Chapter Two
Lois Lane sat at her desk and scanned the front page of the Daily Planet. The forty-point headline screamed at her.
NEW SUPERHERO—SUPERWOMAN!!!!
Underneath the headline was a news service photo of a tall young woman in a black and electric blue uniform standing next to Superman. The mask that covered her face hid her features and most of her hair, but Lois knew who this woman was. This was the same young woman who’d been in her office the day before. Lois smiled a sad smile while at the same time a small amount of pride swelled within her breast.
While Lois may not have been part of this woman’s life, she was still her daughter, and as such, Lois felt some pride at her accomplishment. The grinning man who was now in her doorway drew her attention away from the paper.
“So when do I leave?” Jim Olsen asked, plopping himself in the chair in front of his editor’s desk.
“Leave? For where?” Lois asked, clearly not following.
“Kansas City!” Jim exclaimed. “Surely you want the story for the Planet, right?”
“Jim, think about it,” Lois said with a glare. “How are you going to find her? She said she’s going to be working with her father on emergencies and natural disasters the world over, she’s not going to be floating around Kansas City waiting for you to interview her!”
“But I thought—”
“I know, Jim, but I can’t have my best reporter running around the country on a wild superhero chase. If she comes to Metropolis then I expect you to bust your buns to get the exclusive for the Planet, but in the meantime, we run what the wire services send us. Is that clear?”
The look on his boss’s face told him that agreement was his best option, so he nodded his head. “Yeah.”
Lois called out to Jim’s retreating form. “I expect that piece on the new ‘revitalization’ project from the city planners on my desk in thirty minutes!”
Lois settled back in her chair and picked up the paper once more. She scanned the accompanying article and sighed. She could have done so much better! Just then her phone rang, so she stuck the paper into her briefcase. This article, as lacking as it was, and the picture, would be the first entry in her new scrapbook.
**********
Martha and Jonathan drove up to the old farmhouse and exited the truck excitedly. On the ride home, they’d heard the news of the crash on I-35 and of the debut of the new superhero. As soon as they entered, Martha rushed up to Lara and engulfed her in a fierce hug.
“Oh sweetie, I’m so proud of you!” Martha said as she kissed her granddaughter’s cheek.
“We both are,” Jonathan said. He pulled his granddaughter into a bear hug as soon as she’d escaped from Martha’s arms. His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears, pride swelling his chest.
“Thanks, Grandma, Grandpa! It was sooo exciting! I was so nervous, but Dad calmed me down. I tried to focus on doing what the emergency services people wanted me to do and it seemed so natural that I forgot I was even nervous, at least until the press conference,” Lara said with a chuckle.
“You did just fine, Pumpkin,” Clark said. “You handled them like a real pro!”
“Now, Dad, you know that’s not true!” Lara laughed as she bumped shoulders with her dad. “I’m surprised they didn’t hear my knees knocking! If it wasn’t for you being there, I’m sure I would have been tongue-tied.”
“You’ll get better, don’t worry. You should have seen my first few press conferences. I almost lost it when a pack of reporters first descended on me.” Clark’s expression grew wistful.
Martha shooed her family to the table. It was time to celebrate! “Why don’t we sit down and have some hot apple pie and milk? I want to hear all about your day.”
**********
Late that night, while her father was out on patrol, Lara lay in her bed staring at and through the ceiling to the stars above. The events of the day played through her mind over and over. Her first real rescue! Her debut as the world’s newest superhero had gone very well, considering. At first, she’d felt overwhelmed when she’d scanned the scene as they’d arrived. When her father had given her direction, she’d snapped out of her contemplation and instinct took over.
Periodically she’d glanced at her dad as he worked. Seeing him smile reassuringly gave her the confidence she needed to perform her duties. The faces of the first responders gave her confidence as well. They looked at her as if she, like her father, was eminently qualified to assist them, even though she felt less than sure herself.
Lara was also very grateful that there had been no fatalities this time. Her mind went back to an incident a few years ago when she’d helped, as a volunteer, as part of a tornado cleanup effort. She’d had nightmares for days after from the devastation she’d seen so she was very glad that, this time at least, she didn’t have to deal with death, up close and personal.
Lara wondered how her dad handled it. She knew, over the years, he’d dealt with people dying, but he’d never shown that it affected him negatively. She knew her father had hidden his agony from her, he wouldn’t want to worry his little girl unnecessarily. Lara took a deep breath and resolved to have a conversation with him, as difficult as it may be.
All in all, Lara, was pleased with how the day had gone. She closed her eyes and turned onto her side. She fell asleep with the sounds of the night caressing her.
**********
Throughout that summer, Lara grew more confident, with rescues and with the press. At Clark’s suggestion, she took first aid and other lifesaving courses offered by the Red Cross, which helped her greatly.
She also studied her father’s technique at accidents and natural disasters. Lara devoured internet videos of Superman’s rescues, current, and past, as well as her own. She critiqued herself, determined to improve, so she could live up to her father’s legacy. Father and daughter worked like a well-oiled machine and became a real team. More than one reporter commented on the obvious rapport between father and daughter.
As summer ended, Lara grew more and more restless and conflicted. She loved working with her father, but she also felt the need to explore the world as she had planned. As she had done ever since she was little, she knew that it was time to talk to her dad.
**********
Lara settled on the couch in the den. “Hi, Dad. Can we talk?” Her father had been working on his new manuscript, but he stopped as soon as Lara sat down, his attention fully on her.
“What’s up, Lara?”
