[Chapter 4: Control] Jesse looked up as Superman gently placed him on a padded bench. His mother was standing beside him and a number of other people were behind Superman. The room seemed to be a doctor’s office but also felt like a living room. There was comfortable furniture about but also strange equipment.
“We’ll be downstairs if you need us,” a man who seemed to be important told Superman.
“Thank you, Mav,” Superman said.
Mav and almost everyone else left, save for his mom, Superman, and a man in a white doctor’s jacket.
"Alright, Jesse. I'm Dr. Klein, Superman's doctor. With your mom's permission, I'd like to listen to your heart and take a few measurements, okay?" the balding man said.
"Will it hurt?" Jesse asked.
The last time he had gone to the doctor they had given him a shot. Sure, he might have powers, but if this was Superman's doctor, maybe he had stuff that would even work on him.
"They'll want a few strands of your hair, Jesse, but that's as painful as it'll get," Superman interceded before reaching up to his own head and pulling a few strands of hair. "Dr. Klein needs it to compare them."
"Oh, thank you, Kal," Dr. Klein said, pulling out a small ziplock bag and allowing Superman to put them in.
Jesse blinked but copied the action without any fuss. They just wanted some hair?! That was fine with him!
"Thank you, Jesse," Dr. Klein said, before quickly labeling the hair samples.
Soon after, Klein did the normal things doctors and nurses did when he got a check up. Listened to his heart and lungs, weighed him and measured his height before checking his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Jesse kept as still as he could the whole time and was proud when he didn't break anything. His mother looked relieved and gave him a pleased smile. At the end, Dr. Klein asked him to spit in a cup! That was fun.
"Well, nothing stands out. Everything reads as normal for a boy his age," Klein said. "Even his body temperature, which does surprise me a little, considering you run a little higher than humans," he commented, looking at Superman. "Of course, he is still human, even though he has your abilities. Anyway, I'll get started on analyzing these. If there are any answers to be found, they'll be found there, I would think."
"Thank you, doctor," his mom said before they watched him leave.
"So, are you ready to learn how to control your strength?” Superman asked cheerfully.
He nodded, suddenly excited. He wouldn’t break his toys anymore and he wouldn’t need to worry about accidentally hurting his mom!
“Alright,” Superman said, going behind a table before picking up a box of . . . bananas?
"Bananas?" his mom asked. At least he wasn't the only one confused.
"It's one thing I used to learn to control my strength. My dad had me peel bananas until I could do so without bruising them. And then, once I could do that, I moved up to peeling oranges,” he explained before removing a banana and holding it out to Jesse. “Want to try?”
“Okay,” Jesse said, hesitantly taking it.
“Go ahead. And don’t worry if it takes a few times before you see progress. By the time I could peel one without leaving a bruise, my mom was tired of making banana bread," Superman said, smiling at the memory.
Jesse smiled back before trying to open the banana. Unfortunately, this resulted in it pretty much exploding all over his hands.
He looked up apologetically but Superman merely smiled.
"I did that too. It just takes a lot of practice. You'll get it," Superman encouraged.
Jesse nodded, deciding not to be discouraged. He could do it!
O o O o O
Mayson shook her head at the television as she walked by the break room of the police department.
"Parasites," she muttered.
"The media?" Henderson asked, turning toward her with a mug of freshly brewed coffee.
"Of course," she stated.
"I'm a bit surprised, to be honest. I would have expected you to change the channel," Henderson said.
"I’ll admit I was tempted," she stated.
"So what do you think?" he asked.
"About what?"
"The kid," Henderson said, nodding to the screen that was now showing a photo of Jesse exiting the car behind his mother.
"I don't think he's his, if that's what you’re asking. And after what he said in front of the Foundation, I doubt anyone else does now either," Mayson said with an exasperated shake of her head.
She could not believe he had point blank said he was a virgin on national television! Sure, he hadn't said the ‘V’ word, but he might as well have screamed it.
Henderson laughed. "Yeah, I nearly spewed out my coffee, but he definitely ended all super-parentage speculation, which I think was his goal. Granted, I’m not sure he has realized what it’s cost him, but either way I doubt he cares. He doesn’t seem to be affected by certain things like the rest of us, and I'm not talking about his powers.”
