Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Anchor: Part I -- Clark Kent (49-51/51)

Lois is waiting for us when we get back to the Planet, pacing the length of the conference room. Since Clark is not wearing his glasses, I again fly straight into the conference room, and a collective hush falls over the whole newsroom. I set Clark down carefully, facing away from the windows, and he quickly reaches out to grab his glasses, which sit on the conference table. Lois hurries over and shuts the door behind us.

“What was that about?” she blurts out as soon as the door clicks shut. She rushes over to Clark and wraps her arms tightly around his waist. He returns the embrace as he adjusts his glasses and then rests his head gently on top of hers.

“Sorry, hon, we didn’t have time to explain,” he responds hesitantly. I can sense that he’s choosing his words carefully. He murmurs a quiet explanation of our unexpected outing into her ear, and she listens silently, nodding into his chest on occasion.

Outside the conference room, the other reporters gather in small groups, whispering to each other. I suppose they may not be used to seeing Superman in the newsroom, and my sudden hasty flights through their domain were not exactly subtle. Now somewhat self-conscious, I stand up a little taller and cross my arms over my chest, maintaining a stern expression quite different from Clark’s. My eyes meet Perry White’s as he approaches the conference room, and I give him a tight smile and nod before turning back to Lois and Clark.

I clear my throat quietly. “Perry is coming. I should probably be going,” I say. Lois shifts in Clark’s embrace and glances toward the door to the conference room as it opens slowly. Perry pokes his head in first and then steps all the way into the conference room and closes the door behind him.

“Superman, well, I’m a bit surprised to see you here,” he drawls, shoving his hands into his pockets. He eyes me and then looks at Clark and Lois, his gaze lingering on Clark just a moment longer than it probably should. “Is, uh, everything okay?”

Neither Clark nor Lois responds right away, so I straighten up a bit taller and clear my throat. “Hello, Mr. White. Yes, everything is just fine. I apologize for the commotion.” Without pausing, and still maintaining my air of confidence, I continue, “I needed to consult with Clark on something, and time was of the essence. I should be going now. Excuse me.”

Clark moves away from Lois slightly and adjusts his glasses again. I tilt my head toward them and Perry, and I then head toward the door.

“Thank you again, Superman,” Lois interjects before I exit the room. I stop and give her a carefully controlled smile and nod. Her eyes meet mine briefly, and I see a sincere gratitude in them.

Clark’s voice in my head echoes her thoughts. “Yes, thank you very much. We’ll touch base with you later today.”

Sure thing. I’ll be around if you need anything else.

Then I fly out the open window of the newsroom, mindful to not make such a disruption as when I had entered and exited earlier. Behind me, I hear Perry exclaim, “What in the Sam Hill was that about?” I chuckle to myself as I soar up over the clouds to avoid the rain, which now pounds down into the streets of the busy city, and I scan the area to see if I’m needed. As usual, the sudden downpour has caused several car accidents, which could use super help, and I swoop down through the clouds toward the worst of the wrecks—a pile up involving four cars and an eighteen-wheeler.

Several trips to the hospital later, the wreck is cleared, and traffic is moving again. I work my way around the region, preventing multiple other accidents, moving cars out of ditches, and transporting injured drivers and passengers to the hospital when necessary. Finally, about an hour after leaving the Planet, the rain lets up, and the Sun again peeks through the clouds.

I spot another impending accident as a driver hydroplanes and loses control of his red sedan. The vehicle skids sideways and begins to flip; time seems to slow around me as I speed down out of the clouds and catch the car mid-air. From inside the car, the driver’s eyes widen as he sees me. I smile at him and nod as I slowly lower the vehicle back onto the road. Around us, the other cars have stopped, their drivers gawking at my feat of strength and speed. The car’s tires touch the ground, and the man inside rolls down his window and mumbles a quick, “Thank you, Superman.”

“You’re welcome, sir. Please drive carefully,” I respond formally.

As I move to the edge of the road so traffic can start up again, a sudden intense feeling of unease hits me. I glance around, but nothing seems amiss in the immediate area. I launch up into the sky, instantly hovering hundreds of feet above the city, and I scan through all of the sounds reaching my ears. Nothing.

“What’s going on?” Clark’s voice has an urgent undertone, as though he senses my unease as well.

I don’t know. I just—

The sound then hits me, jarring me so deeply that I drop about fifty feet straight down. It is a heartbeat. An irregular, weak heartbeat. Growing weaker. And coming from the southwest. I turn in the air as I stabilize my altitude. Jonathan Kent.

