Free Falling, Part 1 of ?
By: C. Leuch
NOTE: This is another in my Kent Family series. This takes place after Relative History.
***
Laura Kent-Owens settled into the rocking chair as the last words of a lullaby escaped her lips, watching anxiously to see if her daughter would stay still. Now just over one year old, Lilly Ann had taken her parents’ life by storm, entering the world on a night filled with violent storms, almost as if the heavens knew the force of nature that had been unleashed that day. Everything she did, she did at her own pace and on her own schedule, regardless of what her parents wanted. It was something that could be aggravating on the best days, but at the same time, Laura felt an unmistakable pang of pride whenever her daughter asserted her independence. She was sure it would be less cute once the teenage years came around, but she would let that sort itself out when the time came. For now, it was enough to know that their tiny tornado could, in fact, be tamed at bedtime, given a big sippy cup of milk, a few stories, and a lullaby. Tonight it seemed that they had done the trick, and as the seconds ticked into minutes, it was apparent that the little one had drifted off to sleep. Satisfied, Laura floated out of the chair and made her way out of the room.
Her feet hit the ground once the door latched behind her. After one last, long glance toward her daughter, she made her way through the apartment and back into the living area, where Matt was typing furiously on a computer keyboard. Now that his first book had been released to modest sales and stellar reviews, his publisher was asking for more, and Matt was happy to oblige. She paused to watch him for a moment, his head bobbing to the beat of the music blasting through his headphones, and she didn’t even need to activate her super hearing to be able to make it out. The light from the setting sun cast a bright pink light across the room and onto his back, turning his yellow shirt a loud orange, and his dusty blonde hair ginger. It was odd how colorful sunsets had been of late, to the point that it had caught the attention of the local news anchors. Often, forest fires in Canada would fuel such phenomena, but those also tended to cause a steel gray sky even during the brightest days, but there were no fires up north, and no explanation given for what was causing it, though she had to admit that it made the world seem more colorful.
Matt seemed deeply engrossed in his writing, and she almost hated to interrupt him while the words were flowing so freely. But she had some things to do tonight, and she didn’t want to leave without letting him know. Slowly, she approached him, marveling at how strong her feelings for him were, even while watching him do such a mundane thing. He was the father of their child, he was brilliant and creative, and incredibly supportive, especially considering how complex their lives had become in recent months. Her hand brushed on Matt’s shoulder, stilling his fingers and diverting his attention from his work. He quickly knocked the headphones off his ears and looked up toward her with a smile.
“She’s down,” Laura said, then leaned in to kiss him.
“That was quick,” he answered.
“Well, I think Mom and Dad wore her out today. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh so hard.” Lois and Clark had come up for the day, showering their attention on Lilly, and mercifully giving Matt and Laura a little time to themselves. The baby had come only a couple months after they had been married, and their honeymoon period had been filled with lot of sleepless nights with the baby, press tours for Matt’s new book, and the debut of Superwoman. Add to it that they still had to earn incomes, and sometimes it felt like they never saw each other anymore.
“You’re probably right,” he said with a nod. “It was nice of them to give us a little…alone time.” He stood and wrapped an arm around her, leaning in for another kiss.
“Mmmm, yes,” she answered, licking her lips, flashes of memories from that afternoon coming to mind.
“Speaking of alone…the baby is asleep…”
She leaned into him, her body begging her to give him just five minutes to continue what they started that afternoon. It was so very tempting, but… there were only so many hours in the day, and they had already spent too much time that day indulging in themselves, and there was so much more to be done. Sighing heavily, she pulled out of his embrace. “Unfortunately, all that…fun this afternoon means that I need to catch up on work on my project.”
