Second Choice: 16/16
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Hey!" The call came from above. Clark looked up.
The face of Tom Johnson, Wayne Irig's son-in-law, was looking down at them. "Are you guys all right?"
"Yeah, but she's not," Pete said. "We need an ambulance."
Another man appeared, this one in a Sheriff's uniform, and Clark took a relieved breath as Vern Harris, Rachel Harris's father, slid over the bank and dropped beside them a moment later. He knelt beside Ellen Lane, ascertaining that she was still breathing, and then glanced at Clark and Pete. "Are you two all right?"
"Yes sir," Clark said.
"There's an ambulance on the way," Sheriff Harris said. "Want to tell me what happened?"
From above three other faces appeared, looking down at the drama below. Appalled, Clark saw Barbara Johnson, Celia Johnson and Lucy Lane. From somewhere in the distance but approaching rapidly, came the distinct wail of a siren.
**********
"Mrs. Lane has a concussion," the doctor said. "She's conscious but slightly disoriented. She was lucky to have been wearing a seat belt. It probably saved her life."
"She's going to be all right?" Clark asked.
"Barring complications, we believe so," the doctor said. "She'll be spending at least a couple of days here, in any case."
Lois hadn't removed her hand from Clark's since she had walked into the hospital waiting room, accompanied by Sam Lane, an hour ago. She nodded but said nothing. The doctor smiled at her. "If you'd like to see her, I'll permit one person, for a minute, but that's all."
"Thank you," Lois said.
The doctor nodded pleasantly and left.
"Do you want to see her?" Lois asked her sister.
Lucy shook her head and looked at the floor.
"Daddy?"
Sam Lane bit his lip. "No," he said after a moment. "You go, Princess."
Clark hadn't pulled any punches when he had explained to Sheriff Harris the circumstances of the accident. Hiding the truth wouldn't do Ellen any good in the long run and the event might just possibly furnish the circumstances he and Lois needed to force Ellen to face her problem. The bald fact was that she could easily have killed Lucy when she'd lost control of the Volkswagen. It had been only luck that had caused her to clip the rear fender rather than plow head on into the main body of the Johnson family's car. All in all, everyone, even Ellen, had come out of it remarkably well but Lucy had been at first upset and then angry when she realized what had happened. Calling Lois from the hospital had been one of the more difficult things he had ever done. He thought that Ellen's alcoholism had caused more harm to her daughters than she realized -- if the thought had ever occurred to her at all. Maybe this incident would force the matter. He hoped so.
Motion at the door of the waiting room caught his eye and he turned to see Sheriff Harris enter. The man nodded to him with a faint smile and approached Sam Lane. "You're Mrs. Lane's husband?"
"Not any more," Sam said. "We're divorced."
"Oh." The Sheriff paused and glanced at Lois. "You're her daughter?"
"Yes," Lois said.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said. "Your mother's being charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license. The judge has set bail at a hundred thousand dollars."
Lucy, who had been sitting quietly on the waiting room's sofa, stared at him for a moment. "Wow," she said, with relish. "I guess Mom's going to have to stay in jail for a while."
"There's a bail bondsman a block from the Sheriff's office," the Sheriff said. "You might want to see him about arranging bail."
"We'll talk about it and decide what to do," Lois said. She looked at Clark. "What do you think?"
"I agree," Clark said. "Once she wakes up completely is more than enough time to decide."
"The judge set a court date for next month," Vern Harris said. "She'd better get herself a good lawyer."
"We'll talk it over in private," Sam Lane said. Clark heard his voice speaking to the Sheriff and Lois, but his father-in-law's voice was suddenly a minor matter of importance. It had been almost like snapping a switch. One instant, he had been listening to the conversation taking place with the Sheriff, and the next the thrumming of blood flowing through veins, and the familiar thump of Lois's heartbeat filled his ears. His super-hearing was back. Quickly he focused his x-ray vision on the wall of the emergency room, seeking out Ellen Lane by the sound of her heartbeat. The barrier dissolved before him and he saw his mother-in-law lying in her bed, her neck in a brace of some kind and a large bruise on her forehead. His powers were back. He was no longer blind and deaf.
Lois had, as usual, been right. As she had told him, normal for him was extraordinary, and he was back to normal once more.
