Nancy deserves extra credit in this part for providing endless suggestions and feedback as to the Kent's family doctor. (Dr Klein is currently on a tropical island studying mutated algae and wasn't able to tear himself away in order to come into my story) Nancy also get credit for providing such an awesome backstory for this new character. Bonus points if anyone actually remembers him from earlier in this story. This part is fairly A plot oriented, but I do promise you that we haven't seen the end of the B plot yet. As always, parts outlined in *** are flashbacks.
PART FOURTEEN
***Normally, the editor of the Daily Planet didn’t give office tours, but Jim Olsen was pretty ecstatic to have another Kent coming to work for him. Clark only came in occasionally to do the odd freelance piece with Lois after he had taken the teaching position at Metropolis University, so new blood was very welcome. Even though it was in the wrong department.
“Are you sure you want to work with the computers here, Jon?” he asked for the twelfth time. “I know you would do great in the newsroom.”
“I’m sure Jim,” Jon replied again. “I’m not much for the all night stakeouts and crazy disguises my mom pulls off.”
“Yeah, sure. You’re definitely not the type of guy to go around wearing disguises.” He glanced pointedly at Jon’s crooked tie. “Anyway, I’m guessing it won’t be very long before Lois wraps you up in one of her crazy schemes. She’s already got me stuck firmly under her thumb, so you’ll have plenty of company.” Someone called his name from across his room and he waved in response. “It looks like we’re going to have to cut this short, but you’ve been here so often you could probably walk through this building with your eyes closed. Ask Bob Stables if you need anything, okay?” He walked off in the direction of the person who had needed him, and Jon decided that he would grab a cup of coffee before settling himself down to work.
He had just finished doctoring the cup the way he liked it when he was jostled slightly by a newcomer to the coffee area.
“Whoops! Did I make you spill?” she asked apologetically.
“No, it’s fine,” he reassured her. She gazed at him curiously.
“Have I seen you around her before?”
“I just started today, but I’ve visited here before. Lois Lane is my mom.” He hoped that she wouldn’t start gushing about his parents now. He loved his mom, but he had no intention of spending his entire career underneath her shadow. But the woman just nodded in response.
“That must be it.”
“I’m Jon,” he offered her his hand. She took it, shaking it firmly.
“I’m Amanda. I work in the Arts and Culture section. You?”
“Jim hired me to look after the computer system here, but I think he’s gotten it into his head that I’ll be doing some writing for the paper too. Thinks that cause my parents are reporters it must be in my blood or something.” She laughed genteelly, and then fingered her coffee cup tentatively.
“I know it’s your first day and all that, so do you think you might want to grab some lunch together if you don’t have any plans? I’ll get you up to speed on all the office gossip and whatnot.”
“That sounds good…” He heard the familiar sounds of a siren wailing in the distance. “I’ve actually got to run right now Amanda,” he excused himself hurriedly. “I forgot to… fill out some paperwork for HR, but I’ll see you in a couple hours, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied easily. As Jon dashed up the emergency stairwell to get to the roof he reflected on the encounter with pleasure. Lunch was definitely something to look forward to.***
* * *
The Kent family descended as a whole the next morning. I had been up on and off throughout the night with Lois looking after Jor. No, looking after Jon, I reminded myself. It would probably take me a while to get used to the name change. Anyway, it was the second early morning in a row and I was so groggy that I didn’t have the energy to feel embarrassed at the lack of food and whatnot to offer these people. Instead I remained curled up on the sofa carefully sipping the obscenely strong coffee that Lois made and stared at the Kents.
I had met all of them before, but never in this intimate of context. Clark commanded much less attention in casual jeans and a T-shirt as opposed to the spandex I had originally seen him in. His glasses made him seem mellower, and his attitude was more laid back, although the reason why he had come was anything but casual.
