Live Another Day
Epilogue
A week later, Clark was still reeling with the things that had happened at the marina. His throat constricted when he remembered that he’d told Lois about his powers. He didn’t know if she’d believed him. He thought she had. But since it had taken him days to get back to what was normal for him, he couldn’t know for sure.
For a couple of days he’d been waiting for the article about him to appear. He'd agonized about how he was going to keep his parents safe and how he was going to tell them why they had to hide. But Lois kept her promise. There hadn't been a single headline about a flying, invulnerable alien in any of Metropolis' papers, including the tabloids.
Back in Metropolis, things were getting back to normal. Franklin Stern had bought the Daily Planet and Luthor’s insurance was paying for the repairs. Henderson had grudgingly accepted that he wasn’t going to find Chuck Fox’s body and had petitioned the court to declare him lost at sea. Scardino had returned to working for the DEA and Luthor was facing a trial. Once he’d been arrested, even more evidence had come to the surface and his formerly loyal employees suddenly felt compelled to cooperate with the police.
Clark had just stayed there long enough to gather his things, including the deadly green crystal. Then he’d left the city to find someplace else to hide. Once he’d regained his powers and was sure that he wasn't in any immediate danger of public exposure, he felt that he should visit his parents. It took him the whole week to work up his courage and so he was heading for Smallville the same day he wanted to pay Lois one last visit.
It was early evening when he hovered high above the Kent farm. The last warm rays of sunlight were painting the land in golden colors. His gut was tied in a knot and his heart was beating faster as he went lower and landed on the front porch of the old farmhouse. He was nervous. There was still so much lost time to make up for, so many things they needed to talk about. He knew that he couldn’t heal the wounds of more than ten years in a couple of minutes. His powers were of no use when it came to relationships. But he should at least make the first step, scary as that was. He missed his parents deeply.
Clark took a steadying breath before he knocked at the door.
“Coming.” He heard the heavy steps of his father.
Frozen in his spot, Clark held his breath as he waited. His legs were twitching with the need to push him back up into the air. But he didn’t move. Although part of him desperately wanted to escape, he felt that he couldn’t.
“Clark!” The surprise on Jonathan Kent’s face was evident as he opened the door. He turned his head. “Martha. It’s Clark!”
He sounded excited rather than alarmed. At least Clark hoped that he did. His heart was beating fast and hard. He still couldn’t bring himself to draw in another breath. Before Clark knew what happened to him, he was sucked into a bear hug so firm that it made breathing virtually impossible. Clark didn’t mind.
His father’s voice was thick with emotion. “Son, we missed you so much.”
His mother came running from the back of the farmhouse and flung herself at Clark. At first, he felt a little awkward as he stood between his parents. But then he melted into their embrace and started to feel completely at ease. Tears slipped down his cheeks and he didn’t even try to hold them back. He felt like he could finally breathe again. And that first intake of breath was so liberating that it seemed to him like it was the first real breath he had taken since he’d been forced to leave his parent’s home. In that very moment, it seemed to him like he was ten years old again and safe in their care.
“Clark!” His mother was crying, too. “After our last talk, I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Clark whispered into her hair. “I was so afraid that you’d be terrified of me, even hate me.”
Her hair brushed against his chin as she shook her head. “Why would we ever hate you, Clark? We're your parents. We love you and nothing is going to change that.”
They hugged some more and Clark would have liked to stay like this forever. In his parent’s embrace his emotional wounds didn’t hurt quite so badly. And just perhaps they would heal, given enough time. Eventually, they parted enough to pull their son with them into the kitchen. Mere moments later, a piece of warm apple pie and a mug of Oolong tea was sitting on the table in front of Clark.
His mother sat down next to him. “How did things go in Metropolis?”
“Fine,” he muttered. He felt a little subdued as his thoughts drifted to Lois. Would her window be open, tonight? “Lex Luthor is in custody. He’s going to face trial in a few weeks.”
“Yeah, we read about that. Well done, son!” Jonathan patted Clark’s shoulder and sat down as well.
Clark smiled timidly and dug into his pie. It tasted wonderful, just like he remembered from his childhood days. But no matter how delicious the pie was, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from revolving around Lois again. He was nervous and frankly not just a little scared. When he returned to Metropolis to find her window closed, he feared that his barely thawed heart would be smashed to pieces. Did he really dare risk that?
His mother seemed to be reading his thoughts. “And what about the woman? Did you talk to her again?”
Clark stiffened. He dropped his spoon and clenched his hands into fists until his knuckles turned white.
His mother flinched, a look of guilt flashing across her face. “I’m sorry, Clark. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Clark took a calming breath and forced himself to unclench his hands again. “No, it’s okay. It’s just – I was thinking about her and…” His voice trailed off.
Martha took his hand in hers. She didn’t appear the least bit scared. It was still difficult for Clark to understand how someone could know everything about his powers and treat him like he was just another human being. It felt so good and yet so – he couldn’t think of a word to describe it.
His mother smiled at him warmly. “What’s eating at you, honey?”
“I’m frightened,” he admitted in a low voice. “When I learned about my true origins and that I am-“ He swallowed hard before he continued. “-an alien, Trask almost killed me. He managed to convince people in the Pentagon that I posed a threat to humankind and got them to order my death.”
Martha and Jonathan looked appalled. They both reached for his hands, squeezing them reassuringly when they were too shocked to say anything.
Clark couldn’t face them. He stared at the plate with his half-eaten pie. “Then Nightfall came and suddenly they changed their minds, hoping I could save them.” A shiver ran down his spine. “By the time General Newcomb told me about the threat, Trask had already spend hours exposing me to the one substance that can hurt me. I was completely stripped off any of my powers and hadn’t it been for Newcomb, I’d died there.”
