It's Ficlet Friday and here you go with another installment in the MagiKal AU. Hope you'll have fun Magic And MiraclesThe screeching of metal was deafening, drowning out the screams of terror. A low rumble seemed to shake the earth and MagiKal sped on.
He had to make it in time, he had to… His hands touched the front of the train, still hot from the relentless sun, and he pushed hard. So close to the machine, he felt awfully small. What made him think he could stop a derailing train? In the darkness, he'd tried to ignore how many coaches the train had. Every single one was full of people, so many lives were at stake.
He pushed even harder, giving it his full strength. The metal gave way under his hands, their shapes now imprinted on the train. But it slowed, gradually. Screams turned to murmurs of hope and surprise. The metal was still screeching its protest, perhaps even more insistent than before.
MagiKal gritted his teeth, the ringing in his ears became overwhelming. But eventually even this noise died down, leaving only cheers of joy that assaulted his ears and slammed into his head with the force of a sledgehammer.
He clutched at his ears, his legs buckling slightly underneath him. Blinking, he tried to clear his head enough to move away from the cacophony of sounds that assaulted him. Sirens, screams, laughter, clapping, it was all too much.
He darted up, speeding away from it all until the atmosphere thinned to the point where there was no longer air to carry sound.
Clark breathed a sigh of relief. Tremors ran through his body, fueled by the rush of adrenaline or whatever equivalent his body had. He had succeeded, had saved hundreds of lives. Tension left his body, transforming into a smile that spread across his face and seemed even harder to contain than his occasionally out-of-control powers.
It took some time before Clark felt composed and ready to return home. He sped back, taking a quick detour to check on the people he had saved, finding only minor injuries. He didn't slow until he reached the deserted area of the junkyard and landed a few feet from his trailer.
Within seconds, Houdini was all over him. As he stroked the dog, he picked up a second heartbeat, a now familiar and soothing sound that made his own heart flutter.
Lois stepped out of the shadows. "I was hoping you'd come back. What you did with stopping the train was amazing."
He gaped at her. "How do you know?"
"I heard the news on the radio."
His heart missed a beat as a surge of panic washed over him. Had anyone seen him? Would his actions start another debate like the one after he’d rescued people from the burning building? Before he could voice his fears, he felt Lois' hand on his arm.
“They’re calling it a miracle,” she said quietly. “Nobody has any explanation how this train stopped after derailing.”
Clark cracked a small smile. “That’s good.”
Her forehead wrinkled in a slight frown. “It took you a long time to come back here. Did you have another hiccup?”
Clark pondered that for a moment, then he shook his head. “It wasn’t that exactly. The sounds got overwhelming, so I flew somewhere quiet. But none of my other powers went out of control, which usually happens if I try to suppress the bursts. So, no, I don’t think it was a hiccup. There was no tingling in the back of my neck, either.”
Houdini started for the door of the trailer, jumping up to indicate that he wanted to go inside. Clark felt a pang of guilt. He had almost forgotten that the poor dog hadn’t had dinner yet. Rummaging through the pockets of his pants to find the key, he followed Houdini.
As he turned the key, he looked back at Lois. “Do you want to come inside while I feed him?”
“That would be great.” She beamed at him. “Jimmy turned up a ton of paperwork that I could use your help with. I must have called every scientist in Metropolis, but so far, nobody has an explanation for this heat wave.”
Clark pulled the bag of dog food out of a shelf and prepared Houdini’s dinner. The setter dug in eagerly, almost pulling the bowl from Clark’s hands as he set it down in front of the hungry dog.
Clark straightened and gestured for Lois to sit down at the small table. “I don’t know what to make of what I heard while listening in on Luthor. He said that maybe if it turned another degree warmer, the utility commission would become more reasonable. That really does sound like he’s involved somehow.” He sat down on the other side. “Or it might just have been a jest, and seriously, how would anyone influence the weather?”
Lois gave a shrug and pushed a few files in his direction. Her other hand reached for his, giving him a gentle squeeze. She smiled at him, a wonderful, heartwarming smile that made his heart flutter even more. But then he froze. What was he doing, sitting in the trailer with Lois only two feet from him, if that far. It wouldn’t take much to lean in and kiss her and part of him desperately wanted to do just that.
But what if he had another hiccup? What if Houdini wouldn’t warn him in time, because he was more concerned with devouring his food?
Clark pulled his hand back and stood, moving back to a safer position, where she wouldn’t be in his direct line of sight, where he couldn’t accidentally -
“Don’t do this to yourself.” He felt her hand closing around his again. Had she somehow moved with superspeed? His heart raced in his chest and he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “Sit back down, Clark. I’m not afraid of you. It’s going to be all right, I promise.”
He winced and looked back up at her, finding her reassuring smile. Gently, she pulled at his hand, luring him to sit down again. He was helpless to resist, but his heart kept hammering in his chest. Surreptitiously, he cast glances at Houdini, who was still eating like he hadn’t had anything in days.
Taking a deep breath, Clark tried to calm himself. With trembling hands, he pulled the folder closer and leafed through the pages. The motion helped him focus and bring his racing heart back under control.
Jimmy had compiled statistics about the weather in the past few decades, maps of the hottest spots in Metropolis and all sorts of maps. Subway trains, power supply lines, water pipes, gas pipes, sewers all across the city and all sorts of other stuff Clark wouldn’t even have thought about. There was no doubt that Jimmy had done a thorough job. The only question was, would it help?
He looked up at Lois. “Did you find anything here?”
She shrugged. “Not so far, but it is too much to go through alone. Actually, even the two of us might need the whole night. You couldn’t get us some take out, could you? That Chinese place you found the last time was fantastic and…” She trailed off and her eyes focused on his cheeks that had grown uncomfortably warm. “Wait a moment, don’t tell me, that food probably was from China, wasn’t it?”
Clark grinned. “Maybe. I guess I could-”
He was just about to get up, when he felt it, the tingle in the back of his neck. A wave of panic surged through him and he wanted to move away, but then the world blurred around him. Things lost their shape as they became transparent before his eyes. He saw Lois’ bones, the insides of his cupboards and the papers on the table blurred into one big picture that swam before his eyes. Realization hit him, before he squeezed his eyes shut and stumbled back.
He heard Houdini’s desperate barks and felt the dog tug at his sleeve. Houdini pulled Clark with him. Then Clark felt hands on his other arm, guiding him in the same direction.
“Lois, it’s dangerous, you shouldn’t…”
“I’m not leaving you alone with this,” she whispered.
Her breathing sounded a bit labored, her voice was laced with pain and despair as she clung to his arm. She pressed her body against his, close enough that he could feel the beat of her heart against his arm. He focused on the sound and heard the slight flutter that filled him with a sense of peace and belonging.
The ground suddenly disappeared underneath him and he almost took a nose-dive out of his trailer. Clark caught himself on his hands and knees, but his focus never shifted from the soothing sounds that were uniquely Lois. And the prickling in the back of his neck faded.
Lois was sitting next to him, as the world slowly swam back into focus.
He gave her a tentative smile. “For a hiccup, this wasn’t so bad.”
Houdini rushed toward him and tried to lavish dog kisses on him. With a laugh, he fended the dog off. Lois stood beside him and reached out to help him up. As he took her hand, Clark wondered whether it had been her presence that had dampened the hiccup?
He pushed the thought aside. There was no use losing himself in false hopes. It might have been just a fluke. Besides, there were more pressing matters.
“I think I know what’s causing this heat wave. There has to be a leak in the nuclear power plant.”
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