After taking a few months to be a stay-at-home mom when Lilly came along, Laura had returned to school with the start of the winter semester, this time in pursuit of her master’s degree. Adding school to everything else in her life sometimes felt overwhelming. It took a truly superhuman effort to be able to do all that needed to be done around the house, study, work on her master’s project, earn some money as a teacher’s assistant, occasionally save the world, and give enough of her time to the important people in her life that they didn’t feel neglected. She was aware that she wasn’t the only mother in the world trying to balance college with real life, though nobody else had a second career as a superhero to consider.
“Need to go out for a while?” Matt asked, and she nodded.
“Shouldn’t take too long. Then, after, if you’re not too busy….” She ran a finger down his chest and shifted her weight to one leg.
He pulled his arms tighter around her. “Ooh, I will be counting the minutes.” He planted a few kisses along her neck and jaw line, then let her go. She gave him her widest smile, then stepped away and became a blur, changing into her uniform. She no longer wore the almost black outfit that had followed her from Metropolis to Gotham. Once her other persona had gone public, she figured it was time to make the change to a brighter suit. This one still had plenty of black, but it also had some patterns in fuchsia, and a one foot wide silver S shield over her heart. Her hair still gathered over her head, though now she often braided it first. A black mask still covered her face, but she now wore short gloves with frills at the wrist, and a silk flower in her hair. Tonight she also carried a backpack containing supplies and her phone. She paused just long enough to catch the appreciation in her husband’s gaze, then made her way toward the patio door.
“Love you,” she said, then took off.
“Love you, too,” he answered as she flew away. She heard him sigh as she set her sights on the sky over the upper Midwest, and she promised herself that it wouldn’t take the intervention of her parents to give them some private time in the future. With a shake of her head, she gained altitude, dodging flight paths before finally coming to a stop several miles above the great lakes. Without hesitation, she shrugged her backpack off and started rooting around, pulling out a large map, clip board, and pencil. The geology of the great lakes area was fascinating, and her master’s project revolved around trying to figure out how they came to be, and cataloging the formations that controlled how they were today. X-ray vision came in very handy for this task, allowing her to see through the water to the lake floor, and below. So far she had cataloged Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, tracing rock formations on the maps, noting locations of ancient impact craters and faults, and even fossils that she saw. Someday she would procure equipment to make the discoveries official, but this investigation at least gave her an idea of where to start.
It was hard to tell how long she had her sights set on Lake Ontario before she became aware of the fact that she was cold. The sun, still very pink from her vantage point, now sat low on the western horizon, the stars shining brightly overhead. She knew academically that the atmosphere was very cold where she was, even in the depths of summer, and although she supposed that she had felt it before, it had never made her physically cold. Now, though, she flexed her fingers, aware that they were cool and stiff. A shiver passed through her body and she brought her arms in next to her to help warm her up somewhat, but spandex wasn’t exactly well-insulated, and it only served to make her aware of how chilly she truly was. She didn’t have the time to ponder it, though, as she felt herself start to lose altitude.
“What…?” she asked, momentarily losing a grip on her clipboard and pencil. With great effort, she forced herself to stop, though she found that she was shaking now - whether it was from cold or from the shock of the fall, she wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was time to call it a night, she decided, placing her supplies back in her bag. No sooner had she zipped it up than she found herself falling again, and this time, no amount of concentration seemed to be able to stop it. She looked down in terror, making note of all the towns and infrastructure that were her potential flight path. Quickly, she decided that if she couldn’t stop her descent, she could at least try to alter her path so that she didn’t do any damage when she inevitably crashed. Willing herself to the east, she found herself veering ever so slightly, taking her trajectory toward Ohio. In a perfect world, she supposed that her ideal landing spot would be close to Metropolis, but the ground was approaching more quickly every moment, and any changes that could be made at this point surely weren’t enough to get her home, and probably wouldn’t even get her out of the state. She was going to crash in Ohio, and from there…she would probably be stranded, or worse.