At a speed I’ve rarely used within the Earth’s atmosphere, I fly toward Smallville, Kansas, my keen senses scanning ahead of me. I’m there in less than a second, and I slow down abruptly as I land on the porch to the old farmhouse. I don’t bother knocking; instead, I jog in through the front door, my red boots squeaking on the freshly cleaned wood floors. Jonathan Kent lies on his back in the kitchen, and Martha kneels next to him, tears streaming down her face.

The heartbeat I heard just seconds earlier is now silent.

Oh, God, no.

“Dad?” Clark’s alarm is palpable.

“Clark, please, please help him,” Martha begs, her voice hoarse.

“Clark, what is going on?”

A thousand thoughts run through my mind. The most important one is the one I latch onto. He cannot die. He will not die. No, I will not let him die.

My eyes meet Martha’s briefly, and I kneel down next to her and do a quick scan. There is a blockage in his coronary artery, and his heart has stopped. He needs to get to the hospital right away. I hurriedly lift him into my arms and stand.

“He’s gone into cardiac arrest,” I say quietly but firmly. “I’ll get him to the hospital and then come back to get you.”

Martha pulls herself to her feet and then into a chair at the kitchen table as she nods in response. There is no time to waste; I extend my protective aura around him and fly as fast as I dare toward Wichita. Jonathan remains limp and deathly silent in my arms. Within seconds, we arrive at the emergency department of Wichita Hospital, and I fly right in through the open double doors of the entrance and up to the nurse’s station. The nurse on call jumps to her feet.

“Superman!”

“This man needs a doctor immediately,” I say, struggling to keep the emotion out of my voice. “He’s gone into cardiac arrest. His heart stopped less than a minute ago. He has a blockage in his coronary artery and a history of heart disease. Please hurry.” As I explain this, two doctors and another nurse hurry up to me with a gurney. I set Jonathan down gently, and they immediately open up his shirt and get to work trying to restart his heart. My jaw tightens as I watch them roll the bed away down the hallway, the head doctor yelling instructions.

“Clark, what is happening?”

“Superman?” I flinch as the head nurse touches my arm. “Sorry, Superman. I just wanted to know if you happen to know the man’s name?”

I nod and again try to detach myself from all of the emotions I’m feeling and those of Clark. He is terrified.

One minute, I think to him, controlling my own fear.

“His name is Jonathan Kent,” I explain to the nurse. “He’s 57 years old, from Smallville, Kansas. I’ll be right back with his wife, so she can tell you his medical history and what type of medications he is on.”

The nurse writes a few notes on the sheet on her clipboard and nods. “Thank you, Superman.”

As I turn and speed back out of the hospital, my superhearing picks up a jolt and then a weak heartbeat, followed a second later by a sigh of relief from the on-call doctor. “We’ve got him back. Now let’s keep it that way. Nurse!”

I ball my hands into fists as I veer toward the Kent farm. If I hadn’t heard it… I shake my head.

“Please, Clark. I’m imagining the worst here, and I’m not sure what to do. What is going on?”

I land on the porch of the farmhouse, where Martha is waiting. Her hands grasp her purse anxiously, and she looks up at me, terror in her eyes.

Your father went into cardiac arrest. I got him to the hospital, and they have already restarted his heart. I expect they will need to do emergency surgery. I’m taking your mom now, and then I’ll come get you. Give me a few minutes. Sorry for the delay.

“Oh, God.” Our connection falters, and I sense he’s feeling lightheaded now. But Lois is with him.

I refocus on Martha.

She stands stiffly, tears still staining her cheeks, and her kind blue eyes search mine for answers. She steps toward me, but her legs almost give out, and I move to her side and wrap my arm around her waist.

“Martha, I got you,” I murmur, supporting her gently. “Jonathan is at Wichita Hospital, and they’ve already got his heart beating again. Let’s get you there to be with him. Okay?”

“Thank you, Clark,” Martha says shakily.

I lift her into my arms. I’ve not known her for very long, but I’ve never seen her seem so fragile. She shivers in my arms, and I tighten my grip around her ever so slightly as I raise us up into the sky and head off toward Wichita, increasing my speed gradually to avoid surprising her. She closes her eyes and clings to me as we fly, and I hear her heart racing. When we are about half way there, I shift my focus back to the hospital. The doctor and several nurses still mill around Jonathan in one of the procedure rooms. Beeping monitors indicate his heart is beating much more regularly and evenly, and his blood pressure is actually quite close to normal. We approach the hospital as I hear the doctor discussing the possibility of an emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

A nurse meets us as I land lightly just inside the entrance.