Jor, no *Jon*, was different to. He still wore the clothing he had on last night for lack of anything else to wear, but Clark had brought his glasses which drastically changed his looks. He also acted differently with his family around. I saw the same teasing dynamic between him and Ellie as in the last meeting I had witnessed, but this time it was much more subdued as he was still feeling weak from last night. But despite the fact that he was still shaky and a little pale, he sat upright beside me on the sofa, and his arm was draped around me, showing how far we had come from our big fight yesterday.
Unlike her father and brother, Ellie didn’t wear glasses as part of her real world disguise. But the chaotic mass of golden hair that tumbled down her back was more than enough to distract any critical eyes. She was as bubbly as ever, which I knew from watching news clips was not the way she acted as Nebula. Nobody could ever confuse this vivacious woman with the serene superhero on TV wearing such a severe hairstyle.
I had noticed Lois’ differences between personal and professional demeanor last night when she had come to help me take care of Jor. Although she was still wickedly intelligent, her cunning was no longer directed at me, which was an incredible relief. The absence of a professional suit and jacket also softened her appearance.
There was one new addition to the clan that I hadn’t met before. He was absolutely enormous, taller and broader than Clark even, with a fuzz of white-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. I had the nearly irrepressible desire to call him Sven. Seriously, the guy was like some kind of Norse god. But it turned out that he was Brad, Lois’s brother-in-law who took time from his work at STAR labs with his wife and niece to act as the Kent family doctor. Brad had brought a stethoscope and the usual medical trappings to my apartment, although I suspected they were somewhat modified for the unique patient. We pulled all the blinds up, and allowed for sunlight to flood my living room, which, I was told, would help in the healing process. Brad checked Jor over, listening to his heart rate and such while Jor *finally* explained what had happened to him yesterday.
“I’m not entirely sure what happened,” Jor explained. “I was flying over here to see Kaylie when I suddenly felt sick and dizzy. I tried to land and get into my street clothes as discreetly as possible, but I was already feeling pretty out of it.”
“Dizziness and pain. Any other symptoms?” Brad asked.
“Yeah,” Jor said, “Kaylie said that when I got here I was acting like I was high on something.”
“Some kind of drug?” Ellie asked interestedly.
“I don’t know how they would’ve administered it,” Jor told her. “I was high in the air when I first felt sick, and I think I would’ve noticed something if it happened when I was on the ground.”
“It could be red Kryptonite,” Clark suggested.
“There’s red stuff?” I asked in surprise.
Clark nodded. “It works differently than the green stuff.”
“It does have unpredictable effects, so it could be the cause, Jon.” Brad said.
“That does make sense,” he agreed. “If you combine the effects of green Kryptonite and possible red Kryptonite ones, then you could get what happened to me.”
“But how could someone expose you while you were flying?” Lois argued. “I don’t think anything could’ve gotten close enough to you.”
“Well, I was flying slower than normal,” Jor mentioned hesitantly. “But I would’ve noticed if something got close enough to me to let me feel Kryptonite.”
Everyone was silent for a few moments trying to puzzle out the problem. Then Ellie finally spoke up.
“What about if someone found out a way to send Kryptonite radiation over a distance? You could probably do it with a laser or energy beam. All you would need is a small lump and then magnify the radiation somehow.”
“It is theoretically possible,” Brad admitted. “But whoever would want to do that would need a lot of resources for research.”
“But it is possible,” Ellie argued. I could see her idea working furiously in her mind as she analyzed the possibilities. “You would have to send the signal from the air, though. There’re too many buildings and stuff on the ground that would get in the way. Jon, what if someone was following you in a plane and sent the signal from there?”
“I think I would’ve noticed a plane hovering over me, Ellie. Unlike you, I don’t fly with my eyes closed,” he teased.
“Okay, fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Then let’s say it was sent from a satellite. It still makes sense.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little far fetched? You’re assuming a lot.”
I wasn’t listening to the bickering going on between the two siblings though. As soon as Ellie mentioned a satellite, something clicked in my head that brought me back to that mysterious file in Sproxton’s office. Cryptic code words suddenly made sense, and the wording which initially confused me because clear.