It was a wonderful feeling.
**********
In Sam Lane's rental car on the way back to the farm, Lois's father was silent for some time. Rain pounded on the windshield as they made their way down Smallville's Main Street, headed toward the highway. A bolt of lightning some way off lit the sky briefly with an electric white glare. Finally he spoke. "I suppose, if you'd like, I can arrange bail."
Lois looked at Clark. "I don't think so. What do you think, Clark?"
Thunder rumbled briefly in the distance.
"She's your mother," he said carefully.
"Don't do it," Lucy said. "Remember how you always say everybody has to pay for doing stupid stuff? She nearly killed me, all because she wanted to buy more booze!"
Her father was silent for a moment. "It's your call, Princess," he said finally. "You and Clark are the ones who have to cope with her."
Clark squeezed Lois's hand. "I sort of agree with Lucy," he said finally, "but I'll go along with whatever Lois wants to do. I don't really have a vote."
"Yes you do," Lois said. "If you're my husband, you can at least tell me what you think."
"Well," he said slowly, "if it were me making the decision, I'd let her deal with the consequences of what she's done. If she wants out of jail, I think we should let her handle it herself -- and let her hire her own lawyer, too. I don't think anyone should make it easier for her."
"She got herself into it," Lucy said, with typical teenage bluntness. "Let her get herself out of it."
Lucy was still pretty upset, Clark thought. On the whole, however, he agreed with her. Ellen Lane had thrown her responsibilities on Lois's shoulders for too long. Physically she might be an adult but she was acting with the irresponsibility of a child. She might be in pain -- she had to be in a good deal of emotional pain to have let herself slip this far -- but anesthetizing it wasn't going to make it go away.
It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with Ellen Lane to some extent. Her husband had divorced her, and apparently, according to Lois, had strayed with other women during their marriage more than once. Where the actual fault might have originated he had no idea but the fact was that only fools and children thought life was fair. That was something Jonathan Kent had said to him many times. Life wasn't supposed to be fair and Mother Nature didn't care whether the hand you were dealt was fair or not. It was how you coped with it that mattered. Retreating into an alcoholic haze wasn't the solution, he thought, and a little tough love might be exactly what Ellen needed to make her understand that.
Lois squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you agree," she said. "This time Mother's done something she can't just drown in liquor. Don't arrange bail, Daddy. Clark and I have been trying to figure out how to get her to go into a rehab program. Maybe this is the lever we need."
Sam turned onto the highway. Out in the open the wind buffeted the car and the rain pounded on the windshield and roof like bullets. He leaned forward, squinting through the downpour. "All right," he said. "As long as you're comfortable with it."
"Well, comfortable might be a little strong," Lois said. "Mother's going to be furious but I think it's the only thing that has a chance of working."
"On the whole, I think you're right," her father said after several seconds. "As for her being angry with you, you can blame me if you like. Just tell her that I refused to arrange bail for her. She can afford it, herself, with the alimony she's getting. She'll just have to stick to a strict budget for a while."
"That'll be the day," Lucy said.
"I'll send you a little extra for anything you need for Lucy," Sam added. "Just don't mention it to Ellen."
Lois nodded silently. Clark put his arm around her.
**********
When Sam Lane had departed for his hotel room at the Smallville Motor Court, following the dinner that Clark had put together quickly in the farmhouse kitchen, Lucy asked, with unaccustomed meekness, if she could stay up to watch television for an extra hour. Lois agreed, if she promised to go to bed at eleven sharp. Tomorrow was a workday for Clark and Lois had a test coming up for one of her night classes on Monday night and would need some time to study, since she hadn't had the opportunity that day. She and Clark headed up the stairs as soon as he finished cleaning up the kitchen.
"I don't know how you're going to get into town," Lois said as he closed the door. "I have to call the insurance company about the car and it's a ten mile walk for you. Does Smallville have taxis?"
"No," Clark said, "but it doesn't matter. I didn't have a chance to tell you with everything going on. While we were at the hospital, my powers came back." He levitated several inches to demonstrate. "I'm normal again!"
Unexpectedly her eyes filled with tears. Alarmed, he dropped to the floor and pulled her into his arms. "Hey, what's the matter? I thought you'd be happy!"
