I want to apologize for taking so long with this part. I struggled to get it just right.
This part is rated PG13 and some might consider it to have wham.
I’d like to thank Olympe for her help with this part. I’d like to thank Toc and Olympe for their suggestions.
<Around words designates telepathic thought.>
Olympe wanted me to post an nfic about the talk that Clark had with Jon in the last part. After she begged and cajoled, I agreed, but only if she would help. That fic is posted on the nfic side as ‘The Talk’.
*This story and all of its characters are fictional.*
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From part 39
A DVD was with the note, but it said basically the same thing - with the addition of Lois telling her that she wished she could hold her while she cried. Claire swallowed hard. She couldn’t tell her daddy what had happened. She couldn’t *not* tell her daddy what happened. She sighed, started crying yet again, and went to find him. She found her dad sitting in his office reading the newspaper.
As soon as she entered the office, he stood up and hugged her. He could tell by her tear streaked face that she might be ready to talk. “Ready to talk to me?”
She nodded and handed him the note. He read it and looked up at her. “Is this what Jon told you about?”
She nodded. “Funny thing is though that it’s written on stationery I got last Christmas.”
He nodded. “Your mom made a visit here to congratulate Jenni and Zared.” He chose not to tell her about the other visit. When she looked incredulous and questions were written on her face, he held up his hand. “I don’t know how she did it. I just know she did. I saw her, but only Jenni, Zared, K’al, Los, and Lara spoke to her. K’al and Los didn’t realize the significance until later.” He handed the note back to her. “So trust me, honey. You *can* tell me *anything*. I promise.”
“You’ll be mad. It’s my fault.”
He smiled and shook his head no. “No, I won’t.”
She sighed and began quietly crying. “Alex raped me, daddy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A New Hero: Part 40
Clark was speechless for a moment. Then he gathered her in his arms. “Oh, Claire.”
She started sobbing again. “I tried to stop him. But I couldn’t. It’s like when I am around him… when I kiss him, I feel weak in the knees.”
Clark, tears for his little girl forming in his eyes, asked, “You feel… weak? What does it feel like?”
“I don’t know. I just feel weak.” She sniffled.
“Hmm… Did you ever feel nauseated?”
“Nauseated?” she questioned. “I dunno.”
“I know you were never really sick growing up, but think back to when you were really little. Think back to how you felt right before you threw up. Did you ever feel like that?”
She just shrugged. “I don’t really remember that.”
He thought for a moment then stood up. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“You aren’t going to go kill him, are you?”
He kissed her forehead. “No, Claire.” He walked towards the master suite. He had an idea why she had felt weak, but he didn’t quite understand how Alex could have known. He shook his head sadly. This wasn’t what he had expected. What good was it to be Superman if he couldn't protect his own daughter from a sexual predator? He picked up the small lead box that was in a drawer in his bureau.
He returned to his office and sat down. “Is this what it felt like when you were weak, Claire?” He opened the box and briefly exposed her to the kryptonite within.
She gasped. “How… Yes. How did you know? Is that kryptonite?”
“Yes, it’s kryptonite. And I had a pretty good idea from you telling me that you felt weak… and that you couldn’t stop him.” He hugged her. “Now tell me why you think it was your fault.”
She started crying again. “We’d already had intercourse. Why wouldn’t he have thought it was okay to do it again?” She hung her head.
His eyes grew wide, but he stayed calm. “Well, let’s see. You said no, and you were fighting him. It’s not your fault, honey.” He sighed. “But what made you decide to have sex in the first place? You aren’t old enough. And you know how I feel about that. God knows Zared has caused plenty of problems in that regard.” He closed his eyes thinking about Zared having had several sexual partners. He wondered if Jenni knew. He rather doubted it.
She bit her lip. “He just kept pushing and pushing. I thought I was in love with him. And… he told me no one else would ever want to have sex with me. Not with my looks, anyway. He said I might as well take him up on it because he would be my only chance.” She shrugged. “And well… everybody else was having sex… Zared and Jenni, Jon and Hannah, Chloe and Ben… and even you and Caitlyn.”
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Chloe and Ben were having sex?’ “Oh, honey, I know you don’t believe it, but I promise you that Caitlyn and I did not have sex until *after* we were married.” He shook his head no. “And I don’t think Jon and Hannah have been having sex.” Of course, he knew what had happened between Jon and Hannah, but what he said to Claire about the subject was adequate. He paused, wondering about Chloe and Ben. “Oh, Claire, honey. How could you *ever* believe his nonsense? Don’t you know that you are really, truly beautiful? You have your mother’s slender build and her graceful way of moving. You could even be called exotic, what with your red hair and amber eyes. In fact, you are rare beauty. Don’t you realize that?” He leaned forward and took her hand.