No, that wasn’t exactly true, she reminded herself. Matt’s parents lived in the state, and even though they had no idea she was a costumed crime fighter, they were still friendly, familiar faces. They lived on an acreage, far enough outside of town that they didn’t have any immediate neighbors. She could crash on their property without raising too much of a fuss, she was sure. It took all of her concentration to alter her path, but as the ground grew frighteningly close, she could see their house, their land, and she knew she would be okay. Content that she was now in the right path, she rolled so that her back was facing the ground and curled into a fetal position, protecting her backpack and its precious contents, the results of months of labor. Then, knowing that the collision was imminent, she closed her eyes and succumbed, relaxed, and waited.
Then the collision came, and everything went black.
***
Fire licked at Jon Kent’s feet as he hovered in the air, observing the massive inferno that engulfed the buildings below him. The fire had started in a grain elevator in a small town about 20 miles northwest of San Antonio, quickly igniting the dust in the air and rapidly enveloping the neighboring co-op buildings. Local forces had been overwhelmed from the start, and the fire had spread first to one block, then another, until it threatened a nursing home. The fire had caught his attention when he was ferrying his mother-in-law between San Antonio and Metropolis for a girl’s day with Diane. Although he was slated to look after the twins that evening, he decided to take care of the fire first, figuring that it shouldn’t take to terribly long. The first order of business had been evacuating the nursing home, which had been slow going due to the fragile nature of the patients. Many were sustained by complex machinery that couldn’t just be picked up and moved, and it took constant consultation with doctors to determine the best way to get some of the residents out. Judging by the relative darkness of the night sky above him, he assumed that an hour or two had passed since he had first arrived, his quick operation turning into a much more time-consuming job, but the evacuation was now complete. The fire, on the other hand, raged on.
He took a short break from action and looked around with an appraising eye. Fire fighters from several towns were attempting to tackle the fire, but so far, the best they had been able to do was to stop it from spreading further. A dozen tanker trucks lined the streets around the perimeter of the affected area, sending arcs of water into the flames. Despite the danger that the fire held, townfolks and media lined up as close as they could, crowding barricades, cheering the successes and gasping at the small explosions that came from time to time. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for possible hazards – children just waiting to run toward the flames, casualties, or those who might cause trouble. He made a mental catalog, vowing to follow up once the immediate danger had passed, and was about to turn his attention back toward the flames when a familiar face caught his attention. There, on the very outskirts of the crowd, leaning up next to a pickup truck and looking him right in the eye, was Diane’s father. At Jon’s recognition, he nodded and gave the barest smile. For a moment Jon was too surprised to move, but the moment quickly passed. Blinking, Jon nodded back, then decided to get to work on the fire.
His first point of attack was the grain elevator at the epicenter of the blaze, where everything had started. It was the hottest part of the fire, and had an almost endless supply of fuel thanks to the corn stored inside. If he cut that off and tackled the fire from the inside out, it should greatly help the cause. He floated gently toward the silo, and as he took in a deep breath, he became aware of a stream of moisture working its way down his forehead. The bead of sweat stung his eye as he exhaled a blast of cooling breath, and he found himself distracted enough that the air appeared to miss its target. He quickly took another breath, hoping to quickly correct his mistake, but this time the heat from the smoke and embers floating in the air caused a burning sensation in his chest, and he began to cough. What on earth…? He’d fought hundreds of fires over the years, often with smoke much thicker than was present here, and it had never bothered him before. There was no reason that it should be bothering him, now, either, but as the seconds ticked by and he continued to choke on the smoke, there was no denying that something was wrong.
Panic began to creep into his subconscious, displacing the confusion, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, not while the fire continued to rage around him. More sweat leaked into his eyes, but he rubbed it away, determined. He started to take a breath again, but realized that he wasn’t as high in the air as he had been. The flames that had licked his feet were now reaching toward his midsection, and his pants, close enough to his skin to slide under his aura during normal circumstances, were starting to smolder. Before he could even begin to ponder what exactly was happening, he found himself in free fall, and in the next moment he hit the ground in a spray of sparks, crashing next to the burned-out husk of an office building adjacent to the elevator. He let out a scream of surprise as he realized that it felt hot, painfully hot. Every breath he took now burned, and the portions of his body in contact with the ground were now numb.