"I am!" She made a futile effort to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. He let her go and handed her his handkerchief. "It's just --"
"Oh; I get it," he said. "But maybe things are starting to turn around, finally. Sheriff Harris told me somebody from the local DA's office would probably call me in the next few days and I'm going to level with him about your mom. We might be able to get the judge to issue a court order for her to get help."
She sniffled and gave her eyes a final determined wipe. "Do you really think so?"
"I sure do. Hochstetter was elected on a platform that included cracking down on drunk drivers."
"I hope he cracks down on Mother," Lois said. "If nothing changes she's going to drink herself to death -- if she doesn't kill somebody first. When I think how close she came to killing Lucy, and Mr. Irig's family --"
"Well, she didn't," Clark said firmly. "It turned out a lot better than we could have expected." He kissed her on the forehead. "Why don't you get ready for bed. You're tired out."
She began to unbutton her blouse. "And I haven't thanked you and Pete for pulling her out of the car."
"You don't need to," Clark said. "We'd have done it for anybody."
"I know." She said. She sniffled slightly. "That's what makes you so special."
He smiled. "If my wife thinks I'm special that's a good thing. I thought most wives thought their husbands were doofuses. I've even heard you call me one, a couple of times."
"You are," Lois said. "But you're a wonderful doofus and I love you." She leaned forward and kissed him. "And Lana can eat her heart out!"
He laughed. "Lana's going to Berkeley in the fall," he said. "Pete told me so -- so she's going to be out of your hair, too."
"Hmm. Well, I guess you were right when you said things were turning around," she said. "Ronnie Davis told me back in March he was leaving in September to go to college, so he won't be in town either."
"Good riddance. I don't want him around, trying to make things uncomfortable for you," Clark said.
"I don't think he would," Lois said. "He denied that this was his baby, you know -- even though he said he'd pay for an abortion. It couldn't have been anyone else's, though. You believe me, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Clark said. "But he was right. It's not his baby -- it's my baby under the law. There's no way he can claim it. The only thing he can do is spread rumors, and I don't really think he's likely to do that. He wouldn't like it if we came after him for child support or something."
"I hadn't thought of that," Lois said. "Maybe things really will be better."
"They will," Clark said. "We may have a few rough patches to work through first but they'll be better."
"I'm starting to believe you," she said softly. "Do you know you're the best thing that's ever happened to me?"
"I hope so," he said. He slipped his arms around her, starting to lower his face to hers when a familiar sound began: a low hum that grew in volume until it seemed to fill the room. Both of them turned toward the footlocker, to see the stream of light leaking from it.
At once Lois went to the door and turned the lock while Clark bent to unlock the chest. At once the globe floated out, blazing with energy and he extended a hand toward it. The glow had a blood red tinge to it now and, as his hands touched it, the scene around them dissolved into Jor-El's familiar laboratory. Only now, another familiar object had been added. The ship that Jonathan Kent had hidden in his storm cellar could be seen. Jor-El and Lara bent over the console and Jor-El's hands lifted the globe.
"We have installed the hyperlight drive and tested it as best we can," Jor-El's voice said. "So much is unknown."
He placed the sphere in a depression on the ship's surface. The globe's image of Krypton dissolved and became a map of Earth. Its light disappeared and it appeared to freeze in its spot, evidently locking onto the tiny vessel.
"Contained within the sphere," Jor-El's voice said, "is the navigational computer that will guide the ship through the maze of hyperspace, as well as this account of our final days." The image of the ship drew closer. It was open and within it nestled the capsule that cradled and protected the baby. "All is in readiness," Jor-El continued. "We have selected the ship's exact destination on Earth and programmed it into the computer."
Lara moved to his side and together they looked down at the smiling infant within the tiny craft. The baby looked back at them, waving his arms.
"Kal-El, our child," Jor-El's voice said. "Under Earth's sun you will have powers and abilities no Kryptonian has ever had. You are the last son of Krypton."
The scene in the laboratory faded and Clark turned to look at Lois. She was staring at him as if she had never seen him before. "'The last son of Krypton'," she repeated. "That means you were the only one who escaped. Oh Clark!"