“I’m starting to… a little. But…” She just shook her head.
“Oh, honey you *are*! Jon and Zared have both told me that the guys at school think you are gorgeous. I’m sure they’ve told you that, too.”
She nodded. “I thought they were just being my brothers… being nice.” She shrugged.
He really messed with your head, didn’t he? I wish I’d known about it sooner. I would have stopped the relationship. I was inclined to stop the relationship knowing how reluctant he was to talk to me, and I should have listened to myself. He’s only talked to me once or twice and always at a distance. I’m sorry I didn’t stop it.”
She shrugged, her eyes locked on her feet. “I probably would have gone behind your back to see him. As I told you, I thought I was in love with him.” Her voice was a mere murmur.
Clark gathered her into his arms. “Honey, why didn’t you come to me sooner? Why didn’t you call me or one of your brothers for help?”
“I was afraid. I was afraid one of you might kill him. And you were in the hospital anyway.”
“But, Claire, what if he had killed you? Surely you know we wouldn’t have killed him even though we might have wanted to.” She just shook her head and picked at her fingernails. “You probably needed to be examined. Did... did he hurt you badly?” He choked on the last.
She sighed. “I did go to the hospital. I just didn’t use my name.” She paused for a moment before she was able to go on. “Yes, he hurt me. He hit me a couple of times, too.”
Clark closed his eyes tightly and dug his nails into his palms. “What kind of injuries did you have?”
“Mostly I was bruised. The doctor said I had a couple of small tears. He... he was... really… rough with me.” Her lip trembled and she started crying again. “It wasn’t like that before. It hurt a little, but it wasn’t like that.”
“So they did a rape kit?” Clark managed to choke out.??
“I guess. I don’t know. They took scrapings from under my fingernails and stuff like that, so I guess.”
He closed his eyes tightly. “We need to call the police.”
She stood up and started pacing. “No. I won’t do it. I won’t report it. I don’t want to go through a trial. I don’t want my brothers and sisters to know. Chloe doesn’t even know. I told her he *almost* raped me.”
“Claire. We’re talking to the police. We’ll call Bill Henderson and talk to him first.”
“No!” She turned and ran out of the room. Clark followed and grabbed her, but she struggled away from him. “Leave me alone!”
“For now, honey. For now.”
He turned and sat back down in his office. He laid his head on his desk. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that. A knock came at his door. He looked up. It was Amanda. “Come in.” He motioned for her to sit down.
She bit her lip. “Clark.” She swallowed hard. “I came by to check on Rya, and I wanted to talk to you about your daughter. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but she’s underage, so I will. One of your twin daughters was raped.”
Clark raised an eyebrow. “That’s why you were looking at them so strangely yesterday.” She nodded. He sighed. “Yes. Claire just told me. Were you the doctor that examined her?” She nodded. “Did you do a rape kit?” She nodded. “How bad were her injuries? She told me she had bruising and a couple of minor tears.”
“Yes. But one of the tears was bad enough to require a couple of stitches. Now, knowing she’s your daughter, I’m not sure how that was possible.”
“Kryptonite.”
“Kryptonite? Oh, that’s the green stuff that can hurt you. The stuff that you got shot with.”
He nodded. “And unfortunately a whole lot more people now know I can be hurt.”
“So the guy that did this knows about her?”
Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t even know that she had been exposed to kryptonite until I demonstrated its effects to her. I’d think if he knew that he would have told her. And I’d think he would have used it against her before. So something else must be up with Alex.”
Amanda leaned forward. “So she knows who did this?” He nodded. “Clark, the D.A. has asked me about my mystery patient. They have the DNA results back. There have been three other rapes - all by the same guy.”
He leaned back. “Mayson Drake… again.” He blew air out in frustration. He picked up the phone and called the chief of police. He had his direct number. “Bill… this is Clark. Are you alone?”
“Yes. What’s up, Clark?”
He sighed. “Bill, you know about the rapes where there was a ‘mystery’ girl raped?”
“Yes, I do.”
“My daughter is the ‘mystery’ girl and she knows who did it.”
“What’s his name?”
“Alex Caudill. I don’t know exactly where he lives.”
“We’ll find him. I’ll be right over, Clark, but it might be better to have someone from SVU talk to her. They have been working the case.”
“If she’ll talk, Bill. If she’ll talk.” He hung up the phone.