“Mrs. Kent?” she asks.

Martha allows me to help steady her as I set her down, and she then turns to the nurse and nods.

“Yes. My husband, Jonathan, is he…?” Martha’s voice trails off as fresh tears fall. I keep an arm around her waist to support her as her legs shake.

The nurse smiles kindly at her. “The doctors have him stabilized right now, but they want to discuss options with you,” she explains in a calm voice. The woman steps up to Martha and takes her arm. “Thank you, Superman, for bringing her here. I’ll help her back to the waiting room now so she can talk with the doctors. Is that okay, Mrs. Kent?”

“Yes, yes,” Martha says quickly. She moves away from me, but then glances back briefly as the nurse leads her away and adds, “Thank you, Superman.”

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Kent,” I respond quietly. My shoulders tighten as I struggle to control my facial expressions and avoid showing too much emotion. Martha turns away again and lets the nurse lead her back through the double doors to another waiting room closer to the procedure rooms.

My job isn’t done, I remember, as I feel Clark’s anxiety building in my mind. I connect with him briefly. I’m on my way.

“We’re on the roof of the Planet,” he informs me. From the short communication, I can feel his heart racing as he paces. Lois is next to him, but he almost seems unaware of her.

I hurry out of the emergency room doors and launch into the sky back toward Metropolis.





I know he’s not my dad, but the apprehension I feel while waiting for the surgery is overwhelming. I sit against the wall on the roof, my red cape wrapped around me tightly, and I consciously block out all sounds except the steady beeping of his heart monitors and the instructions of the head doctor performing the surgery.

Hours pass.

Occasionally, I feel Clark’s anxiety as well, feeding my own. He, Lois, and Martha sit in the waiting room, hugging each other and talking in quiet voices. I sense Clark trying to be strong for his mother, and I almost wonder if he’s sort of offloading some of his anxiety onto me. I’m glad they have each other, and I wish it wouldn’t be so weird for Superman to be seen in the waiting room with them, because I could certainly use a hug as well.

The surgery seems to progress well, although I don’t really know much about cardiac surgery. I just know I can hear the doctors’ voices sounding steady and upbeat. I communicate this to Clark, and it calms him a bit.

Finally, from the operating room, I hear the head doctor announce, “And that’s a wrap. Let’s get him closed up. Good job, everyone.” And I let out an audible sigh of relief.

They just finished. Doctor says the surgery was successful. You’ll probably be hearing from them shortly, I tell Clark.

I glance down through the building and to the waiting room. Clark, who had been sitting with his head in his hands, stands abruptly.

“Thank you. Thank you, so much,” he replies.

I watch as he walks over to Lois and Martha, who are standing across the room next to the vending machines. He embraces both of them and whispers the news into their ears. Martha holds him tighter and cries into his chest, and Lois places her hand comfortingly on his back.

I close my eyes and settle back against the wall again. I imagine how differently the day would have turned out if I’d not been around, and I shudder. He’s not my dad. But I care about him just as much, despite how he may feel about me.

Several minutes later, I hear the doctor come out to speak to them. He repeats what I’d told them; the surgery was successful. Jonathan is expected to make a full recovery, although his underlying heart disease will continue to remain a problem. The doctor emphasizes that he needs to avoid stressful situations as much as possible. I stop listening for a moment as my stomach lurches. I’ve caused him so much stress in the last month and a half. Is this my fault?

“No. Not in the slightest. No more than it’s my fault for leaving for New Krypton in the first place.”

I hadn’t realized I was sharing my thoughts with Clark, but I blink several times as his words settle within me. Just knowing that he doesn’t blame me for this is encouraging.

Below me, the doctor finishes up his explanation and tells them that Jonathan will be able to have visitors in about an hour, although he may not wake up from the surgery for some time still. Clark thanks the doctor, shakes his hand, and then again embraces Lois and Martha. Lois kisses his cheek and then steps away to make a phone call. Clark doesn’t let his mother go, but I hear his voice in my head again, filled with gratitude.

“You saved his life by getting him here so quickly. I cannot thank you enough.” There is a slight hesitation, and then he adds, “I know you feel like an outsider still, but you are part of this family now. I wish you could be down here with us. I know Lois and Mom feel the same way. Thank you, so much.”

My thoughts are jumbled and lack coherence, but I try to form sentences to respond to him.

