Free Falling, Part 7
By: C. Leuch
Jon looked down toward the notebook in his lap and the list of questions written upon it, crossing off another line. The interview had been going pretty well so far, inasmuch as it had been relatively friendly and conflict-free, though it wasn’t turning out to be anything special. The vice president that he was speaking to didn’t seem to be all that knowledgeable on the technical side of things, though he did hit all the company’s well-worn marketing points several times over. What kinds of experiments would the satellite program be carrying out? “Important missions to determine ways to combat global climate change and prevent cataclysmic damage due to the resulting change in weather patterns.” When pushed for more details, the VP only reiterated that the experiments were important and potentially groundbreaking, but would provide no further information. Who was the leadership behind the satellite program? “A dedicated team of knowledgeable personnel with years of experience on the cutting edge of science.” But no names. The whole interview had largely been slogans without much substance or heft.
Jon was about to ask another question, when the office door behind him cracked open. The VP looked up in mild annoyance at the interruption, but the visitor was not waiting for permission to enter. Pushing his way into the office, he muttered an “excuse me,” with a glance toward Jon before approaching the VP, getting almost inappropriately close, and whispering something into his ear, causing the VP to go pale. Jon’s lack of superhearing had long ago gotten old, and he hated not being able to listen in on all the office chatter or tips about potential problems. But he didn’t need superhearing to know what was being discussed here, and he felt a sudden jolt of adrenaline. If the VP was being summoned, that must mean that CJ managed to break into their system. It didn’t seem like enough time had passed for him to accomplish what he needed, but Jon hadn’t exactly been keeping a close eye on the clock.
The VP stood abruptly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Kent, but we’re going to need to cut this interview short,” he said.
Jon stood, too. “Is there a problem?” he asked innocently.
The smile on the VP’s face was completely phony. “No, no, the engineers just needed me to look at something before they finalize it. Nothing to worry about at all.” He gestured toward the door, and Jon exited the office. As he did, he noticed people scrambling around. He would gladly plant himself in that spot for a while and watch the chaos unfold, but the VP was ushering him back toward the lobby, and he ostensibly had no reason to believe that anything was going wrong.
As they reached the lobby, the VP shook his hand and wished him well, then practically sprinted back toward the chaos. At the receptionist’s desk, Cruz was still leaning lazily against the counter, rambling at the bored looking secretary about the finer points of the latest hit baking show. “Oh, mister Kent. Back so soon?” he asked, perfectly unfazed by the action around him.
Jon looked around, noticing that people were now crossing the lobby toward his location, panicky expressions on their faces. “Looks like I picked a heck of a time to show up. My host said that there was nothing going on, but you could sure fool me.”
Cruz pushed away from the counter. “Hey, you’re a reporter, right? Maybe you picked the perfect time to come here. I’d pay a quarter to know what the hubbub is.”
While Cruz spoke, the secretary’s phone rang. Her responses were nothing interesting – a few one-word answers and some grunts. But once she hung up the phone, she stood and motioned toward the door. “The boss says no visitors,” she said. “We’ve had a security breach and need to close up shop to deal with that.”
“Now THAT sounds interesting,” Cruz said with a smile.
Jon nodded and scribbled in his notebook. “Security breach, huh?” he said, causing the secretary’s eyes to widen. “He didn’t happen to give any additional information, did he?”
She stepped sideways around the counter and began to shoo them toward the exit. “No, he didn’t. Thanks for visiting,” she said, inching them closer to the door.
“Come on, Mr. Martinez,” Jon said. “Looks like it’s time to go.” With a shrug, Cruz turned toward the door and walked out with Jon close behind. As soon as the door closed, he heard Cruz suppressing a laugh, which caused Jon to grin. Walking a few more step and emerging from under the canopy, his grin widened, and he found himself stopping, his face turning skyward and his eyes closing as the sun washed over him.