Amanda looked at him. “I take it you don’t much like Ms. Drake-Smith. I mean, I know she’s not particularly fond of Superman.”
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “It’s… Oh, I’d just rather not talk about it.” He stood up. “Can you stick around a few minutes?”
She nodded. “I’d actually like to examine her again.”
He nodded in agreement and left the room to go find Claire.
He found her in one of her favorite hiding places - the attic. She’d always loved the attic. “Hey, honey.”
She looked up at him sadly. “Daddy. I’m late.”
He shuddered. He didn’t know how many more shocks his poor psyche could take. But he had to be strong for his daughter. She was in a far worse state than he was. “Amanda Sommers is here. She’s the doctor that was here when Jonna was delivered. Do you recognize the name?” She nodded. “She saw you yesterday, and she just came to tell me what happened. Let’s let her examine you while she’s here. Okay?” He put his hand out to her. “Come on.”
She stood up and followed him numbly. “You called the police, didn’t you?”
“Yes, honey. DNA from three other rapes have identified the rapist as the same person that raped you - Alex. So you really need to talk to them.”
“Three…” She started to sit back down.
Clark shook his head no. “Come on, honey.”
She quietly followed him. They entered his office together. “Amanda. She says she’s late. Why don’t you take her to the guest room and examine her?” Amanda nodded.
Claire took her dad’s hand and said softly, “Come with me.” He nodded and they all headed toward the guest room. Then she begged him to stay with her. He agreed but, of course, kept his back turned.
Amanda said, “Have you done a pregnancy test?” Claire shook her head no. “Okay, honey, this will be a little bit uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t be like the last time. Okay?” Claire swallowed, then she nodded. When Amanda was done, she sighed and motioned for Claire to get dressed. When Claire was dressed, she said, “Okay, Clark, she’s dressed.” She took Claire’s hands. “Well, honey, I don’t know. You *might* have a tubal pregnancy… or an ovarian cyst. You’ll need to have a pelvic ultrasound done.”
Claire ran to her daddy and started sobbing. He sat down with her on the couch that was in the room. He held her close while she cried. Amanda nodded to him sadly and quietly said, “I’ll get that test set up. It will need to be done right away.”
Clark looked up. “Los has xray vision now. I’d think he can probably take care of that.”
“Okay. Let me know the results. Okay?” She turned and left the room.
Clark nodded. He pulled his daughter close and joined her in her tears. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m so, so sorry.”
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Los had fallen asleep in Marisol’s arms. He had been so sweet and kind to her. She had feared that because of his inexperience that he would be upset to find that she wasn’t a virgin. She had been wrong. And she found that even though he was inexperienced, he wasn’t inept. She smiled thinking of the memory. And she giggled softly at the memory of her having to explain what a condom was, but he had certainly enjoyed it when she had been the one to introduce him in its use.
She smiled and thought about waking him up, but he was so tired. And she worried because he seemed uncomfortable. She had been worried that he had an infection like Jon, but he had assured her that he didn’t. But he *had* told her that he had some damage and had constant discomfort from that. Her mom had had constant pain, and it wasn’t an easy burden to carry. She also couldn’t help but wonder if healer Zor-Te had had some nefarious reason for putting off Los’ surgery.
She also thought about how amazing this telepathy thing was. They had known each other for two days, but it felt like much, much longer. Los had explained that Kryponians and Krypterrans exposed to a yellow sun not only had faster physical reactions but that their brains worked faster, too. They had shared things in minutes that it would have taken others many hours to share. She felt like she had always known him. He knew more about her than any other person on earth. She was sure she knew more about him than anyone on earth or New Krypton. She loved him.
During their second time, they had shared the experience telepathically. It was almost overwhelming, but yet it was incredible. Because of the intensity, she wasn’t sure she’d want it like that *every* time, but she certainly wanted to share that experience again. She smiled.
Los shifted in Mari’s arms. He woke up and smiled at her. He pulled her to him. He buried his face in her hair. He loved her hair. He whispered her name softly, “Mari.”
She nipped at his lips. “Want to do that again?”
He smiled and nodded. “Oh, yeah.” He sat up. “But I can’t right now. Father is calling me.” He stood up and quickly dressed. He bent over and kissed her. “I love you, Mari.”
“I love you, too, Los.”
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After Clark had held Claire for a long time, they briefly spoke, and she decided she wanted to see Los right away. Clark called, <Los.> He was asleep, so he called louder, <Los! Los!> He looked towards the second floor to find him and almost wished he hadn’t. Los and Mari had evidently had sexual relations. He knew Los would have to leave and that they would only end up being hurt. He swallowed hard at the thought that his sons, his daughter-in-law, and his granddaughter would have to leave. He hoped it wasn’t soon.