This was some bad nightmare, it had to be. Everything around him was illuminated in shades of yellow and orange, creating dancing shadows that distorted shapes and made the whole landscape unrecognizable. The longer he stayed rooted to his spot, the more it felt as if his whole body was on fire. He was in real danger, he realized as his breathing became more pained. Crimson Superman, who had fought hurricanes, collapsed skyscrapers, and even visited the moon under his own power, a man who was supposed to be invulnerable, was going to die in the middle of a fire unless he could get himself out of there fast. But there were no firefighters around to help – none would dare venture this deep into the inferno. He had to get out of this himself, no matter how much it hurt, and that thought spurred him on. Scrambling to his feet, he stumbled forward toward a dark gap in the flames, then kept going. His eyes burned in the smoke, and eventually he had drape his arm across them, going blindly, not daring to feel with his hand, which was already starting to blister after being contact with the embers when he landed.
It felt like an eternity that he staggered forward, but eventually he felt the heat subside, and felt solid ground under his feet. Uncovering his eyes, he squinted against the light, and realized that he was now on a street about a block from where he had initially landed. He was still within the footprint of the fire, away from the rescue workers, but a path out was now available, the street was relatively clear, and if he followed it to the end…. He straightened up as he realized that the end of the street led very near to where he had seen his father-in-law. With renewed purpose, Jon started to jog, ignoring the pain in his feet and legs. As he neared the outskirts of the fire, he noticed a few people gathered, and he veered toward the walls of the buildings, not wanting to be seen. He stopped to catch his breath, pondering how he could possibly get out of there without the world knowing that he was... he shook his head. Positive thoughts. He leaned his head back against the brick of the building and closed his eyes, thinking, but the thoughts were stopped as he heard someone say his name from very close.
“Jon?” said the loud whisper, and Jon immediately turned toward the source. A wave of relief washed over him as he saw Cruz Martinez standing there, a blanket in hand.
“Am I glad you’re here,” Jon said, pushing away from the building. The action caused him to cough a few times, bringing a look of concern from his father-in-law. The concern only grew as he got a better look at Jon’s body.
“Yeah, son, me too,” Cruz said. “Now come on, let’s get you out of here.” He wrapped the blanket around Jon, covering his uniform and obscuring his face, then wrapped an arm around his shoulders and guided Jon ever so slowly toward his truck. At first they walked in silence, then, as they approached some people, he started to speak again. “I don’t know what you were doing, running into the fire like that. I don’t care if you left your phone on your desk, it’s not worth risking your life for.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” Jon said, recognizing the playacting for what it was. He let himself continue to be led, his eyes directed steadfastly toward the ground.
“Now let’s get you home so your mother can take care of these burns,” Cruz continued, reaching for the door handle and pulling it open.
“Hey, man,” one of the bystanders said. “Don’t ya think maybe he should get to an ambulance?” Jon glanced up and saw the man pointing toward his legs. Jon let himself look, and was shocked at what he saw. The knees of his pants were burned away, and his skin was blistered beneath it. It was probably a minor blessing that he was still numb, because he was sure it would feel worse than it looked once the feeling came back.
“My wife’s a nurse,” Cruz lied, gesturing for Jon to get in to the truck, which he gladly did. As Cruz’s arm fell away from Jon’s shoulders, Jon moved to clutch the blanket and hold it closed with his right hand, but he quickly pulled it away with a curse. Turning the hand over, he realized that it, too, was blistered and raw. Cruz gave him a long, sad look, patted his arm gently, then closed the door, walking quickly over to the driver’s side and getting in. Without hesitation, he started the truck and pulled away from the crowd. Only then did Jon let himself relax.
It was silent in the truck as Cruz guided it out of town, but once he hit the highway, he looked back over at Jon. “How…what happened?”
