“Wait a minute,” Kal-El said. Wanda watched as astonishment and disbelief washed over Kal-El’s face. “There were survivors of Krypton?”
Martha nodded. “A whole colony. Believe me, it was a surprise to us, too. I guess nobody on your Krypton believed Jor-El when he warned them the planet was doomed.”
“I guess not,” Kal-El said. “What keeps them from coming here and trying to take over? I mean they’d be super-powered.”
“There’s only a couple ships that can make the trip, for one. And two, a couple of Lord Nor’s followers tried it, and our military took them out pretty handily. There’s not a lot of kryptonite around, but we know how to use it,” Martha said. “I’m also told that Zara and Ching have emphasized to their people how barbaric and dangerous Earth is and how courageous and self-sacrificing Kal-El is to stay here and ‘lead us to civilization.’”
Martha turned her attention back to her three grandchildren. “It’s homework time, CJ. Lara, piano practice. Your recital’s next week.”
Lara made a face but headed off to the living room. Wanda followed her, leaving Kal-El talking with Martha over a second cup of coffee and a plate of doughnuts. Wanda’s head was spinning. She was a reporter, but she wasn’t making a lot of sense of what Martha had told them.
The little girl sat down at an electric piano, turned on the power and began practicing scales. Wanda sat down beside her. “My son plays piano, too. And he’s your age.”
Lara didn’t stop playing. “He is? What’s his name?”
“Jason Peregrine White.”
“I’m Lara Ellen Kent,” the little girl announced. “After two of my grandmas. Daddy was adopted, you know. So I have three grandmas, but one of them is dead.”
Lara continued her practice, switching to ‘Heart and Soul’, the piece Jason had been working on for weeks. Wanda’s heart began to ache for her son. Lara reminded her of him so much it was frightening. She wondered if she would ever see him again. If she and Kal-El, ‘Charlie’, would be trapped here forever, in this version of Metropolis where Clark Kent was Superman, was married to Lois Lane, and had four kids – not to mention a wife on the different planet.
Clark Kent was Superman. It sounded right, like something she’d known before. But for some reason, she still couldn’t get her head around it. What the hell had he done to her? Did he even know what he’d done? There was no way that Kal-El could possibly be the Clark Kent she knew. That Clark was a geek, a nerd, a hack, a brilliant, idiotic, clumsy, dweeb, who tripped over his own feet and could barely talk coherently. No way! It was impossible! But still . . .
She left the piano bench and walked back to the kitchen. Martha was cleaning up and Wanda could hear Kal-El talking to one of the boys in the family room. She walked in to see Jordan sitting on Kal-El’s lap as they both sat next to CJ at a computer. Kal-El seemed so natural, so easy, with Clark’s kids. He’d make a fantastic father.
What am I thinking? Jason has a father, and not one who ran out before he was even born!
She stepped closer to him. “You’re good with kids,” she said. “You’ll make a great father, someday.”
“I am a father, remember?” The hurt was palpable in his face, his voice.
“That’s part of the problem. I’ve got memories floating around in my head. I know some of them are real, but some of them, too many of them, I still can’t grab hold of, still don’t make sense. What really happened?” Wanda asked. She suddenly felt her built up anger starting to boil over. “Why did you leave me like that? What aren’t you telling me? What did you do to me?”
Lois II
Lois waited for Clark to help her out of the van. Baby Martha has asleep in her carrier wearing a yellow jumper that was far too big for her. But like all the previous Kent kids, she’d grow into it in no time.
Clark had explained to her that Wanda and Kal-El would be staying overnight, and possibly longer, if a way to send them back to where they belonged couldn’t be found. Wanda would have to share a room with Lara, or stay with Martha at her apartment.
“They’re not together?” she asked.
Clark shook his head. “She has a son Lara’s age, and a fiancé, but it’s not him.” Clark grabbed the baby and followed Lois into the house. “She said her son’s father disappeared six years ago and she moved on. I’m pretty sure Kal-El’s the father. He looked awfully guilty when she was talking about it.”
“Why did you leave me like that? What aren’t you telling me? What did you do to me?” Wanda was practically yelling at Kal-El when Lois and Clark walked in.
CJ’s eyes were wide in surprise as were Jordan’s. Kal-El’s eyes were narrowed in that peculiarly Kryptonian fashion Lois was familiar with, the one that said ‘back off now’. Lois also noted that Wanda didn’t seem to be getting the hint.