“Jon?” he heard Cruz say from what sounded like far away, and the spell was broken. Reluctantly, Jon lowered his gaze and began moving toward Cruz’s truck again. “Is something wrong?”
“Can you feel it?” Jon asked, gesturing toward the sky. “Better yet, can you see it?”
“It does seem brighter,” Cruz said, shading his eyes and looking up.
“CJ did it,” Jon said quietly, feeling almost giddy. “The sun is yellow again.” As he reached the door to the truck, he pulled it open, then tossed his notebook into the back, followed by his suit jacket and tie. As quickly as he could with his bandaged hand, he unbuttoned the top couple button on his shirt and undid the buttons on his cuffs, rolling his sleeves up to the elbows. Cruz gave him an amused smile, then climbed into the driver’s seat. After a minute Jon, too, sat down, then started laughing, which also caused Cruz to laugh. Jon laughed until his sides hurt, then laughed some more, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. He just knew that he felt fantastic, and the laughter seemed to clear any lingering negative thoughts out of his mind. Finally, as things started to calm down, he extended his right hand toward Cruz. “I can’t thank you enough for your help with this.”
Cruz took the offered hand immediately, then pulled Jon toward him and wrapped his other arm around him in a one-armed hug. “It was my pleasure. This was a lot of fun. I never knew I had it in me to be an actor.”
Jon hugged him back. “You never know until you try, right?”
They pulled apart, and Cruz looked at him with respect and maybe a touch of awe. “You rub off on a person, you know?”
Jon blushed and looked away. “Not used to being the hero of the story?” he asked, and Cruz chuckled again, then started up the car.
“You’re the hero – this was all your plan. I haven’t been the hero of any story for a long time,” he said quietly, gripping the wheel and looking off into the distance. “I should be thanking you. I’ve felt more alive this weekend than I can ever remember.”
Jon shrugged. “All I did was take advantage of your hospitality, then drag you into one of our schemes. You did the hard stuff – you took the initiative to even see me in the first place, you gave me a place to stay and an ear to bend, then you carried out the hard part of the plot. Make no mistake, I was the sidekick this time around,” Jon said, and this time it was Cruz’s turn to blush.
It was quiet in the car for a few minutes as they pulled away from the office and back out onto the streets. “Well, I just wanted to thank you for being you,” Cruz said, then looked at him with a smile. “And for bringing a little excitement to my dull existence.”
“You’re welcome?” Jon said and they both grinned at each other.
“See, was that so hard?” Cruz asked.
“No, I suppose not.”
“So…going home how?” Cruz asked.
“No, it’ll take a while to charge up. But maybe shortly after we get back….”
Silence dragged on again for a few long minutes. “I don’t suppose I could persuade you to bring me with you when you go back to Metropolis?” Cruz asked.
Jon smiled. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, and Cruz guided his truck onto the interstate and back toward Corpus Christi.
***
Laura Kent was aware of the change in the light coming in through the window the second the satellites were disabled. It was like someone turning on a light switch, or the world coming out from under a thick, red tinted cloud. It had been hard to grasp all the ways the world had looked different prior to that, from the violet hue to the sky to the intense pink of the sunlight, the way that the shadows seemed darker and the world generally more gloomy. But having the sun shine with its full intensity instantly cheered her spirits, and she knew she wasn’t alone. Even the plants seemed perkier. The blinds in Jen’s office had already been wide open, but with the change in light quality, Laura found herself drawn to the window, staring up at the sky as all the other thoughts that had been swirling around in her mind just went away. The dull headache that had persisted the whole day, the stiffness in her body and the sometimes sharp pain in her back from her crash landing, almost immediately began to fade away.
“Go,” Jen said to her, breaking the spell. Laura looked toward her sister-in-law in confusion, and was greeted with a knowing smile. “Outside,” Jen continued. “You need all the sunlight you can get. And I think I can handle the research for a while.”