“I think I know what it is,” I announced, and dashed over to the hidden compartment behind my bookcase. Despite it being horribly cliché, that secret compartment had proven to be the best place to hide all my NIA related stuff. I pulled the file out of its place and handed it to Brad. “Would this explain what happened?” I asked him. Brad flicked through it in silence and I regarded the four pairs of eyes steadfastly fixed on me. Years of training had taught me not to reveal the truth to anyone. And if I requested it, I knew they would respect my wishes and not look into it any further. But I wanted to tell them anyway. This affected them deeply, putting nearly everyone in their family at risk. They had trusted me enough with their secret, and it was time for me to return the favor.
“I stole this file from the office of a man named Braun Sproxton. He’s head of-”
“Covert Operations in the NIA,” Lois supplied.
I nodded in confirmation. “He was the government agent who was making a deal with Intergang a couple nights ago that you asked Jo-… *Jon* to investigate, Lois.” And now I had to explain my own involvement. “A few months ago, the NIA received a tip from an informant that a high ranking official was about to jump ship. I’ve been working undercover trying to dig up some solid evidence that will get Sproxton removed from his position. Project Titan is not authorized by the NIA as a whole, but I couldn’t make sense of it at first. Until I saw what its purpose was.”
“Ellie was partially right,” Brad told us. “He’s using the NIA satellite to bounce a signal to a specific target. One of you three,” he gestured to Clark, Ellie, and Jon.
“It uses something like a heat signature to find the target, right?” I recalled from my initial reading.
“Not really a heat signature, Kaylie. It’s actually seeks out the energy field surrounding each person that is as unique as a fingerprint.”
“What, like an aura?” I asked skeptically
“Exactly,” he confirmed. I was surprised. I had never really been a big fan of any of that new age-y stuff, but everyone else seemed to be taking this in stride.
“We each have a protective aura that extends a few millimeters from our skin, Kaylie,” Jon finally explained. “It’s what keeps our suits from shredding and even protects people a bit when we fly with them.”
“Oh.”
“Everyone has an aura that is unique to them,” Ellie continued. “But with superpowers, it becomes magnified to the point that it’s noticeable. And, apparently, now it’s traceable.”
“Somehow, this guy has managed to pin down what my aura is and lock onto the signal it produces.”
“That bank robbery,” I remembered. “You know the one where they used expanding slugs? I told you that it was weird. I bet Sproxton gave some hired thugs the bullets and paid them to do the job. By using more damaging ammo, he was sure that one of you guys would show up. It’s exactly the kind of thing he would do. He probably locked onto your signal then.”
“Do you think he’ll do it again for us?” Ellie asked worriedly.
“Not right away,” I told her, chewing my lip furiously. “He’ll wait a while to make sure that it worked on Jon. Maybe a week or so with no sightings of Supernova. Then he’ll probably create another set-up. There’s no telling which call for help will be engineered though.”
“And we can’t just refuse calls for help,” Clark commented. “Even if it is a set-up that doesn’t mean that real people aren’t in danger.”
“Project Titan is nothing without Sproxton,” I told them. “If I can take him down, then the whole idea will crumble.”
“I already have years of research on Intergang,” Lois offered. “I’ve been trying to take them down for ages; I’ll help in whatever way I can.” She seemed eager to help, and I hated to shut her out but…
“I need to do this by the book,” I explained apologetically. “I’ve been trying to catch Sproxton for so long I can’t afford to have him slip by on a technicality. I’ll gladly take whatever research you have but I can’t have any civilian involvement in this. Although it’s unfairly elitist, the NIA won’t accept anything that has too much outside influences. They tend to trust only themselves.”
“Fine,” Lois grumbled, “I’ll stay in the sidelines.” Even though she wanted to be involved, she realized that too much interference would only harm her ultimate objective.
“I can guarantee that you’ll get the exclusive as soon as we can make it public,” I offered, having quickly discovered the way to get in Lois’ good graces. “And I promise you I’ll get this taken care of as soon as I can. I’ve been doing covert operations for years and I’m a very good agent. I can handle this.” She appeared slightly mollified by my simultaneous peace offering and reassurance.