“He does view things differently,” Mayson agreed. "And just between us, I wouldn't be surprised if he's unique even by Kryptonian standards."
"Neither would I," Henderson agreed.
O o O o O
After lunch, Jesse went through another dozen bananas before they noted an improvement.
"I did it!" he shouted, holding out a whole banana, although there were still finger indentations in a few spots.
"Good job," Kal said, just as enthused by the success as Jesse even though there were banana guts all over the place.
Now he had some idea how his parents felt watching and helping him as a child.
"I'm so sorry about the mess," Jesse's mother said, somewhat horrified by the yellow debris everywhere.
"It's no problem. I'll clean it up," he said, before zipping around in a blur and cleaning up all the gooey residue in a few seconds.
Reappearing back where he had been, he handed a clean, damp washcloth to Leigh-Anne for her to clean up banana remains from her son, as well as herself.
“Thank you,” she said, blinking while Jesse beamed.
“No problem. Now, are you having any trouble with your hearing or vision?” Superman asked, looking at Jesse.
“No, not really. Things used to be really loud, but I just don’t listen anymore,” he said.
“That’s good. When I was little, super hearing was one I struggled with for a long time. So I take it you just leave it off?” Superman asked.
“Uh, yeah. It’s too scary to listen,” Jesse admitted.
“That’s alright," Kal said before a knock on the doorframe got his attention. "Doctor?"
"Sorry for interrupting, but I felt you all would like to know what I've just learned sooner rather than later," Dr. Klein said.
"No problem, although I'm surprised you learned anything this quickly. Is there a problem?" Kal asked.
"No. Actually, I'm pretty sure this is very good news. I have reason to believe this - Jesse having powers, I mean - is temporary," Dr. Klein said.
Ms. Stipanovic covered her chest in shock and hopeful relief.
"Why do you think that?" Kal asked, intrigued while inwardly torn for a reason he could not place in that moment.
"Here, I'll just show you," Dr. Klein said, holding out a hair as his other hand approached it with scissors. "This is Jesse's hair. Right here is about two months old." He cut, or at least tried to cut but he ended up breaking a portion of the scissors instead. Leigh-Anne and Jesse gasped. "But look when I cut here, which is maybe a week old," he said as he adjusted his grip, turning the hair around so they could see the root. And then he cut it. The scissors remained intact and the hair was cut as easily as any other human hair.
"Does that mean . . . ?" Jesse's mother asked, astonished.
Jesse was confused.
"The abilities he got from Superman are fading and I would wager will likely be out of his system completely in a month or so, if not sooner," Dr. Klein explained.
"I'll be normal again?" Jesse asked, his face an odd expression of bewildered relief and loss.
"Yes," Dr. Klein answered.
Ms. Stipanovic immediately embraced her son in joy.
"If I may suggest, things could likely be sped along if he were to perform some strenuous super feats," Klein proposed.
Superman hummed in thought. "Well, we could fly a bit. Would you like that, Jesse?"
"Yeah!" he shouted.
"Ms. Stipanovic, would that be alright?" Kal asked. "We can stay within city limits, if you prefer."
"Would that allow him to use up, uh, as much energy as he would otherwise?" she asked.
"Jesse would likely benefit from not being limited," Dr. Klein interjected. "Under Kal's guidance of course."
"A-alright," she said, not sure what to think but wanting her boy to return to how he had been before sooner rather than later. "You be good for Superman and do what he says," she instructed her son.
"I will, Mommy," he promised.
"I'll keep him safe. We'll be back by dinner time," Kal promised before looking at Dr. Klein. "Could you brief Mav and ask him to begin working on a statement with Murray? I'll review when we return."
"Sure," Klein said agreeably.
Kal and Jesse left from the roof a few minutes later, leaving the skies of Metropolis with two sonic booms.
O o O o O
Lois sighed as she overheard her coworkers' discussion. The topic was one she had been hearing repeated throughout the day, and she understood their curiosity, but it was still getting old.
"He's one lucky kid. How awesome would it be to have Superman's powers, even just for a day?!" Jimmy exclaimed. "And to think he had them for months after that lightning strike!"
