building across the street. As he put her down, she straightened out her clothes in a fidgety, nervous way, and he realized that this was just as odd to her as it was to him. Silence drug on for a long moment and it began to feel awkward, so Jon took the opportunity to look into STAR labs to see how everything was going. “Clark’s talking with Dr. Klein now,” he said, waiting for Lois to answer with some mundane small talk.

Instead, she stepped in front of him and embraced him warmly, tightly, almost too tightly. It was an embrace that Jon knew well, and he couldn’t stop himself from returning it. “I’m so glad that you came into our lives,” Lois said into his chest, a statement that could be taken with much more value than just the superficial. “It’s been an education, to see what life could be like with you in it…how it’s like in your Metropolis.”

“Thanks for all your hospitality,” Jon said, his voice small. “This trip has certainly been something I will always remember.”

Lois seemed almost reluctant to let Jon go, but after some hesitation she finally did, wiping the back of her hand across her cheek again to catch a stray tear. It seemed like she was going to say something, but at that moment Jon felt something that made him wince, the pain a shadow of something far worse that he had felt in the past. He reached out and put a hand on Lois’s shoulder to steady himself. “Kryptonite?” she asked, and he nodded. The pain lasted only a second or two, then was gone. Straightening up, he looked back inside STAR labs, and saw Clark standing tall, doing a quick check of his powers – bending a piece of steel, floating a few inches off the floor, setting a piece of scrap paper on fire and quickly squelching the flames. Finally, his eyes met Jon’s, and he gave a small thumbs up gesture. Jon felt relief course through him.

“Everything is going to be fine,” Jon said with a smile, looking a Lois. “Come on, I’ll bring you back.” Before she had a chance to respond, he gathered her up again and quickly deposited her where they had been in the alley. Jon set her down and quickly stepped away, though he noted that his mother didn’t seem at all disoriented by the suddenness of their quick flight. She had no doubt been quite literally swept off her feet plenty of times before by her husband. “Can you get where you need to from here?” he asked.

Lois nodded, pointing her thumb down the street. “I brought the Jeep. Though it looks like Clark can also help now, thanks to you.” She smiled at him in silence, then nodded. “My best to your family,” she said. It was a farewell, he knew, said in a way that spoke of a secret shared. They stood like that in silence for a moment, then he held up his hand and took off.