Laura nodded gratefully, fighting the urge to punch the window and leap outside from that very spot. “I’ll be back before too long,” she said, then turned to leave the room.
“Don’t hurry on my account,” Jen called behind her. “Take your time.”
“Okay,” Laura called out, then started almost jogging down the hallway toward the nearest door to the exterior, which lead out from Bruce’s study. He was down in the cave, she knew, which meant there was little danger that she might run into him. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Bruce, per se, but he was an extremely difficult person for her to read. She could never quite tell what he was thinking, and when he gave her a hard stare, the chances were probably fifty fifty that he would end up saying nothing to her, which was incredibly unnerving. Was he assessing something about her appearance? Her latest action on the hero scene? Did she say something to someone that he didn’t like? Did she just have something stuck in her teeth? He was so different from anyone else in her life, and the total opposite of her Dad in so many ways. Eventually, Laura came to the decision that she wasn’t going to let him bother her, that it didn’t matter what he thought of her, or if he disapproved of her in some way. Still, she did her best to avoid him whenever possible.
The study was very dark, which wasn’t unusual. A door off the back side of the room led to a balcony, which overlooked the back garden of the house, roughly 8 feet below. Normally such a drop wouldn’t bother her, but today her ankles fairly screamed out in warning as she reached the balcony railing. She looked up at the sun, now unobscured by glass, and let the rays wash over her and give her power. Without another thought, she jumped over the railing, landing on the grass below a second later, pain free. With a smile, she strode toward the garden, and the many varieties of carefully maintained flowers. The term “stopping to smell the roses” took special meaning to her in that moment, so she decided to do just that. She felt happy, amazing, really, and the fragrant smells of the flowers around her only seemed to reinforce that. Time lost all meaning as she wove between the plants, eventually wandering around to the other side of the mansion, where the patio that hosted most of the family gatherings was. There, in the one occupied patio chair, she saw her brother. Quickly, she made her way toward him, realizing as she went that he was shirtless, and fast asleep. Stopping next to him, she also noticed a smile on his face. At that moment it occurred to her that she was tired, too, and that a nap in the sun wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, especially if it meant feeling whatever it was that put a smile on CJ’s face. With a shrug, she plopped down in the chair next to him, laid out, and quickly fell asleep.
She awoke to the feeling of fingers brushing her bangs away from her
forehead. She blinked a couple time against the bright sun in her eyes, and when her eyes adjusted, she saw Matt’s smiling face hovering above her. The pressure against her side made it clear that he was perched next to her on the chair. “You don’t need to wake up,” he said softly. “I just saw you out here, so peaceful and beautiful, and I just had to touch you to make sure you’re real.”
She grinned seductively. “I’m pretty sure I’m real. But then again, maybe I’m dreaming. Maybe you’re just a figment of my imagination.”
He smiled and moved his face closer to hers. “Let’s find out,” he said, and she closed her eyes, waiting for a kiss that never came.
At that moment, a happy wail came from near the house, followed by the sound of Matt’s mother calling Lilly’s name. Laura turned toward her daughter and smiled, though Matt’s expression as he sat up next to her spoke of a moment interrupted. His disappointment only lasted for a second, then he was rising from the chair and jogging with open arms toward their daughter. Laura sat up slowly, watching the scene in front of her, cautiously feeling for aches and pains as she moved her muscles. There were none. Her smile widened as she finally stood, feeling like her old self. Just for effect, she willed herself up in the air, and beamed as her feet left the ground, suspending her inches above the patio. She landed again with a gentle touch, then walked toward her family. Behind Matt, Lilly, and Christy, Adam was now barreling out of the house, making a bee line toward CJ, who was just emerging from his nap. Taking pity on him, Laura took a step to the side and stuck out her arm, snagging her nephew in a fit of giggles.
“What are you doing there, champ?” she asked, holding his wiggling form in an embrace that felt more like a wrestling hold. “And why are you so mean to your poor daddy? Can’t you see he’s sleeping?”