“I’ve got her,” Lois murmured to her husband, taking the baby.
“I’m on him,” he murmured back.
“Wanda, come with me, please,” Lois ordered firmly. She saw Wanda’s eyes widen in surprise and was pleased when the younger woman’s mouth snapped shut. “Now.”
Lois started toward the living room, then stopped as she realized Wanda wasn’t following. She turned back and grabbed the younger woman’s arm and led her away. “I will thank you not to yell at your boyfriend, or whatever, in front of my kids,” she hissed.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Wanda grated.
“Whatever. Absentee father of your child? Irresponsible lout that got you knocked up?”
“You don’t understand,” Wanda said.
“Then explain it to me,” Lois said, settling onto the leather sofa and cuddling her newborn. She kept her voice low and controlled to keep Lara from overhearing.
Wanda sat down on other end of the sofa, turning to face Lois. “Kal-El and I had a relationship six years ago. Hell, relationship isn’t the right word. One night stand. Then he decided it wouldn’t work, and he did something to my memories, erased them, shut me out of his life, shut me out of his world,” Wanda explained. “A month later he left without saying goodbye, disappeared without saying a word to anyone. He was gone for six years. Six years. I didn’t know if he was dead, if he’d just gotten tired of rescuing people who wouldn’t take care of their own problems, if I’d done something to drive him away. We, I, didn’t know I’d gotten pregnant. I had a baby and I didn’t even know how it happened. I did what I had to.”
“And then he came back?” Lois asked.
Wanda nodded. “I won a Pulitzer for an editorial on why the world doesn’t need Superman. And then he comes waltzing back into my life as if he hadn’t been gone all that time, as if he could make it all up to me, to my son, wave his magic cape and it’ll all be better. I have a man who wants to marry me, I have a good life.” Tears were running down Wanda’s face.
“Wanda, if your Superman was so horrible to you, why were you with him when whatever it was happened that brought you here?” Lois asked.
“We were trying to recover my lost memories,” Wanda explained. “Even though he doesn’t want a relationship with me. He can’t have a relationship with me.”
“I assume you mean Superman can’t have a relationship with you?” Lois asked.
Wanda nodded.
“You do realize that Superman can’t have a relationship with a real person, because he isn’t a real person? He’s a character in an improv play with the world as a stage who wears a blue body suit and red cape. He’s not real.” Baby Martha had started to protest and Lois put her to her breast.
“Of course he’s a real person,” Wanda protested. “You’re married to your Superman. You should know”
“No, I’m married to Clark Jerome Kent who happens to have a second job that doesn’t pay at all well, that involves dressing up in a blue body suit and red cape so he can go flying around rescuing people, and having bad guys shoot at him,” Lois said. “Clark Kent is the one who said ‘I do’, takes the kids to school, helps pay the bills, holds my hand, sleeps in my bed, and was my birthing coach for four babies. Superman didn’t do any of those things. He can’t. He’s not a person, he’s a job description. You need to be looking for the man doing the job, not the description.”
It was a vast over-simplification, Lois knew, but Wanda just seemed so oblivious. She hoped Clark was having better luck with his counterpart.
Clark I
“Why did you leave me like that? What aren’t you telling me? What did you do to me?” Wanda‘s words kept reverberating in Kal-El’s ears, despite Clark’s glower in his direction.
“You’re with me,” Clark repeated. Kal-El set Jordan on his feet and unfolded himself from the chair.
“You are in so much trouble,” CJ muttered, shaking his head. “Nice meeting you.”
“CJ . . .” Clark warned. He beckoned Kal-El to follow him downstairs.
Kal-El didn’t remember Wanda’s house having a basement. He followed Clark down carpeted steps, to a large office lined with books and native art. The rest of the basement was finished as well, and appeared to be an art studio.
“You have some explaining to do, mister,” Clark began.
“You sound like my father,” Kal-El commented.
“I’ll take that as a complement.”
“I’ve already had the ‘responsibility’ lecture from my mother,” Kal-El said, taking a seat in the chair by the door. Clark was leaning against the desk, arms folded across his chest. His expression was one that Kal-El recognized from himself – annoyed Superman. It was more than a little disconcerting to be on the receiving end of that cool gaze.
“I didn’t know she was pregnant when I left,” he started to explain. “I would never have left if I had known. I don’t know what I would have done, but I wouldn’t have left.”
“So, where did you go?”