I lost my father when I was 10. I wasn’t fast enough to save him or my mom. I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve been given this second chance to do right by them. They both mean so much to me, even though I’m not their son. Please tell Martha for me.

Without words, I feel him agree. I stand, my legs almost feeling stiff from having been sitting in the same uncomfortable position for hours, and I gaze out over the city of Wichita, Kansas.

It is late afternoon by now, and the Sun is beginning its descent in the west. I don’t want to face the darkness of nighttime that I’d find back in Metropolis right now; I need the sunlight to fill and energize me. With a quick final glance down at the three people huddled together in the waiting room of the emergency department, I launch up into the sky and head west, following the Sun.





I pull on my old Nikes and a baseball cap and step out onto my porch into the cold December morning. Ahead of me, Lois jumps out of her Jeep and waves. I smile at her and trot down the stairs toward her car.

“Good morning, Ms. Pulitzer Prize winner,” I tease, jogging up to her.

Her smile lights up her face, and she zips up her running jacket as she steps around the front of the vehicle onto the sidewalk.

“Good morning, Mr. Pulitzer Prize winner,” she replies. She playfully punches me in the arm and then takes off jogging down the street. “Catch me if you can!” I chuckle and hurry after her.

This is my new routine. My new morning routine. And I’m loving it.

I run alongside her as we head toward the park. Her breath is visible in the chilly air, and her cheeks are red with effort. She glances at me briefly and then shifts her gaze ahead again as we turn a corner. I’d almost expected not to see her today, since we’d gotten back from New York late last night after the Pulitzer Prize Award Ceremony. But I’m glad she made time for me this morning.

“Is Clark in Smallville again?” I ask casually, raising my voice just enough for her to hear me as she moves ahead of me onto the single-track trail going through the middle of the park.

“Yeah, he went again this morning,” she says, her breathing labored. She slows to a walk, and I move up beside her as the trail opens up a bit. “Now that he can, you know…fly, he’s been going every morning to help his dad out with the chores around the farm, like you did for the first week after Jonathan’s surgery. And then later today, when he’s done at the farm, he’s going to meet that therapist we found. That one who specializes in PTSD.”

I nod and stop next to her as she turns toward me.

“Good. That’s really good. For Clark, I mean.”

Her eyes light up with a brief smile.

“Yeah, I’m hoping…” She lets out a small sigh and then shakes her head a bit and changes the subject. “He’s doing well, Jonathan is. I know he still hasn’t talked to you, but give him more time.”

I lower my eyes and mumble, “Yeah.”

Her hand grips my shoulder lightly, and I look up to meet her eyes.

“He will come around, Clark. He is just—”

“Stubborn as an elephant?” I interject.

She smiles back at me. “Yes. Martha told you that, I assume?”

“Clark did too. And he said the same as you—to just give Jonathan more time.” I start walking again down the path, and Lois follows me. Her arm loops through mine, and I briefly close my eyes. “I’ll give him as much time as he needs, Lois. It’s just…hard.”

“I know,” she says. She tilts her head to rest on my shoulder as we walk, and we continue for a few moments in silence. She then stops again and turns toward me. “You know, we all are so thankful that you’re here. I don’t tell you that enough. Everything you’ve done for us—I really appreciate…all of it.” Tears shine at the edges of her eyes, but she blinks them back.

“Lois…” Just saying her name, knowing I’m here with her, fills me with hope. I smile—a real, genuine smile that reaches my eyes, like his smile. “I’m grateful to be here every day. Life is strange, I’ll admit. But here, with you and Clark and Martha and Jonathan, I feel more whole and more welcome and more…loved than I remember ever feeling since my parents died.” I pause as my chest constricts. I haven’t voiced these feelings to her before, or to anyone for that matter. Clark knows, thanks to our weird telepathic connection thing, but not because I deliberately told him. “So, I, uh… Thank you, Lois.”

Her smile grows, and I study her eyes for a moment. They are filled with kindness, compassion, and something uniquely ‘Lois.’ Fierce determination and loyalty, maybe.

God, she is beautiful. Inside and out.

I drop my gaze to the ground. Clark is probably the luckiest man alive, true. But I’m a close second.

“Come on, Mr. Kent, let’s finish our loop. In fact, maybe we’ll go for that extra mile today. I’m feeling a bit spunky.” She giggles, releases my arm, and takes off again at a brisk jog.

I watch her run for a moment before picking up my pace to catch up. And we race along next to each other, just enjoying the morning and each other’s company. I feel hopeful. And content. And full.

This is my new reality. And it sure is better than my old one. Quirks and all.



The End.