“I’m awake,” CJ said from his chair, his voice still heavy with sleep.
“Because I feel like running and then running some more,” Adam said. “I want to jump and hide and play and Daddy always does those things with me.”
Laura felt her grip loosening, and she looked at him in surprise. “Did you get into a stash of cotton candy or something?” she asked, putting up no opposition as he wiggled free.
In the distance, Lilly squealed again, which elicited a similar response in Katie.
“He’s five,” CJ said and Adam barreled into him, though Laura had delayed him just enough that CJ had time to brace himself against the onslaught.
“I just feel happy!” Adam said, giving CJ a hug, then proceeding to run laps around the patio. Laura looked at him, then looked up at the sun.
“What if…” Laura said, turning her attention back toward CJ and pointing at the sky.
“He’s five,” CJ repeated, and Laura shrugged. She looked toward the girls and back toward CJ. He was now rising from the chair, flexing his muscles one by one as he did, a smile crossing his face as he found himself pain free, as well. He reached down and pulled the bandage covering his bullet would off, revealing a perfectly normal, untouched area of skin.
Laura nodded toward him. “Looks like you’re feeling pretty good. I know I am. I realize the kids don’t have powers yet, but they share our genes, which means that they’re…little solar capacitors, too. Isn’t it possible that they are also feeling the effects of the sun going back to normal?”
He looked too happy to be contrary. “I suppose anything’s possible,” he said, putting his hands out and giving an agreeable smile. About that time, Adam did his third lap, and CJ turned his attention to his son. “Hey, bud,” he said, pointing toward the far end of the yard, where some shrubs and statuary stood. “Last one to the angel is a rotten egg.”
As the two shot off across the lawn, Laura turned to her daughter, now held aloft by Matt. Laura jogged over and held out her arms, and soon Lilly was in them, giggling with delight as Laura planted raspberries on her cheeks. A sideways glance revealed a smile on Christy’s face at long last, and Laura knew that all was truly right with the world.
“Hey, boss man,” Matt said toward CJ, his voice quiet enough that a normal person shouldn’t have been able to hear it across the distance that currently separated them, and certainly not over a chattering five year old.
“What’s up?” CJ yelled back.
“What’s the plan for supper?” Matt asked, stepping behind Laura and making faces at his daughter.
There was a couple second delay as CJ crossed the green back toward them. He began talking once he was close enough for normal conversation. “I’m grilling out!” he said with a flourish, scooping up Adam as he attempted to run by. “Why waste a perfectly good day like this inside?”
“Amen to that,” Laura said.
“You, uh, want to go grab some esteemed guests?” CJ asked Laura with raised eyebrows.
“You should get my Dad. I mean, you can, right?” Matt asked.
Laura nodded. “Yeah, good idea. Maybe call first, though.”
“Grab Dick,” CJ said. “He’s been busting his butt out there today. He could use some family time.”
“Sometimes I think he would prefer hardened criminals to the circus here,” Matt said, and Katie screamed behind him, as if to prove the point.
“I haven’t forgotten about you, sweetheart,” CJ said to her, lumbering over and scooping her up with his free arm. He had one child in each arm now, but he looked almost unnaturally relaxed, as it if were no effort at all.
“I think the only way I get him here is if you promise to go take his place when we’re done eating,” Laura said.
CJ rolled his eyes. “Yeah, fine. I have a score to settle with the Falcone family, anyway.”
“What about Mom?” Laura asked.
“I’ll bet she’s too busy,” CJ answered. “She’s probably got the mastermind of all this nailed down and is scheduling an interview with them right now.”
“Credit where credit’s due,” Matt said. “We shared notes with her. So if she nailed down the mastermind, it really means that we did, too. So, you know, yay us.”
“We did?” CJ said, walking over toward the grill.
“While you were sleeping, some of us were working,” Matt said with a smirk.
“Hey, I disabled a satellite. I would say that made this a pretty productive day, all things considered.”
