Part 7: HeadacheLois stayed awake for a while reading. She just wasn't tired enough to actually try to sleep yet. She hoped whatever was going on with Superman would calm soon. It seemed to be. At least he hadn't gone into another deep sleepwalking state like he had experienced at the Planet.
After a few more pages, she finally closed the book and set it aside, falling asleep not long after. . . .
At first she wasn't sure what had woken her up. But then she heard it again.
It sounded like distant struggling and something she couldn't place. Did a neighbor have their TV on too loud? She looked at the clock. 2:43am.
Really?
She sat up and listened carefully. If it was the neighbor across the way again, she'd be calling the police.
After a few seconds of listening, she froze.
The noise wasn't coming from outside her apartment, but from inside.
She climbed out of bed and put on her robe as the sounds seemed to grow more frantic. And then she heard a shout. A wordless cry for help. A cry of fear.
Hurrying out of her room, she entered the living room and her eyes instantly fell on Superman’s form on the cot. His eyes were closed, but he definitely wasn’t resting soundly.
“Superman?!” she cried.
His blanket was on the floor and he was laying on his back, weakly fidgeting in his sleep. She instantly concluded he was having a nightmare. What else could it be?
“Superman, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!” she said, kneeling beside the cot.
She took his hand as her knees pressed into the rug and shook his shoulder with her other hand.
He gasped and his feeble struggles abruptly ceased, but she knew he was still asleep, as his expression suddenly fell into one of despair.
“Superman, Superman, come on, wake up,” she urged before she could only stare in astonishment as he released a sob. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re dreaming,” she said as tears began seeping from the corners of his eyes.
She didn’t know what to do, so she simply did what she always did. Let her instincts take over.
He began squirming again, but his movements were slow as she took hold of his shoulders and pulled up, slipping one of her hands behind the back of his neck. He didn’t resist but he didn’t help either. She grunted as she got him to sit upright with his legs still stretched out along the cot. He slouched forward, which was just as well as she met him halfway, allowing him to come to rest against her. His arms were limp while hers tightened around his heavy frame, one beneath his cape. She held him firmly, feeling his tears fall upon her shoulder and the nape of her neck as he continued to weep.
What could he be dreaming? What would make Superman respond this way?
"It's alright," she continued, hoping he could hear her on some level and that he would wake soon.
After another minute, he grew quiet and his breaths became less shuddered.
"It's okay," Lois said, before feeling his arms wrap around her.
He bent his head closer as he clung to her. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her neck and through her hair.
His breathing calmed and were it not for his arms still around her she would have thought he had fallen back asleep.
"Alright?" She had said that word an awful lot, she realized.
"Yes. Thank you," he said softly. His voice sounded strained, clearly not immune to emotion.
"Nightmare?" she asked.
"No. Memory," he said, still resting against her though not as heavily.
She tightened her arms around him, causing him to release a shaky sigh.
"I was in my ship, well, module. But at the time I didn't understand that. It was dark and loud. Everything was shaking. And I was alone. It was . . . scary. I don't remember ever being so scared before," he said hesitantly.
"What was happening?" she asked.
"I was leaving Krypton . . . and it was close. If they hadn't sent me when they did. . . ."
"You mean. . . .?" She didn't need to go further as he nodded.
"I heard my mother's voice. During the launch. It was in my mind. I think my people were telepathic."
"What did she say?" she whispered, her arms still around him.
"That--" His voice cracked and he had to stop. He cleared his throat and forced himself to continue. "She loved me. . . . She asked me to live. To live well. And then her voice was gone. I felt her go in my mind. Just as Krypton was destroyed."
"I can't imagine," Lois said, not sure of what else to say.
"I knew they sent me here because they loved me. They didn't want me to die with them, but hearing her say it is different, you know?" he continued wobbly.
"Yes," she agreed with a squeeze.
Soon after, he returned the gentle hug before pulling back, a bit more composed.
"Shall we go to the kitchen?" she asked after a moment.
He nodded before floating them both up to their feet.
"Whoa," she said, surprised.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" he asked, standing in front of her, tear tracks and all.
"No, you just surprised me. Is that usually how you get out of bed?" she asked.
"Not usually, but I'm not usually so close to the floor," he said.
She nodded understandingly before leading the way to the kitchen.
She got out some cheese and crackers, one of the few things she had plenty of, and set it between them before getting them both ice water. Considering they still might want to go back to sleep, fixing tea seemed counterproductive.
"Superman?" she asked, noticing how he seemed to be zoning out at the table.
"I don't really feel Super at the moment. Please call me Kal-El," he said, glancing up at her with a small smile. "It's my birth name."
Lois' eyebrows shot up, suddenly wondering why she had never inquired about his name after the initial interview.