He bent to return the globe to the footlocker. "Not escaped," he said soberly. "Saved by my parents. They must have known they couldn't get away, but they were determined that I would. I wish I'd known them."
"Me too," Lois said. She resumed the task of unbuttoning her blouse, which she had begun before the globe had activated. "I think you do, though, in a way. They loved you -- and they sent you to two people here on Earth who could raise you to be a man they would have been proud of. I'm proud of you, you know."
He locked the chest and rose to his feet. "I want to be someone you're proud of," he said. "Whether I'm an alien or an ordinary man, I want live up to having you for my wife."
She put her arms around him and instinctively he wrapped his around her. "I *am* proud of you," she whispered.
"Even if I'm a doofus?"
"*Especially* because you are!"
**********
The wail of a fire siren brought Clark out of a sound sleep and he fumbled for the phone, glancing at the clock. It was just past one in the morning. He grabbed the receiver and dialed with the other hand. The dispatcher at the fire station answered after two rings. "Fire station."
"Hello, Miss Rogers. This is Clark Kent. Where's the fire?"
"Over at the Heyer farm," she told him. "Can you get over there?"
"Yes ma'am," he told her. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Lois had pushed herself up on one elbow. "What's going on?"
"The Heyer farm is on fire," Clark said. "I'm a volunteer fire fighter. I have to go."
"It was raining! How can it be on fire?"
"I don't know. It happens, sometimes. I need to go."
"Go," Lois told him. "Be careful."
"I will." He kissed her hurriedly and scrambled out of bed, grabbing for his clothes.
The Heyer farm was five miles from the Kent farm by way of the road but as the crow flew it was less than two. Clark cut across the wet field at a run and as soon as he was out of sight of Lucy's window, he took off.
From the air he could see the fire more clearly and poured on the speed. The roof was blazing and from somewhere within the structure he could hear the squalling of Bill and Elinor Heyer's six-month old baby. A woman's voice was screaming shrilly from somewhere. Smallville's single fire engine was in the yard and the four members of the volunteer fire department who had been on duty were struggling to get the pump going. In the yard a bucket brigade had been organized and a number of men and two women were passing buckets from the well to throw on the burning building. Clark dove toward the fire like a meteor, scanning the farmhouse with his x-ray vision as he approached. Below him the sky was lit up by the flames but from his vantage point he was invisible to any eyes on the ground.
The baby was in the smallest bedroom, blocked from the rest of the house by the fire that had overwhelmed the hallway. Moving almost faster than the eye could follow, he went through the burning roof into the attic and directly through the flames toward the door that led down into the hall. The fire and smoke couldn't block his vision, but he clutched his glasses in one hand to protect them from the heat. He ducked through the wall of fire and into the bedroom, slapping absently at a spot on his shirt that had begun to smolder.
The baby was still crying, although the smoke was getting heavier. He snatched the child from its crib and wrapped it snugly in one of its blankets. He had to get the baby out before it was overcome by the smoke, and jumping out the window wasn't the solution. Too many witnesses. But there was always the way he'd come in.
Quickly, he inhaled deeply, stuck his head out the door and blew out freezing air. The fire went out and he ran quickly to the steps that led to the attic. It was only the matter of a quick flight up the steps, inhaling again as he did so and as he burst into the attic, he blew out again, quenching the flames in the small area through which he must travel. An instant later he was soaring through the night air, the whimpering child held tightly in his arms. He came to a quick landing behind the barn and surveyed the situation. Elinor Heyer was standing in the area just behind the bucket brigade, sobbing helplessly, held back by one of Smallville's four Sheriff's deputies. Clark hurried quietly to the side of the house, which was not yet burning, and trotted conspicuously around the corner into the area lit by the fire, clutching the baby against him.
Elinor Heyer saw him and screamed again, breaking away from the deputy to run toward him. Clark hurried to her and deposited her son in her arms. "I think he's okay," he told the hysterical woman. "Better have them check him over to be sure."
In the ensuing confusion over the baby, he managed to vanish into the crowd and joined the bucket brigade, his glasses firmly in place. The farm might burn but the baby was alive and unhurt. Still, over the next three hours as they fought the fire, he found himself wishing, not for the first time, that there was more that he could do. His powers gave him so much ability to help and yet he had to watch a home burn to the ground because he couldn't let anyone see him use them. There had to be some way, he thought again. Maybe Lois could help him come up with an idea. So much had changed for him in the last few days. Maybe she could change that as well.