“You disabled a satellite?” Adam asked, his eyebrows drawn together. “You mean you…made it use crutches or something?”
“Or something,” CJ answered, making a face. Adam was starting to squirm now, so CJ bent over and placed him on the ground, and immediately he was on the move again. Katie, wanting to follow along, wiggled free and took off. “How about I call her?”
“That works,” Laura said.
“So, everything is okay, right?” Christy asked from behind Matt. She had been forgotten a bit during their conversation, and her face, while happy, revealed that she was a little lost.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. How have you been?” Matt asked, cupping his hand around his mom’s elbow and leading her back toward a private corner of the patio. As he did so, CJ pulled out a bag of charcoal and started arranging it inside the grill. When he was done, he squinted at the pile, grinning with satisfaction as it started glowing orange, the charcoal turning white as a small flame began licking at the outside.
“Still got it,” CJ muttered, then turned away and headed toward the house. Laura opened her mouth to say something, realizing that she was now the only adult around to supervise the children, but her stomach picked that moment to let off a deep rumble, and she realized that her brother’s time was best spent preparing their meal. If that meant she had to spend some quality time with her daughter, niece, and nephew, then she supposed that wasn’t a bad trade off. She started to follow them across the yard, but she hesitated as her hearing picked up Matt’s conversation with his mother.
“Lilly’s been a joy,” Christy said, not immediately answering Matt’s question.
“I think that every day,” Matt said with a half smile. “But how are YOU?”
Laura found herself pausing and turning toward where Matt stood, just to watch the interplay. His relationship with his parents was always fascinating to her, just for how strained it always seemed, but now there was the added dimension of the family secret. Time seemed to stretch on into infinity as Christy looked at Matt, studied him, before the neutral, almost eager expression that had been on her face ever since entering the Wayne compound seemed to crumble away, replaced by sorrow. “Oh, Mattie,” she answered in a raspy voice, looking away from him. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’ve always been the person who knew all there was to know about everyone. Turns out I don’t know anything. I don’t even know you anymore.”
“That’s not true,” Matt answered, his expression now more annoyed than tender. “You were handed the world’s largest secret – and a highly personal one, at that – on a silver platter. You should be overjoyed.”
“I still don’t know what to think about that,” Christy said with a shake of her head. “But this isn’t about that. This is about you. You’ve been, what, working for superheroes for the last few years?”
“I don’t work for Sam,” Matt said, his voice flat. “Or Clark or Laura or Jon. I wouldn’t dream of taking money from any of them. We’re family, we help each other out. We’re also friends, and I enjoy spending time with them. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Were you ever going to tell me if necessity hadn’t led to your wife crashing in my yard? Or is it the policy of their family to not let outsiders in on the secret?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Matt answered, his voice most definitely taking on a hard edge. He glanced toward Laura, locking eyes with her, knowing full well that she was listening in on the conversation. “Have they been anything less than hospitable and friendly to you? The Kents are the nicest and most honest people I’ve ever met.”
“Well, the mob always seems wonderful as long as you stay on their good side. As soon as you cross them….” She put out her hands and shrugged, and Matt seemed horrified. There was a long silence as he was absolutely speechless, while Christy seemed almost smug. For a moment, Laura was sure that he was going to give her a piece of his mind, but then, inexplicably, he smiled. His posture relaxed and all tension seemed to drain out of him.
“I get it now. Even though you’ve spent the day getting to know Laura’s family, seeing the real human beings behind the capes, you still don’t understand them at all. And you fear what you don’t know or don’t understand. You are always so busy trying to look under the surface to find the angle, the dirt, that truly genuine people completely confound you.”
Christy stepped forward and put her hand on Matt’s arm, a look of concern on her face. “Honey, they can crush rocks with their bare hands. What if they have a bad day and you just so happen to be there? What if you have a fight? Make them mad?”