Jon looked at him, then turned his gaze out the window, back toward the fire that still raged on. His relationship with his father-in-law was hard to define. They had only met once Jon and Diane had been dating for quite some time, and by then he had built up an image of an angry, overbearing man who would hate him on sight and never deem him worthy of his daughter no matter what he did or said. But the truth did not match his expectations at all, and the man he found instead was somewhat quiet and tentative, and very accepting of Jon. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had lost contact with his daughter for so many years and didn’t want to scare her away again once she had come back, he wasn’t sure. For many years after he and Diane were married, Jon only ever saw his in-laws on holidays, and he was never alone with them for more than minute or two, which made it hard to get to know them very well. They probably felt like they didn’t know him well, either, but they always treated him like a true member of the family. Then, once the twins came around, Jon and Diane revealed Jon’s other identity to them. It had been a logical choice, made to draw the family closer together, and give them greater access to their grandchildren via Superman Express. But Jon had sensed a shift in how he was perceived by them, one that made him a little uncomfortable. He was still treated warmly, still greeted with a smile, but their gazes always seemed to linger on him a little too long. It was a look that he knew all too well, and had seen on the faces of countless people in the crowd every time he went out and performed super feats. He kept waiting for a moment when they would sit down as family and he would answer any questions they had, alleviate their fears or misconceptions and allow them to view him as just another person again, but they just didn’t work that way. Diane had told him that her family didn’t talk about things like that, that they didn’t really address their feelings, and he hadn’t believed her because it was anathema to how he was taught and how he thought all families should operate, but she had been absolutely right. Their relationship persisted on this strange level, friendly but not really loving per se, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The idea of confiding in his father-in-law, of being stuck in a car alone with him, of being rescued by him, was so odd that it was hard to process. But here they were. Maybe this was the opportunity he had been waiting for; maybe confiding in him and talking things through with him would lead to a new understanding. It certainly couldn’t hurt.
“I don’t know,” said Jon.
“Has it ever happened before?”
Jon shook his head. “No. Well, kinda. Have you heard of kryptonite?”
“Green rock, right?”
“It’s basically poison for us. The only other time anything remotely like this has happened before was when I was exposed to that. But believe me, when you get hit with kryptonite, you know it. It’s….” he exhaled and shook his head. He had enough problems without reliving that feeling.
“Bad?”
“I passed out the first time I was exposed to it. Diane thought it killed me.”
Cruz was silent for a moment. “She never told me about that.”
Jon gave a slight smile. “She probably wanted to forget.” The ride was quiet for a few minutes, then Cruz leaned over and turned on the radio. They were picking up a rock station from San Antonio, and the glow from the City could now be seen not too far off on the horizon. “So, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but… why were you there tonight?”
Cruz sighed, though as Jon looked toward him, he could see the barest smile on his face. “I was just…curious, I guess.”
Jon smiled back. “I can understand that.”
“This isn’t Metropolis or Gotham. We don’t get to see you do your work, except on television. I just wanted to see.”
Jon nodded, letting the music on the radio play for a moment before responding. “When I first found out about my dad, I did the same thing. I’d go blend into the crowd and watch him do his thing, in awe the whole time. I always sort of figured that I was being inconspicuous, that he had no idea I was there, because he never said anything or even so much as looked my way. But I bet he knew….”
Cruz chuckled. “So you DO understand.”
Probably more than he realized, Jon thought. Watching Superman perform his super feats helped him to find his father behind the guy in the spandex. It was humbling to think that Cruz was going to the same effort to try and understand him. “Yeah,” he answered quietly.
“But you found me tonight in that crowd,” Cruz continued, and Jon bobbed his head. “What would you have done, if fate hadn’t stepped in? Would you have stopped by, said hi?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Jon answered. They were passing a few scattered hotels and restaurants now, finally reaching the outskirts of town. “But…probably not, or at least not there. You understand, it’s about protecting you from scrutiny.”