**********
Fortunately for all involved, Clark's work shift didn't begin until noon and he didn't require as much sleep as ordinary humans. As it was, by the time he climbed back into bed at five-thirty in the morning, he felt as if he'd been through the wringer. He awoke some three hours later, to hear Lois's voice on the phone.
"I'll be over to see you as soon as I can," she was saying. "Unfortunately, I don't have any transportation at the moment. The insurance company is checking into the possibility of a rental for us until the car is either repaired or replaced...I'm *not* being snippy!" Clark winced slightly at the gathering anger in his wife's voice. "Now just a minute, Mother! I wasn't the one that wrecked the car by driving drunk!" Clark cringed. "All right, if you want the truth, I *am* angry at you! You had no business driving the car. You don't have a license and you were drunk besides. You came close to killing Lucy! *And* you drove our car over the edge of a cliff and into a pond! If it hadn't been for Clark and Pete Ross you could have drowned, so don't tell *me* I'm out of line! I'll be over there when Daddy comes by to give me a ride and you can talk to him then. Now," she said bringing her voice back under control with an obvious effort, "I have to go. Clark was out last night fighting a fire at one of the nearby farms and he's going to want some breakfast when he wakes up. I'll talk to you when I get there."
By this time Clark was out of bed, showered and drying himself off. He stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel just as Lois quietly opened the door and stuck her head in.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"
He shook his head. "No. I guess your mom wanted you to come see her?"
Lois shrugged, entering the bedroom fully. She was wearing her bathrobe, he saw. "Yeah. She was upset. It seems the Sheriff came by this morning and arrested her. She wants me to do something."
"And?"
"I told her there wasn't anything I can do, so now she wants to talk to Daddy."
"Oh boy," Clark said. "The next few days are going to be interesting."
"Yeah. She sounded funny, though. I hope she's okay. I shouldn't have lost my temper."
"Honey, you have as much right to defend yourself as anybody else. It was your mom who got herself into trouble. *You* didn't do it."
"I know." She let him put his arms around her and rested her head on his shoulder. "If I didn't have you, I don't know what I'd do right now."
"We'll get through it, though," Clark said. "I wish I could go with you when you go to see her, but I have to be at work at noon. Just don't let her turn it around on you. You had nothing to do with what she did." He released her in order to clutch at his slipping towel. "Oops, sorry. I'd better get some clothes on."
She had stepped back a little and her gaze had dropped slightly. Now she reached out to twitch the towel out of his fingers. "Not so fast, husband. I was too tired last night, but I'm not tired this morning."
He felt his eyebrows fly up almost of their own accord. "Mrs. Kent, are you by any chance propositioning me?"
"Of course I am," she replied. "If I have to go see Mother this afternoon without you, you can at least make it up to me in advance."
"Where's Lucy?"
"Sound asleep," Lois said. She turned to lock the door. "Now, are you going to do your duty or not?"
He grinned. "I'm the one standing here in the buff," he pointed out. "You know very well how conscientious I am."
"Absolutely," Lois said.
Some time later, Lois lay beside him, her head on his shoulder. Clark ran a hand over her tousled hair. "I love you," he said. "Even with everything that's happened, I can't imagine being without you now."
"Sometimes I wonder how I managed being without you for as long as I did," Lois said. "Do you know, the day I met you, I thought about you for hours afterwards, and I had to keep telling myself how silly I was? If somebody had told me I'd be married to you a year later, I'd have laughed in his face. Now I wouldn't go back to the way it was before for anything -- even with all the headache Mother is giving us and the baby and -- well, everything. I only wish it were really your baby. I'll never forgive myself for that, Clark. Not completely."
He kissed the top of her head, since it was the only part of her that he could reach. "Don't," he said. "If it hadn't been for the baby, it might have been much longer before I stopped being afraid I'd scare you off by letting you know your best friend was in love with you. This may be the only baby I'll ever have a chance to raise. I said that before. How could I possibly regret it? The only part I regret is what you've had to go through alone. I love you and I love the baby too. We can make it through all of this, as long as we stick together. That's a promise."