"I don't know, having powers might be scary. I mean, what if you couldn't control them? The kid had broken how many things?" Alli from purchasing pointed out.
"But imagine, being able to fly! And now we know it's actually possible!"
"If you happen to be close enough to Superman when he gets struck by lightning. Yeah, that seems
safe," Alli said sarcastically.
"Lois, what do you think?" Jimmy asked.
"About having powers?" she asked.
"Yeah. You've spoken with Superman more than any of us, so tell us, would you want powers?" he asked.
"I suppose it depends on the circumstances. Of course the idea of flying and being invulnerable sounds great, but what comes with all of that?" she questioned.
"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.
"Well, would they come on suddenly? Would I be able to control them? Would people be afraid of me? Would anyone else have powers? Would I be able to continue to live my life and keep my job?" she asked.
"Hmm. Okay. So what if all those concerns you listed don't apply? What would you do if you had powers for just one day?" Jimmy asked.
"What's the point of these questions?" Lois asked.
"Come on, Lois," Jimmy whined.
"Fine. I'd fly to the moon and back, go down and touch the ocean floor, fly around the world, go to the north pole and then the south pole, just so I could say I had done those things. Along with those things, I'd be sure to see all the wonders of the world and try as much of the world's cuisine as possible, especially chocolate desserts," Lois summarized.
"It sort of sounds like you've thought about this a lot," Jimmy prodded.
"It's most of my bucket list," Lois shrugged.
"You want to go to the moon?" he asked, bewildered.
"I did sneak onto Space Station Prometheus," she pointed out.
"Oh yeah. I can't believe I forgot about that," Jimmy said, bemused.
"Anyway, that's what I'd do if I had Superman's powers for a day," Lois said.
"I wonder if Superman has done all of those things."
Lois shrugged. "I can ask the next time I see him."
"Oh, please do!" Jimmy said excitedly.
She nodded, glad the questioning was over.
O o O o O
Clark was relieved when he returned to investigating Denny Milner's disappearance. He had been a little concerned that one of his leads would dry up if he didn't pursue it quickly but fortunately he not only managed to latch onto it, he had gotten to the bottom of what had happened much sooner than even he had expected. Less than three days.
Denny Milner, like most other teenagers, felt he knew better than more experienced adults and had decided he could do a few grown up things if he felt like it.
Although his heart was in the right place, he had gotten into things he shouldn't have by secretly getting a side job to help his brother cover the bills. Unfortunately, the side job was illegal (transporting packages of drugs), and as soon as he realized what he had done, he felt it was too late to fix it and that if he returned he would only get his brother into trouble - not to mention disappoint him.
Fortunately, through the power of compassionate coercion, Clark convinced him to return and to report the illegal activity. With the help of Henderson, Denny's fear of serious legal action against him was put to rest - although community service was not out of the realm of possibility.
Consequences aside, Jack was extremely grateful for Clark's work and became yet another individual who felt he was indebted to the P.I.. As for Clark himself, he was happy to see another missing person found and back with his family.
It was certainly a nice reprieve from recent events and he was even more grateful for it due to the Superman interview he would be giving the following night.
He suspected his mother was right. His earlier words would likely come back to slap him upside the head and he could already feel his cheeks wanting to blush about the likely coming fallout.
Oh, well. His words had done what he had wanted them to do, and, if he went about it right, they would be beneficial in the long run as well, even though they were a little embarrassing. Well, very embarrassing.
All the more reason to distract himself with his upcoming date with Lois.
O o O o O
Their dishes had been perfectly seasoned and cooked, as one would expect of the high end restaurant, Callards.
The atmosphere was romantic and relaxed, and now they had just received their desserts.
"So you hid it in your room?" Clark asked, glad the topic of discussion had shifted away from his upcoming interview and the likely questioning of his approach to Jesse, not to mention his 'very patient' self.
"In a paper bag in the back corner of my desk drawer, under a pillow case," she clarified.
"Why? And why not just eat it?" Clark asked.
"I had to wait until I knew my mom wouldn't catch me," Lois said. "Only after I was certain she was asleep did I eat it."