The faces of his parents were pale as they listened to him. Clark felt no longer able to keep sitting on his chair. He got up and walked towards the window of the back door.
“Newcomb told me about Nightfall. He didn’t order me to save the world,” he said softly. Then his voice turned bitter. “He might as well have. I’m sure that if I had refused, the same people who had ordered my execution would have seen to it that I was stripped buck naked and tied up in the sunlight to get me healed in time.” His voice cracked and once again he clenched and unclenched his fists to regain control of his emotions.
“Ever since we learned about your powers, I wondered if it had been you saving us from that asteroid.” His father said quietly. “I was meaning to ask, but you seemed so uncomfortable talking about yourself. Now at last, I understand.”
Jonathan and Martha got up from their chairs. They went to Clark and pulled their son into another comforting hug.
“I have a hard time trusting people,” Clark muttered against his father’s chest. “I'm alive because the people who wanted to kill me think that I'm dead. I was so scared that you’d also consider me a threat, something to be feared because I wasn’t from Earth.”
“It’s someone, honey, not something,” his mother said firmly.
Clark’s reaction was something between a laugh and a sob. “I was no longer sure where I belonged. If there was any place for me at all.”
Martha hugged him even tighter. “Of course there is, Clark. You’re our son. That will never change, regardless of the planet you were born on. That you’re not from Earth doesn’t make you any less human as far as we’re concerned.”
“And I’m sure that most people would think so if they knew you.” Jonathan said quietly.
Clark took a deep, steadying breath and smiled at them warmly. “I believe I’ve found one of them. But I'm afraid that I just indulge in wishful thinking, here.”
His mother grinned. “Are you talking about the woman you mentioned on the phone?”
Clark felt his cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. “Uh huh.” All of a sudden, he felt incredibly nervous. He ran a hand through his hair. His voice was hoarse. “She knows about me.” He swallowed hard. “Everything.”
His father’s eyes went wide. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“It happened accidentally. But she took it remarkably well.” Clark cleared his throat. “At least I think so. I’m going to visit her tonight and see if she’s still willing to talk to me after she’s had the time to really think about it.”
Martha squeezed his hand. “If she hasn’t changed her mind you need to introduce her to us. Knowing your secret makes her family.”
Clark couldn’t help but smile at his mother’s enthusiasm. “I think she’s just a friend.”
Martha grinned impishly. “Friends make the best lovers.”
If at all possible, Clark felt even more embarrassed. “Mom!”
She laughed and embraced her son again. "It's so good to have you back. And is it so bad that I want my son to be happy?"
Clark shook his head. His throat constricted again, this time with overwhelming love and emotion. New tears sprang to his eyes and he tried to blink them away.
His father seemed to sense his struggle and put a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Have you decided what you're going to do now?"
Clark swallowed down the lump in his throat. "I'm not sure. I've been thinking about this a lot. Thankfully, General Newcomb allowed me to take the school exams, so I was able to finish high school. And he let me get a college degree via distance learning. I guess I will find myself a job. Something meaningful."
Jonathan smiled. "You're always welcome to work on the farm."
Clark returned his father's smile with a faint one of his own. "Perhaps that would be a good idea until I've figured out where to go from here. "
Jonathan was about to say more, but Martha held him back. "And now you should visit your lady friend, Clark. We can talk later.” She tipped on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Good luck.”
For a long time, Clark leaned into her embrace and inhaled the scent of his mom that reminded him so much of happy childhood days. He would have liked to stay longer, but he also needed to know where he stood with Lois. So eventually, he said goodbye to his parents and headed back to Metropolis at top speed. He’d checked the phone book to find out where she lived.
A little later Clark was hovering above her apartment building. It was almost ten p.m. There was still light in her living room. Her window was open. The curtains were moving in the wind. Clark’s heart was pounding wildly in his chest. He took a deep breath, before he moved closer and knocked at the frame of her window.
Lois was sitting on her sofa and reading a book. When he knocked, she looked up and her mouth fell open in surprise. Hastily, she closed her book and hurried toward him.
“Clark!” She moved the curtains aside to let him in. “I wasn’t sure I was going to see you again.”
“May I come in?” he asked.
She just stared at him mesmerized as he was hovering in mid-air in front of her three-story window. A feeling of unease settled in his stomach. He shouldn’t have come.
“I can go, if that’s what you want,” he offered.
She seemed to shake the stupor that had befallen her and reached for his arm. “Oh, no, you won’t steal away again, buster.” She pulled him inside.
He climbed over the window sill and felt a bit awkward as he was standing in her living room. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. His breath hitched and his stomach did a somersault.
“I don’t believe it,” she muttered. “You can actually fly!”
“I told you I could,” he replied with a nervous grin.
She stared at him in awe. “That means that everything else you told me is also true? You destroyed an asteroid?” He merely nodded. Words were failing him. “Unbelievable.”
“This can never leave this room, Lois.” he said quietly.
She slapped his chest. “How many times do I have to tell you that I will never print anything about your secret! Clark, you’ve done more for me than you could ever imagine. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened to me if I had married Luthor.”
He looked at his feet, embarrassed. “It was you who saved my life. I haven’t thanked you yet.”
She laid a hand on his chin and lifted it up until he looked at her again. “You don’t need to. That’s what friends are for.”
His heart was pounding so hard against his chest that he thought it was about to explode. “You’d want to be my friend?”
“That depends!” she said with a mischievous grin.
“Depends on what?” he asked puzzled.
She pointed at the open window. “On whether you’ll take me flying someday.”
His heart swelled. In one swift motion he scooped her up into his arms. “I think that can be arranged.”
Lois leaned against his chest. “Then I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
The End
Last edited by bakasi; 09/04/21 04:00 AM.
