The scent of jasmine was heavy on the wind. Clark smiled slightly when he heard her stepping onto the veranda behind him.
Everything was so much easier now. In the days since Lois had broke down and told him the truth, they’d rediscovered some of their easy camaraderie that they’d lost somewhere along the way. They’d laughed together, and Clark had begun to find some real hope that they would finally have a chance to find each other.
She was quiet for a moment. “I hear the doctors say you are ready.”
Clark didn’t look at her. He simply sat still, enjoying the return of senses that he’d never realized were so much a part of him. He didn’t have to see her now to know she was there. He could hear the sounds of her heartbeat, the sounds of the blood rushing in her veins.
He could smell her sweet perfume, and beneath that, the scent he’d come to recognize as being indisputably her.
Seeing and hearing everything for miles around, he wished for a moment that he could share this with her, that she could see the world as he did.
It was indescribably beautiful.
Hesitantly she stepped forward. “Things are going to be different for you now.”
Nodding, he said, “I know. I asked about my apartment, my things. The agents told me what happened to them. Do I really live in the artic someplace?”
“You still don’t remember anything?” Lois moved beside him, and a moment later she leaned against him.
“My burn healed in under a minute,” Clark said slowly. The burn on his thigh was the one injury that she hadn’t seen. “And I still don’t remember anything. The doctors say there’s a good chance the damage may be permanent.”
His brain was healed, but the information that had been in the damaged parts might never be recovered.
Worse, he couldn’t stay here forever, waiting for stolen moments with a woman whose every waking moment was so busy that she barely had time to think.
“I’ve got some ideas,” Lois said. “About some things you might be able to do...”
******************
“You want me to work for you?” Clark’s expression was incredulous.
“Technically you already work for me,” Lois said. “When I signed the order sending you to stop Nightfall, I made you an agent of the United States government. That hasn’t changed.”
“I never wanted to play politics.” Clark’s expression was troubled. “I always wanted Superman to belong to the world.”
“Superman can belong to the world. I want to hire Clark Kent.”
Lois called back into the darkened recesses behind her. “Charlie!”
A young man in his early teens emerged with a briefcase. He struggled slightly carrying it.
The briefcase was lined with lead.
“I need you to sign some papers for me.” At his look, she hurried on. “Non-disclosure forms. There are some things secret enough that it would be illegal for me to talk to you about without them.”
Clark nodded shortly. He looked the papers over quickly, and signed his name to the bottom of them.
Lois had Charlie put the briefcase on a small table. She began her spiel.
“There were some unintended consequences to the occupation.”
She pulled out several pictures, and she could see from his expression that he was hooked.
“What would you think about becoming an uncle?”
**************
Clark straightened his tie and wondered for the thousandth time if he wouldn’t be instantly recognized.
Stepping through the doors, he was immediately assaulted by the sounds of childhood. Laughing, running, the walls an explosion of colors that matched the happy sounds.
He felt relieved. This wasn’t the sort of place he’d feared.
Showing his identification to a smiling elderly woman at the front desk, he was ushered back into a large room where dozens of children were playing.
There was a lot of laughter in this room, and Clark felt something within him easing a little. He’d imagined a place of gloom and despair, something out of Dickens. At the best he’d hoped to find a waiting area, a place where children were held in limbo as they waited in the furtive hope that someone, somehow would choose to love them.
This was a happy place, and Clark was glad to see that the staff was obviously dedicated to their work.
With all the happiness in the room, there was one dark spot in the corner. A single child sat alone. She was silent, watching the laughter around her, and there was something about her that simply cried out wordlessly.
Her face was heart shaped, and her hair was black. It would be easy to imagine that this is what his child with Lois would look like.
“Is Kara here?” Clark asked, even though he knew the answer. At the sound of her name, the girl looked up, and for the first time he saw a flicker of emotion.
The woman, Mrs. Crabtree by her nametag nodded and led her in the girl’s direction.
“This is Clark.” She spoke softly to the girl.
For a moment, Clark wondered if the little girl was deaf. All she’d done was stare up at him, as though she was fixated on his face. He wondered if she felt it too, the instant feeling of kinship that he’d felt with her.
New Kryptonians were telepathic with each other. Clark wasn’t sure that he had those abilities, but just in case he attempted to project feelings of warmth and affection.
Clark lowered himself to one knee, bringing his face level with hers, and he held out his hand.
“Hello, Kara. I think we’ve got a lot to talk about.”
She took his hand in hers, and he knew he’d made the right choice.
After this, thirty more to go.
***********
Clark floated silently above the crowds. There were so many, each with a different story. Some were in orphanages, some lived with family members. Each was a testament to tragedy.
All of them were innocent, and each was a potential threat.
No one knew what would happen when the DNA of Earth and Krypton combined. Perhaps they would all be human. Perhaps some would inherit the legacy of their fathers.
Perhaps they all would.
There had been factions in the government who wanted to do something monstrous, terrified by the prospect of thirty children being abused and tormented and growing to hate the world.
What they’d wanted to do was monstrous.
The choice had been given to Lois. She’d sought out the help of the only experts in the world who knew how to raise a superhuman and turn him into a decent human being.
Their answers had been enlightening. Despite the risk, they’d met with the people in power, and they’d laid out a plan that had impressed and relieved the more reactionary members.
It thrilled Clark to know that his parents were still alive, and it gratified him to know that they thought he was the best choice to help carry out their plan.
They’d code named it Utopia.
Clark lay back staring at the stars, impatience thrumming deep within him.
Finally it was time. He allowed himself to drop through the clouds and into the night sky. The Pacific was beautiful this time of year, even in the darkness.
Hawaii. He never would have suspected.
Within a moment he was landing on a deserted beach. Two figures were walking from the opposite direction in the moonlight, holding hands as though they were still the young couple in love that they remembered themselves as.
They were tan, and his father had lost weight. He looked fit, glowing with health and vitality. They hardly seemed older.
Retirement had been good to them.
Their steps faltered as they caught sight of him. A moment later they were running toward him.
It wasn’t until they reached him and he was deep in a double embrace that he realized that something within him was beginning to thaw.
The tears glistening in his eyes had never felt so right.
*************
It was night again. It seemed that night was the only time he saw her anymore.
The fact that he was finally meeting her in her seat of power was a sign of progress. The familiar bulk of the building behind him was reassuring in a way. It had been rebuilt to match the old one almost exactly, on the outside at least. The improvements were unobtrusive and subtle.
He sat on the gentle slope of a hill, and he felt her walking up behind him.
She placed her hand on his shoulder and lowered herself gently onto the lawn, ignoring the likely grass stains on her pants suit.
“You aren’t afraid of the paparazzi seeing us here?” Clark asked quietly.
“I’m counting on it.” Lois said.