“I don’t know what to do, Dad. I love working with you but…” she trailed off.
“It’s getting time for you to leave on your trip, right?”
Her gaze focused on the pattern of the wood floor. “Yeah,” she said.
“So, what’s the problem? I love working with you but I have worked alone before. I think I remember how that goes.” Clark grinned at her, his eyes alight and teasing.
“Da-ad, you know what I mean. It’s not that simple. Now that I’ve committed, I feel like I’m letting people down if I go off exploring the world.” There, she’d said it, and it felt good to get it off her chest.
“Tell me this, are you going to ignore emergencies while you’re away?”
Lara’s eyes focused on her father. “No! Of course not.”
“And if you hear of something really big, you’ll be there to help, won’t you?”
“Yes, you know I will.”
“Then I don’t see a problem,” Clark said calmly. “Lara, you can be anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds, so you don’t need to be here to help. You’ve already established that Superwoman assists at major events, accidents, natural disasters, and such. Unlike Superman, who actively tries to suppress crime, that’s not your thing and I respect that. Like I told you when you were a little girl, there’s no pressure to do more than you’re comfortable with. We both serve our fellow man, just in different ways.”
“But I’m planning to visit some pretty remote areas. I won’t be aware of stuff that I could assist with—”
“How many times have I told you that we can’t be everywhere or do everything? We help when and how we can. What we can do is enough. Lara, you have the right to live your life. Don’t let your desire to help control how you live that life, okay?”
Lara smiled happily. Her dad always knew the right thing to say to calm her fears and bring perspective back into her life.
“Dad, I know you explored the world after college. You wrote all about your adventures, but you’ve never said why. Were you looking for something specific?”
Clark sat back in his seat, his hands clasped behind his head. He seemed to be thinking, ordering his thoughts before he responded.
“There were a lot of reasons. I’d grown up on the farm, but I knew I didn’t want to be a farmer. Mom and Dad knew that too, and they supported me completely. At the time I didn’t know much about myself— this was years before I found the globe, you know. I knew I had all these amazing abilities, but I had no idea why. We’d discussed all kinds of theories. Was I a Russian or U.S. experiment, some weird mutation, or was I even from Earth, but we weren’t sure? I’d hoped that there might be others out there like me and I might be able to find them.
“I also wanted to help, to use my powers to save lives. I’d done a few things locally, but Dad was always worried that someone we knew would see me and—”
“—They’d dissect you like a frog. I know, Dad. I can’t believe Grandpa told you stuff like that!”
“Well, don’t fault your grandpa too much. He was just concerned for my safety. While it may have seemed extreme, he did make an impression on me. It made me think before I acted and I’m sure it saved me from exposure later in life. Also, I was searching for something, someone, though I didn’t know it at the time. I’d always felt different from my friends, and it wasn’t just the powers.
“My friends were developing relationships, falling in love, even getting married, and I just didn’t feel the same way. I wondered if I’d ever find someone I wanted to share my life with. I’d had relationships, of course, Lana, during high school and a couple of others during college, but there was never anyone special, you know? When I traveled, I met a lot of beautiful women, some of whom were very interested in me, but that connection was never there. I moved around a lot because I’d do something that no normal person could do, and I’d have to leave because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Of course, you won’t have that problem.”
“No. Having a secret identity will make it easier for me, that’s for sure.”
“Right. So that’s the reason for my travels. I found that people, no matter where they live, are very similar. They want to live their lives in safety and provide for their children. Governments have agendas that conflict with those goals, but the people are pretty much the same the world over.”
Lara stood up and walked over to kiss her father on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad. I love you. Goodnight.”
Clark turned back to his computer and went back to work. “Goodnight, Pumpkin.”
Lara walked to her bedroom, pondering what her father had said. She understood him a little better now. He’d been so lonely and confused as a young man. Lara thought back to how she’d had his love and support as her body changed and her powers had developed. She could hardly fathom what that must have been like for him. It had to be frightening for him and Grandma and Grandpa. Lara realized just how lucky she was that she’d been spared the uncertainty and fear her father had experienced growing up. She’d known she had to hide her differences, but knowing what they were and how to control them had made her life so much easier.
Now that she was about to go on her trip to explore the world, the reasons for doing so were so much different from her father’s. While he’d been looking for others like him, she was not. She knew her heritage, thanks to her father and the globe, and did not need to search for beings like herself. She planned to help, to use her powers to alleviate suffering, but with her secret identity, she’d have no fear of discovery when she did so unless she got very careless.
As for the search for someone to complete her, that wasn’t what she was looking for, not at this point in her life. She’d had relationships in high school and college, but she’d never felt that connection that her father had experienced with Lois Lane.
However, she wouldn’t worry about that. Lara didn’t feel the need for a man to complete her. She enjoyed the company of men, enjoyed dating and meeting interesting people, but she made sure that any man she dated knew from the start that she wasn’t looking for a lover—and if they didn’t like it then that was too bad. After a while, Lara found that it became easier if she did group activities. That way there would be less opportunity for misunderstanding. Lara had lots of friends, both guys, and girls, and she liked it that way.
Now that she’d graduated, most of her friends were going to be job hunting, something she was postponing for a year. Her friends were very jealous that she could travel while they could not, but she knew they were happy for her and wished her well. Lara planned to keep in touch with everyone. Her laptop would be her constant companion for writing freelance stories about her adventures, for the Post and local papers as well. She’d be building a portfolio while having the adventure of her life. How lucky could one girl get?
**********
Continued in Chapter Three