He called again more loudly, <Los!! Wake up!!> When Los was finally awake, he told him, <I need you to come downstairs, and come prepared to be a healer.>
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Caitlyn walked in to see Jon. He was sitting up in bed reading the newspaper. He looked up, grinned, and said playfully, “What’s up, doc?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Where’s Tiger?”
“Oh. She left to get something to eat. Can I go home now?”
She began examining him. “So you are feeling pretty good, are you?”
He nodded. “Considering I just had major surgery, I do feel pretty good.” When Caitlyn was done, he said, “Well?”
She nodded. “Okay, Steel. You can go home.”
“Can I get rid of the IV’s and the catheter?” he asked hopefully.
“Not a chance. We’ll change the IV in your arm into one without the fluids, though.”
Jessi walked in and smiled at Jon and Caitlyn. “Want me to take care of that?”
Caitlyn nodded. “Please. You are back to work awfully soon, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes, but it’s because I worked over time last night. I finally got the eight hour shifts, but someone called in for midnight shift, so I stayed over.”
Caitlyn chuckled. “You work too hard. When are you going to come to work for John and I? We still need a nurse.”
“The pay isn’t as good in a doctor’s office.”
“Better hours. Easier job. And the pay isn’t lousy. Think about it, okay?” She patted her sister on the arm.
Hannah walked back in the room and they quickly arranged plans for getting him home. He didn’t think that being carrying in her arms would feel so great, so they decided that he would stand upright with his cape wrapped around him. Jessi snuck him to the rooftop terrace where Hannah met him. Jessi had managed to sneak Jon past all the reporters, and security had cleared the roof. Hannah hugged him to herself and they took off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Jessi came back to the intensive care unit, Caitlyn was leaning on her hand and writing on a chart with the other. Jessi sat down beside her. She whispered, “So let me get this straight. You’ve been knocking boots with Superman.”
Caitlyn blushed and started writing more furiously. “We are just friends.”
“*Just* friends don’t share that kind of leg entwining embrace in bed.”
Caitlyn whispered, “Shhh… Be quiet. I’m not… I… We’re just really good friends.”
“Uh-huh. Must be a pretty good friend since he’s coming to meet the family this weekend.”
Caitlyn looked up at her slyly. “He told you that?!” She shut the chart she had just written orders on and gave it to Jessi. She stood up. “Well... You might be surprised.”
“So he told me.”
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Los walked in the room where Clark and Claire were sitting. He looked at Clark expectantly. Clark motioned for him to sit down. Clark was still holding Claire in his arms. “Well, Claire didn’t want you to know everything, but I disagreed. Los, she has a possible tubal pregnancy or an ovarian cyst. She was raped, but she also has had sexual relations. If she is pregnant, she says she thinks it occurred before the rape. Amanda was here and examined her, and she wanted to do a pelvic ultrasound, but I told her I figured you could use your xray vision to check.”
Los nodded and softly said, “I’m sorry, Claire.” She nodded against her dad’s chest.
Clark asked, “Will you need to do a pelvic exam, also?”
“Hmm… maybe.”
Clark nodded. “We should have a female present, shouldn’t we? How about Gramma Kent?”
Claire shook her head no. “Besides, Chloe took her home.”
“Chloe?”
“No. Nobody. Just you and Los.”
“Claire, I really think it would be wise.” Clark looked at Los for confirmation.
Los just shrugged. That wasn’t something that would necessarily be done on New Krypton, but he didn’t know about here.
Claire said, “You’re being silly and overprotective, daddy.”
Los said, “You can stay. We can cover her up with a… hmm… large sleeping cloth.”
Claire said, “Yeah, a sheet.”
Los said, “Why don’t you just lie down right now and let me take a peek. Then I’ll see where we need to go from there. Okay?”
She nodded and lay down on the bed. Los smiled at her. “Well, you aren’t pregnant. And I’m assuming that’s good news, right?” She nodded vigorously. “You do have a small ovarian cyst. That could be due to the same defect that Jon, K’al, and I have. It sometimes affects females in such a manner. Your kidneys are fine, so I can’t readily tell is it’s from the same thing. You will need a couple of blood tests. Are you having pain?”
She shook her head no. “Then I don’t need to examine you until I get the tests back.”
She sighed heavily and sat up. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Then why am I two weeks late?”