Matt laughed. Laura couldn’t help but smile in response. In his place she’d probably blow up, tell her where she could stick her fake concern, but Matt was not like that, and he never had been. Patience has always been his defining trait, and she supposed with a mother like that, it was no wonder.
“It’s okay, Mom. You’re family now. Something tells me that they are going to make sure you get to know them whether you want to or not. Then you’ll see that all your silly fears are just that – silly. You might also find some amazing people that have been hiding in plain sight, people that are made all the more incredible by the positive way in which they view the word in spite of all the terrible things they see. And, might I add, in spite of people like you, who seem to want to believe the worst about them despite all the evidence to the contrary.”
Christy seemed frustrated at his words, and Laura though it might be possible that they were reading her wrong. She had been guarded yet decently friendly throughout the day, and although her words seemed harsh, they were also couched in concern for Matt. “I don’t believe the worst about them, I just want to be realistic.”
“That’s fine,” Matt said, shoving his hands in his pocket. “But the first step in that is opening your eyes, and your heart.” He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. “I love my wife. I love her family. I’m happy, Mom. My life has purpose. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not changing anything. So, I guess, you’d better get used to it.” He turned his head to lock eyes with Laura again, and she felt goose bumps rise on her arms as she connected with him. He was always so damn handsome when he had that slightly mischievous twinkle in his eye, and she couldn’t help but admire the way he dealt with people that anyone else would find absolutely aggravating, herself included. At that moment, she just wanted to kiss him, and he apparently knew it. “Would you like some company, darling?” he asked conversationally, even though she was halfway across the yard, and she nodded. Christy, confused, looked between them, catching the interplay. Matt smiled again, then gave her a sideways glance before ambling away.
“It’s called superhearing, Mom. Laura’s heard everything we’ve said. And, for the record, she wanted to tell you the big secret before we got married, and I was the one who said no. I had a pretty good idea of how you’d react…I’m not happy that I was right.” He glanced at Christy again, then started jogging toward Laura. As soon as he was within arm’s length, she reached for him and he reached for her, and they walked with hands intertwined toward the children.
“How did you get to be so…?” Laura asked.
“Awesome?”
She grinned. “I guess that’s one way to put it.”
He leaned in to kiss her. “Good influences?”
“Surely you’re not talking about me? In your place I might’ve given her a little demonstration so she knew what real fear was like.”
“Oh, no you wouldn’t have,” he said confidently, and she gave a little sideways nod, acknowledging that he was probably right. “And anyway, I was talking about your brother.”
She made a face of mock surprise, but she was smiling enough that she knew she had given herself away. “It’s a good thing I love you so much,” she said, and he squeezed her hand. With that, they had arrived at the children, and they immediately engaged themselves in play, chasing them, playing hide and seek, pretending to be different animals. At one point, Laura hazarded a glance back toward her mother-in-law, who had now taken a seat at one of the deck chairs. She was watching them wistfully, a tear in the corner of her eye. Laura supposed she knew a little bit about what it was like to have her perspective on life changed…and maybe a little bit of her could feel some sympathy for Christy. But until Christy came to her, she doubted that she would offer any words of encouragement or wisdom. She had to figure it out herself. Until that time, all Laura could do was live her life, be happy, and not worry about what others thought.
After a few minutes, CJ came back out on the patio, carrying a large tray of food. He looked around the yard, noticing the same personnel as when he had left. “Hey Laura?” he asked. “Didn’t you have some errands to run?”
“Oh, right,” Laura said, looking toward Matt, who was pulling out his cell phone, and embarrassed expression on his face. “Guess I’ll get Dick first.” She pointed at Matt. “Keep me updated on your Dad?” He nodded, then made a gesture with his hand, indicating that she should be on her way. She leaned down and grabbed her daughter, giving her a quick hug and kiss, then then jogged off behind the shrubbery, within the private forest that surrounded the grounds, and shifted into Superspeed without any doubts.