"Sorry. I should have told you that a long time ago, among other things," he added softly, frowning at the end.
"It's alright. You know, I probably should have asked before."
"You did ask me, but at that time I hadn't known what my birth name was," he admitted.
"Did you find out tonight?" she asked.
"No, I found out a few months after you and, uh, Clark first encountered Bureau 39. From the globe," he said, suddenly looking antsy.
"Oh." She looked down at the cheese and took a thin square.
She looked back up, about to ask a question when she found him pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
He put his hand down and looked up at her.
"Just a headache," he said.
"You get headaches?" she asked. She wasn't sure why she felt that was so weird, but she did.
"It usually takes Kryptonite or a lunatic with a sound weapon, but yeah," he said goodnaturedly. "I suppose with everything it makes sense I'd get one now."
"Would you like some Advil or something?" she asked, moving to get up.
"Pain medications don't do anything for me, unfortunately," he said, quickly motioning her to stay seated. "I'll be alright. Anyway, I actually want to tell you something."
She shifted forward in her chair, wondering if it involved something he had seen in his memory. "Okay, what is it?"
"The truth. Well, the whole truth. You certainly deserve to know, and it's something I've been trying to figure out how to share with you for a while, but it's . . . Well, I've never told anyone before, and it’s. . . ." He trailed off, unable to find the words.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Su--Kal-El," she assured.
If she wasn’t already wide awake, she would be now!
Superman was going to tell her something he hadn’t told anyone before?!
"Before I start, I want you to know that I didn't like keeping this from you, well, really lying to you, but at first I didn't know you. I didn't know I could trust you, and this isn't just my secret, but my parents'. Well, adopted parents."
Lois' jaw dropped open slightly, but before she could voice any questions, he continued.
"But then after I got to know you, it became complicated and I realized I couldn't just tell you without likely hurting you. And the longer I've waited the harder it's become. I don't want to hurt you, but I also know I'm hurting you by not telling you." He frowned and took a drink of water.
"Okay," she said. "Once you've told me whatever you've been hiding, I'll try to keep what you've said in mind."
He smiled gratefully at her as he put his glass back down.
"I left Krypton when I was less than three months old," he said. "I grew up on Earth. I even went to school with other kids, but I knew I was different pretty early on. I never got hurt or ill, and when I was five or so, my first abilities began to show," he said, before taking a moment to eat a cracker.
"Grew up here. . . ." Lois whispered, quickly realizing the implications.
That must mean he had another name. A human name, a human life! It meant he had been on Earth among them for as long as he could remember! No wonder he knew their languages so well, not to mention their culture. She couldn’t believe she had never seriously thought about it before. He was one of them!
She forced herself to be patient and quiet. Obviously this was really hard for him. She should at least allow him to tell her at his own pace instead of spouting off questions, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Yes. I grew up here, but I knew I had to hide what I could do, especially since I didn't know what I was. My parents were afraid I would be taken away if anyone found out that I wasn't . . . normal."
She gasped, horrified by the thought of anyone growing up like that, let alone Superman.
"My parents told me they found me in a crashed vessel after they followed what they had thought was a meteor. Until I got that globe, we didn't know if I was an experiment from Russia, an alien, or what!"
Lois forced her mouth to stay closed, instantly recalling the image he had drawn on the notepad. The spaceship with his emblem.
"Time went on and I discovered more abilities. Some were easier to control than others, but my parents helped me to learn, even though I know they were as scared as I was at times," he said, pausing to rub a spot above his right eyebrow.
Lois wondered if his headache was getting worse.
"Do you need to stop for a moment?" she asked.
"No, I can keep going, and talking is a nice distraction from it," he said, putting his hand back down. "Besides, I want you to know."
She nodded, torn between the growing excitement of learning about his life and concerned about his obvious growing headache. Was he really okay? Superman having a headache just sounded wrong.
"I went to high school, even joined the football team. But I was always very careful to hide my abilities because my parents were afraid the government would take me away and find a way to dissect me like a frog if I was discovered. And since becoming Superman, that fear has admittedly become stronger in some ways. Especially with my dad," he said, before grimacing and rubbing his forehead again.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, now really growing concerned.
He looked to be in some serious pain now. He was squinting and he was frowning.
"I don't know. It's never hurt like this before," he said after a moment, now looking uncertain.
That scared her.
“Could it be a migraine?” she asked.
“I don't know. Doesn’t really match the descriptions of migraines I’ve heard. It’s just a bad headache. Feels hot,” he said, shaking his head.
“I’ll get you a cold cloth, maybe that’ll help,” she said.
“Thanks,” he said as she stood up. “Anyway, after high school, I--”
He froze as he felt something drip from his nose just before it splattered loudly onto the surface of the table.
They both looked down.
A bold red drop of blood.
O o O o O
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