ShareSummary: Clark has brought Lois home and will now tell her who he really is. Expanded scene (can be a stand alone or a flashback within ‘Sound’, 4th part of ‘Come Home’ series). Lots of super discussion.
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“So what are you going to show me?” Lois asked as they walked hand-in-hand along the tractor path through the mostly cleared corn field.
“My secret,” he said, stopping along the edge of the path.
Lois glanced around. “Here?”
Clark nodded.
“Why here? Couldn’t you have told me anywhere?” she asked curiously.
“Well, there's a story involved,” he hedged, clearly nervous.
She smirked at him, finding his hesitancy adorable. “Why are you so nervous?”
“I've, uh–” he chuckled anxiously, “–never told this to anyone before.”
Lois raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing this was of a more serious nature than she had thought.
“Okay. I'm listening,” she said supportively.
He gave her a gentle smile before taking a deep, shaky breath.
“Do you remember when I told you I was adopted?” he asked, looking at her.
“Yes. You said you were found. That the authorities never found your biological parents or where you had come from,” she said, her voice suddenly soft.
He nodded before turning his gaze away, across the field.
“Clark, if you want to figure out where you've come from, I'll help you. I'm good at investigating, you know,” she said gently, moving closer to him.
His eyes moved back to hers. “I know where I came from,” he whispered tentatively.
“Oh. Is that what this is about, then? Well, you know I don't care where you've come from, right? You could have come from outer space and it wouldn't change how I feel,” she said, lifting her other hand and placing it on his chest.
“I–” He nearly choked on the sudden lump in his throat and had to take a moment to clear it. “Thank you, Lois. That really means a lot. You have no idea how much–well, I suppose you'll know soon.”
He swallowed, ignoring her confused look.
“My parents found me here,” he said, pointing to a spot less than a pace away from them.
She quickly followed his finger and looked at the earth riddled with stubs of corn stalks.
“Who would leave a baby in the middle of a field?” she muttered, sadness and anger within her voice.
“I wasn't left here, I was sent,” Clark quietly corrected.
Lois frowned, quickly looking back up at him. “What?”
“I was sent here, when my planet . . . Krypton, was destroyed,” he said carefully.
Her eyes locked with his. She swallowed, slowly taking in his earnest and wary expression as she processed.
And processed some more.
“You’re not joking,” she stated.
He gave a strained chuckle. “No. I'm not.”
“I think I need to see proof,” she said, still staring at him.
“Okay.”
Clark stepped back, letting go of her hand. He then removed his glasses and allowed his feet to leave the ground.
Her eyes followed him as he floated up, and astonishment draped over her whole form. He came to a stop and hovered, looking down at her worriedly. After a long moment of stunned silence, he lowered himself back down and put his glasses back on.
Slowly, Lois approached him, her eyes suddenly holding a tender light – before she whacked him on his chest, surprising him.
“So Janet was right!” she exclaimed.
Clark blushed, recalling what Janet had told her on the day of the televised interview: ‘I think Superman is into you.’
Lois pulled back further, shaking her head as reality continued to settle upon her, giving her another perspective, another angle.
“These glasses . . .” she muttered, shaking her head and looking exasperated. “People really do see what they expect to see. No one is immune.”
“I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, but . . . it’s not an easy secret,” he began, but instantly fell silent as he saw her expression of contemplation.
“Yes. Waiting makes sense. I don’t blame you. I can’t blame you. This is . . . huge,” she said, before throwing her hands up. “Gah! I can’t believe I didn't see it! You're Superman! And we’ve been dating for how long now?!”
“Two months, three weeks, one day, and 4 hours,” Clark rattled off.
Lois froze and stared at him for a long moment, before smirking. “You . . . are such a dork.”
“Well, you did already know that,” Clark said, smiling back.
“I did,” she agreed, “And now I know Superman is dorky too.” She paused and gripped his arm, taking a deep breath. “Gosh. Is this weird for you too?”
“Very. You're the only person outside my parents to know who, and what, I really am,” he said. “I'm so glad you're taking it so well. Granted, I suppose I should have known you would since you're Lois Lane.”
She laughed as she took his face in her hands, feeling his stubble as she closely examined his face.
“How do you shave? I doubt razors work,” she abruptly inquired.
“Heat vision,” he answered with a shrug.
“Why do you wear glasses? Just for the disguise?” she asked.
“For the most part, but there was a time I wore glasses to get control of my x-ray vision. The lenses were leaded glass,” he explained.
Lois’ eyes widened. “What was that like?”
“Without the glasses, nauseating. With the glasses, manageable, since they allowed me to take breaks between practice,” Clark said.
“Practice?” she asked.
“My dad, Jonathan Kent, helped me learn to control my powers, usually in the barn. It took me a solid week for x-ray vision.” Clark shook his head. “That was the first time I ever threw up.”
“Threw up?” she asked, surprised.
“It really messed with my spatial awareness, peering into and out of objects indiscriminately. Not to mention how disorientating and alarming it was to see people’s organs and bones as well. Even when I understood what was happening, it was still jarring.”
“How old were you?” Lois asked, now working on imagining a young Superman coming into his powers while doing her best to balance the reality that he was also Clark.
“Ten.”
Lois stilled, processing the implications. “That's . . . a lot, especially for a child.”
Clark shrugged. “I got through it. Would you like to see the barn?” he asked, hopeful.
She smiled at his childlike eagerness. “Sure.”
They entered the barn and he led her to the trap door, which he opened. They went down the wooden ladder and he lit the lanterns hanging from the low rafters with his heat vision. Lois watched him, transfixed, the use of his heat vision a blatant demonstration of exactly who he was.
“For a long time, I was known as a sickly kid, having to be home for long stretches of time a few times a year,” Clark said, walking to a large tarp. “And during most of those days, I was down here with my dad.”
Lois slowly approached as he removed the tarp, revealing a large wooden log. She blinked as her eyes were immediately drawn to the fist imprints littering the surface of the hard oak. She tentatively pressed her fingers into the grooves, and she gasped at the size of some of the fist marks.
Some of them were so small!
“This was the first one I made,” he said, pointing to the knuckle print just a few inches from the one she was touching. “I was four.”
“Clark, this is amazing,” she said, stepping toward him.
He smiled. “You’ll like this even more then,” he said, directing her deeper into the cellar to another covered object. He yanked off the tarp.
Lois gasped, her eyes taking in a sleek metallic shape. “Is this . . . ?” She looked at him in question.
“Yes. This is what brought me to earth,” he said.
She chuckled softly, her eyes taking it in. “You put your spaceship in the cellar under your family barn.”
“My dad is the one who brought it down here. I just never relocated it,” he countered with a smile.
“Did you do anything else down here?” she asked as he covered it back up.
“I worked on controlling my x-ray vision and senses mostly, though I did do some things with my ice breath over there,” he said, indicating the corner of the cellar. “I practiced my heat vision outside and in the farm house.”
She looked around the dimly lit area with a thoughtful eye. “And flying?” she prompted.
He grinned as he took her hand and led her back up. “That came later. I learned that at . . . my fortress. I can show you tomorrow if you like.”
She grinned at him as they left the barn. She stepped closer to him. “Okay. So what will we do in the meantime?”
He swallowed, taking in her form as an expanse of stars stood as a backdrop. He pulled her close, gently holding her against himself.
“How about this?” he asked softly, slowly floating them up into the sky.
O o O o O
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