“It might be stress. It might be from the ovarian cyst. I’m more inclined to think it’s from stress. I can tell you more after the blood tests. Let me get something to draw blood with, and then I’ll start the tests.”
Clark bit his lip. “I take it you brought the data orb home with you then? I mean, it can do that kind of thing, can’t it?”
Los nodded, got up and walked out of the room.
Claire looked up at her dad. “Is that going to mean a kryptonite exposure?”
Clark raised an eyebrow. “I kind of doubt it. Jon just had surgery without kryptonite. Remember?”
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Hannah touched down outside the balcony of the upstairs sitting room. She checked to make sure no strangers were around, and then she floated them in. When they got to the bedroom, she set him on the floor. “Your IV has some blood in it.” She held it up over him. “Oh, it’s clearing now, though, so I guess it will be okay.” She hung it on the pole that was still there from the other night.
Jon nodded and sat down in a chair. “Give me a pillow, will you?” He winced.
She handed him the pillow and ran her hands through his hair. “Do you need something for pain? Caitlyn told me where to find the pain medication, and I know how to give it.”
“Yeah. I guess one of the disadvantages of coming home is losing the self-controlled pain medication.” When she came back with the pain medication, he watched as she slowly pushed the medication in. “You never gave me your answer.”
“I… uh… You kind of took me off guard.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “Yes, Jon, I’ll marry you. And I won’t push you to do something that you don’t want to do. I guess… I was afraid I was going to lose you if we didn’t have sex.”
He smiled. “You’re stuck with me, Hannah.”
Lara, Brook, and Jama all came in the still open door. They all hugged Jon. Brook said, “Oh, Jon, we were so worried.”
Lara smiled broadly. “We all gave you blood!”
Jon smiled. “You did? I didn’t know that. Thanks.”
Jama said, “Jon, there’s blood coming out of your catheter. Is that normal?”
Jon nodded. “Apparently. It’s just a little bit anyway. I did have both my kidneys split open, you know.”
Brook crinkled her nose. “Oooooh…”
Jon raised an eyebrow. “Yep. So I hear Lara talked to dad at the hospital, and the two of you are a little bummed by that. It’ll get stronger. Promise.” Two Bark and Meowoof came wandering in. Two Bark lay down at his feet and Meowoof jumped up on Jon’s lap just missing his abdomen. Jon said, “Whoa, girl. Do you have good aim or what?” He reached down and patted Two Bark’s head then began stroking Meowoof along her sleek body.
Brook grinned. “Can we see?”
“See… what?”
“Where they cut you?”
Jon nodded in understanding. “Oh.” He put Meowoof on the arm of the chair and lifted his shirt and pulled down his loose sleep shorts slightly. Then he showed them his dressings. “Caitlyn said that she would probably take these off later this evening so you can come back then and see the incisions.”
Jama said, “Wow!”
Lara sat down on the floor beside him and leaned on his legs. “We love you, Jon.”
“I love all of you, too.”
Brook said, “Jon, you look tired. Should you lie down?”
He nodded. “Yes, probably. I just wanted to sit for a few mintues.”
Jama quickly turned down his bed and patted it. She gave him a look saying it was all ready.
He stood up slowly. “Thanks, girls… for everything.”
Hannah helped him to the bed then helped him lie down.
Jama said, “Hmmm… Hannah. Anamarie isn’t here right now but shouldn’t you change? Love the outfit, by the way.”
Hannah looked down at herself. “Oh, I completely forgot.” She bent down and kissed Jon. “I’ll be right back.”
Two Bark and Meowoof both jumped on the bed beside Jon. As he started to go to sleep, his sisters walked out of the room. Two Bark and Meowoof were staying put.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Los had successfully drawn blood and Claire was taking the blood back upstairs to get the test started. He ran into Hannah on her way back to Jon’s room… his and Jon’s room. He smiled at her. “Is Jon home?” She nodded and he followed her through the door. When he saw that Jon was asleep he used telepathy. <I imagine that you would like to stay with Jon, wouldn’t you? I can stay in another room.> He quickly set up the test.
She teased. <Uh-huh. What room would that be, Los? The den, where I’ve been staying, or the guest room that Mari has been staying in?> She didn’t expect Los’ bright blush. She continued. <You… Did you…> She smiled broadly. <Did you get that kiss?> He nodded. She winked at him. <And more, I bet.>
Los bit his lip and blushed. He left the tests to run. He decided not to answer the question. <Don’t bother my tests. Okay?>
She nodded. <Okay, Los.>
Los walked out of the room and walked toward the room Mari was in. As he walked by an open door, an arm shot out and pulled him in the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tbc