“I get it,” Cruz said. Jon expected to hear hurt in his voice, but he seemed to genuinely understand. “You attract a lot of attention.”
“And we couldn’t really talk in public anyway. It’s an image thing more than anything. When you wear the S, you’re supposed to be…stoic, I guess. Commanding.”
Cruz gave him a sideways glance and a small smile. “You’re saying you’re not? When not wearing the S, I mean.”
Jon gave Cruz a long look, wondering if he’d been holding out on him. “I think your daughter would give an emphatic no.”
Jon felt his smile widen and Cruz laughed gently. “Our wives know us better than we know ourselves sometimes, huh?”
“Oh, I would agree with her on this one.” He let his grin linger as his mind turned toward his wife. She had probably expected him home hours ago, but she knew that the job sometimes entailed longer hours than expected, that things rarely went according to plan. She deserved to know what was going on, if only so that should could move on with whatever plans she had for the evening. “Speaking of our wives…. I should call.”
“Oh, right. I should’ve thought of that,” Cruz said.
Jon usually kept his phone in his front right pants pocket, and as he absently went to reach for it, the movement caused the pain in his hand to come back, shooting up his forearm and causing him to wince. He gently turned the hand over to look at it, and was shocked to see that the giant blister that took up most of the palm of his hand was now weeping. He stared at if for a long moment, uncertain that this was his hand he was looking at, though the pain made it clear. Losing his powers was one thing, but this…he flexed his fingers and quickly stopped, the action bringing more shooting pains. This was bad, and it happened so suddenly. How COULD his powers just go away, right in the middle of action, without any kind of warning? He would spare no effort in looking into it after they got to his father-in-law’s house, but first things first. Gently laying his wounded hand the hand in his lap, he reached over with his left and awkwardly pulled the phone out of his pocket. The phone was a little worse for the wear, the heat from the fire causing the plastics to deform and the screen to discolor. It still worked, though, thankfully.
Diane seemed relieved to hear his voice, and she didn’t seem to begrudge him the extra time he had been away. Truth be told, the kids weren’t acting like themselves, so having her mother there to help comfort them had been a blessing. Jon filed that information in the back of his mind – his kids were generally healthy, almost super healthy, so the times when they weren’t were noteworthy. Jon related his story, what had happened and where he now found himself, and Diane’s first question had been the same as her father’s. The second question was how he was planning to get home.
“I can’t do anything tonight,” he told her. “It’s too late to catch a flight, and anyway I look like a guy who just fell into a fire. I’m not in any shape to go anywhere. Maybe some time in the sun tomorrow will help bring things back.”
“And if it doesn’t?” she asked, and he was silent for a moment. He preferred not to think about what would happen if the powers stayed away, but…if he didn’t know how they left, how would he know they would come back?
“I’ll worry about that tomorrow,” he answered quietly. There was silence on the other end, and his mind’s eye gave him a very clear indication of the expression on her face. He sighed. “If I can’t fly myself, then I’ll just go the conventional way.”
“Just…don’t be gone too long. And…you’ll be okay with my dad?” she asked. There was skepticism behind her words, and for good reason, given their history.
“We’ll be fine, don’t worry. He’s already saved my bacon once… we’re getting on like old pals.”
Jon looked toward Cruz, and saw his eyebrows raised. Jon and Diane exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then they ended the call. Jon shoved the phone back in his pocket and looked around, noting that they were getting close to his in-law’s house.
“You don’t mind me sticking around for a night?” he asked.
Cruz smiled, glancing toward Jon. “Well, as much as I was looking forward to having the house to myself for the weekend, I have to admit that it might be nice to have you around… to get to know you…maybe get to talk a little…”
“Yeah,” Jon answered. He had to admit that this was probably the opportunity that he had been looking for. “I’d like that.”
With that, they went silent again in the truck cab, but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable.