“Krypton. There were reports, supposedly verified reports, that Krypton had been found, and there were signs of life,” Kal-El said. “I had to see for myself. It was like a compulsion, I had to go and see it. The reports were wrong. In fact, the reports were completely false, planted by a psychopath who wanted Superman out of the way.”
He looked up. Clark’s expression hadn’t changed.
“Krypton was more than just dead. It was poison. I almost didn’t make it back. When I did get back, I discovered Lex Luthor was using Kryptonian technology to recreate Krypton on Earth. He damn near succeeded in destroying the planet.” He noted a flicker of interest in Clark’s eyes at the mention of Luthor and Kryptonian technology.
“The Luthor here died about twelve years ago,” Clark said. “And so far, he hasn’t come back again, yet. And the only Kryptonian technology I know about on Earth is the spaceship I was sent to Earth in and the programming in the navigation module. And I didn’t get access to those until I’d been in Metropolis for six months or so.”
“You don’t have access to Jor-El’s AI?”
Clark shook his head.
“Lucky you,” Kal-El commented. At least Clark had stopped glowering at him. “That damned AI is one of the things that got me in trouble with Lois six years ago. I was told that in order to have a relationship with a human woman, I had to become human. Give up the powers, everything. So I did. The worst mistake I ever made up until that time. Everything else afterward came from that one decision.”
“Go on,” Clark said. The stern father was still in the older man’s voice, but ‘annoyed Superman’ was gone, at least.
“I couldn’t stand to not have the powers, to lose that part of myself, to not be able to help. I convinced the AI to let me have my powers back. The price was having a relationship with Lois, with any human woman. She didn’t take it very well. So I went ahead and did another incredibly stupid thing, I erased her memory of what we had. I don’t know exactly how I did it, but I did. And now she would cheerfully finish what Luthor started with his kryptonite dagger in my back.”
“Do you blame her? You took away her freedom of choice. For all intents and purposes, you raped her. You abused your powers to take away her right to choose,” Clark said harshly. He was sounding more and more like Jonathan Kent, or at least how Kal-El thought his father would have reacted. “Right now, I would like nothing better than to tan your hide like cheap leather,” Clark added.
“You are not my father.”
“No, but I figure I’ve got about twelve years on you in the Suit. So that makes me the voice of experience. And the voice of experience says you, buster, are acting like a spoiled brat. ‘Lois couldn’t handle being dumped by Superman so I went and hit the reset button.’?”
“That wasn’t it. I told her the truth, who I really am.”
“And who are you?”
Kal-El gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“When you look in the mirror in the morning, who looks back at you? Clark Joseph Kent, son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, or Kal, son of Jor and Lara of the house of El? When they find your dead body, who do you want them to identify you as?”
Kal-El slumped back in the chair. Clark was annoyingly perceptive and he wondered if it was due to the man’s having more life experience – twelve years seemed about right – or if he was simply brighter and more competent. Kal-El couldn’t see himself ever handling Perry White’s job and this Clark seemed to be taking it in stride. He found that he was actually jealous of the older man.
“Clark Kent, I suppose,” Kal-El said finally. “That’s who I’ve been for as long as I can remember. I only found out about Kal-El when I was seventeen, when my powers came in, right after my dad died. The AI wanted me to stay in the Fortress for years to learn to become Kryptonian. I wasn’t exactly cooperative. I didn’t stay. I went out to see the world instead, went to college.”
“Did it ever occur to you that the AI was being less than truthful?” Clark asked. He’d left the ‘stern father’ mode and had switched to what Kal-El mentally labeled ‘reporter’ mode. “The AI wanted you to be Kal-El and Kal-El can’t have a relationship with a human woman, it’s too dangerous for everyone involved. But what’s keeping Clark Kent from being with someone?”
“Lois Lane never gave Clark Kent the time of day.”
“And whose fault is that?”
Kal-El didn’t answer the question. “I don’t know how to undo the damage I did,” he admitted instead. “I was trying to jog her memory, help her get things sorted out when we ended up here. I don’t know how I even managed to do what I did.”
“Kryptonians are telepathic, at least with people they’re close to,” Clark said. “A few of them are a lot stronger than that. I’m betting that’s how you did it, even if you didn’t realize it.”
“So, how do I undo it?”
“The same way you did it?”
“I doubt she’ll let me get that close,” Kal-El said with a grimace.
“You can but try.”