"So you went through all of that, just so your mom wouldn't catch you eating it? Sneaking it in your backpack, managing to hide it when your mom checked for homework, and then somehow smuggling it into your room, all so she wouldn't catch you eating it?" Clark asked, bewildered.
"Yup, and it was worth it. She still has no idea I did any of that," Lois said.
"How did you prevent it from melting?"
"Divine intervention," she said seriously, before snickering. "I had an ice pack."
"An icepack?"
"My father is a doctor. We always had a few ice packs in the freezer," she said with a shrug. "Anyway. That was the great escapade of the chocolate ice cream bar. From the ice cream truck to my mouth."
Clark shook his head as they both chuckled and took a moment to enjoy their desserts.
"So what about you? Did you ever sneak anything past your parents?" Lois asked.
Clark blinked, thinking for a long moment before smiling softly. "Once, but I didn't succeed - for long anyway."
"What did you sneak? Or try to sneak, I mean?" she asked, very intrigued.
"Sir Manti. I snuck him into my room, but my mom found out pretty fast. She had noticed I was acting strange and came in to check on me," Clark explained.
" 'Sir Manti'?" Lois asked.
"A praying mantis. I wanted him to be my pet. I was five," he explained.
"A bug?" she inquired, quickly imagining little Clark with a pet bug and finding it adorable, even though she wasn't a fan of insects.
"Manti was an impressive bug. He would perch on my shoulder!" Clark said proudly.
"I see," she said, blinking.
"Anyway, I was scared I was in trouble and that Manti was now in danger. I knew my mom didn't like animals in the house, after all, and doubly so for bugs. But my mom wasn't mad. Looking back, I'm pretty sure she found the whole situation funny, but she didn't laugh either. Instead, she helped me bring Manti outside to her garden and even had dad build him a little gazebo to shield him from the rain."
"That's adorable," Lois said.
"Yeah. As a kid, I was so relieved that I didn't notice that my mom had used the incident to provide a lesson. She told me I shouldn't try to hide things from them and that it was better to ask if I wanted something, even something I suspected would be denied. Sure, they could say no, but if I asked they would be more likely to offer a compromise rather than dish out punishment, which would likely occur after a failed attempt at sneaking."
"That's wise. Wish my parents had used that approach. If I had tried to do something like that, like bring in a ladybug, my mom would have squished it outright," Lois said, resigned.
"I see why you don't try to pursue spending time with them," he said softly.
"What's sad is that I used to, hoping they would change and we could still somehow become a happy family."
"I don't think that's sad. What's sad is that they don't seem to have realized how much they've hurt you."
"I think they know on some level, and mother has admitted to it and sort of apologized. Granted, she was drunk when she said it, trying to drown her sorrows, but I'll take what I can get," Lois stated before taking a big bite of her chocolate cheesecake.
Clark watched her in tender silence for a long moment.
"What's your mom sad about?" he asked.
"Dad cheated on her, tried to hide it and failed miserably. After that, it just spiraled into a rancid pit of despair. Daddy stayed away as much as possible and she drank, leaving me and Lucy alone. I pretty much raised Lucy," Lois brutally summarized.
"Your sister?" Clark asked. Even though he knew she had a sister, he hadn't heard much about her from Lois.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, she's responded differently than I have to it all. I couldn't tell you how many horrible boyfriends she's had, and I emphasize the word 'boy' for a reason," she said before taking a deep breath. "Sorry. So much for a romantic evening. I've turned it into a sob fest."
"Don't apologize. It's important to have blunt conversations. It just means we trust each other enough to have them," Clark assured.
"'Blunt' Ha! That's one way of putting it," she said, calming down and smiling at him before looking down at their plates. "Well, I suppose we should call it a night," she said softly.
"Yeah. I have that interview tomorrow," Clark agreed, failing to hide a wince.
"You'll do fine," she reassured before grinning. "I must admit I'm looking forward to watching though."
"You're just as bad as my mom," he said, feigning a groan.
"Then I'm in good company," she said as the waiter approached with the bill.
Clark walked her home afterward, taking advantage of the moment to share a long blissful kiss before going home himself.
O o O o O
Comments