"When you say it like that, I believe you," she said. She glanced reluctantly at the clock. "I guess we'd better get up."
"I suppose so," Clark agreed. "Not that I don't like your sister, but one of these days I'd like to be able to spend a day off just with you, doing just what we want. When's her Girl Scout troop's next camping trip?"
Lois giggled. "In August, I think. And what would you like to spend the day doing, Mr. Kent?"
"Lots of things," Clark said. "And lots of this."
"That's what I thought," she said. "It sounds like a wonderful agenda. I'll look forward to it."
"So will I."
Clark had just finished his second shower and was waiting while Lois finished dressing when the telltale hum of the globe broke the silence. They looked quickly at each other, and Clark knelt at once to release it from its hiding place.
The continent in Krypton's ocean was pulsing with a deep red this time when Clark reached out his hand to take it. As he did so, he felt Lois's hand close around his free one. Instantly now, the laboratory appeared, and with it Jor-El and Lara looking down into the ship.
"I try to picture you where you are now," Jor-El's voice said, "as you hear this last chapter. What do you look like? Are you alone? What have you become? Lara and I will never know. But that you should live to experience this...that is enough. We are content."
He bent to close the hatch of the tiny ship. Lara reached out wistfully to touch the capsule and the baby within lifted a hand, reaching for her. Jor-El moved to seal the hatch, and the room began to shake.
"We give you to Earth," Jor-El's voice said, "to a realm called America and a place called Kansas. Remember us but do not regret our passing. All is fate."
The picture shifted suddenly. All at once, they were looking down on Krypton from a position somewhere in space. A tiny dot flared and rose, tracing an arching trajectory off the surface of the planet.
The tiny ship passed close to where they floated. Before them Krypton hung in space, peaceful and beautiful, surrounded by a reddish glow. Then it exploded. For an instant a huge cloud that had been the planet billowed before them and rapidly dissipated, leaving nothing but a starry black void, and a glowing spot that was Krypton's star.
The scene vanished and Clark found himself staring at Lois in the bedroom of their home. Lois looked stunned. In Clark's hand the globe had ceased to glow.
"We knew it had to be something like this," he said after a long silence. "If it hadn't been a world wide catastrophe, they wouldn't have done what they did."
"But now you know for sure," Lois said. "They were heroes. Both of them were. If they hadn't been so determined that their baby was going to live, you'd have died with the rest of your world, and I'd never have met you."
Clark nodded. After another moment, he knelt and replaced the globe in the chest.
"Now what?" Lois asked as he stood up.
"What do you mean?"
"Now that you know where you came from, what now?"
"Now," Clark said, "we go on doing what we have to do. We deal with your mother. We take care of Lucy. You have our baby and we raise it. We get an education so we can start our careers. But there was one thing more that I was hoping you could help me with."
"What's that?"
"I saved a baby's life last night," he said. "At the fire. But I had to let a home burn to the ground because I couldn't let anyone know what I could do. I could make a much greater difference if I could somehow use my powers openly -- without ruining our lives. Do you think we can come up with a way to do it?"
"I don't know," Lois said slowly. "There must be some way. That's another of the projects we're going to have to work on." She tightened her belt. "It figures," she said.
"What does?"
"I said your parents were heroes. It only figures that their son is, too."
"I'm not a hero," Clark protested. "I went in after the baby knowing I could do it without being burned."
"You're my hero, you doofus," Lois said. "I know it, even if you don't."
"I'm back to being a doofus again," Clark said, smiling at her.
"You never stopped," Lois said. "But you're the man I'd pick all over again if I had to. And you're the man I'll love for the rest of my life. I don't have to explain that, do I?"
"No," Clark said.
"Good," Lois said. "But if I have to cook breakfast, even your steel stomach might not be able to take it. Let's get something to eat. I'm starving."
"Your wish is my command," Clark said, slipping an arm around her waist. He opened the door for her and let her precede him into the hall. As he closed the door, she turned.
"It always was, wasn't it?" she said softly.
"Yes," he said. He leaned forward to take her face in both hands and kissed her gently. "It always was. And it always will be."
The End