“You may not know this,” Clark told me, “but Superman, Supernova, and Nebula are all registered agents in the NIA.”
“What?” Ellie exclaimed. Clark nodded his confirmation.
“After the whole Trevanian incident in 1996, Jack Olsen petitioned the Director to make me an honorary agent. When you two showed up in the public eye, I’m told that privilege was extended to you.” I was familiar with the Trevanian scandal, of course. It was what had initially spurred the formation of the NIA branch that I was currently working for. But the fact that the three superheroes were NIA agents was news to me. Judging by the reactions of Jor and Ellie, it was news to them as well.
“You never told us about this, Dad,” Jor (no, Jon, dammit!) commented.
“I didn’t remember about it,” Clark explained. “It’s not something particularly useful in day to day situations, but if you’re willing, Kaylie, we’d be happy to help.”
“Thanks,” I nodded. “You’d have to be careful though. We know Sproxton has Kryptonite and there’s no telling when it might pop up in this investigation.”
“Well, that takes care of Sproxton,” Ellie said. “But it doesn’t help Jon for the time being. The only reason why he’s not feeling the effects of the Kryptonite is because his aura is still weakened enough that the satellite can’t find it. As soon as he recovers, it’ll stick him right back to where he was last night.” She had been paging through the file, reading it at super-speed. We all must’ve thought along the same lines, because at her comment, everyone jumped out of their seats and pulled the blinds down to minimize the amount of sunlight in the room.
“I can fly up to the satellite and try to disable it,” Clark offered.
“No way,” Lois objected. “We have no way of knowing if the Kryptonite is stored here on Earth, or in the satellite, but you’re not taking the chance.” Clark reluctantly nodded his agreement.
“Even without direct exposure to sunlight, I’ll heal on my own,” Jor commented. His mouth tightened at the corners, and his face was deathly pale. “But maybe if we use small amounts of Kryptonite to keep me weak enough until the system can be disabled-” But that suggestion was met with unanimous disapproval.
“It wouldn’t work, Jon,” Brad explained. “We haven’t done enough research to know how to administer a proper dosage. Any effect would be erratic and uncontrollable.”
“Well, we have to figure out some way to diminish my aura,” Jor fumed in irritation. Or rather, Jon fumed in irritation.
“I don’t have anything in my research files that could help out,” Brad told us frankly. Then he turned to Clark. “Can you remember any time when you didn’t have your powers that wasn’t because of Kryptonite?”
“No,” Clark confessed.
“Unless,” Lois began hesitantly. Clark looked at her sharply.
“Are you thinking about…?”
“It could work,” she told him with mounting enthusiasm.
“The laser’s actually still in orbit, I think,” Clark added.
“What are you talking about?” Ellie interjected with the question that was on all of our minds.
“This happened years ago, before we had even gotten engaged,” Lois began to explain.
“I was hit with this red Kryptonite laser-”
“-and his powers were temporarily transferred to me.”
“Neither of us experienced any pain or discomfort-”
“If you don’t count the stuff I accidentally did you, Clark. And you being tied to a chair and almost electrocuted. And-”
“The point is,” Clark summarized firmly, “I got my powers back with no problems after another shot with the laser.”
“Wait, were you Ultrawoman, Lois?” Brad asked disbelievingly. “I had almost forgotten about her.”
“Luckily, she quickly faded from the public eye,” Lois explained. “But the laser should work for Jon.”
“How come there are no notes about this in your file?” Ellie asked pointedly.
“This was before we completely trusted Dr. Klein,” Clark told her. “We asked for his help to fix the laser when it broke, but we didn’t dare tell him what it did.”
“Who’s Dr. Klein?” I whispered in Jor’s ear.
“Old family physician,” he replied. “Uncle Brad took over for him after he retired.”
“I’m not completely sure about this,” Brad hedged. “Red K is pretty fickle, and who knows what it could do.”
“It looks like the best option though,” I commented. Brad nodded grudgingly.
“And if we can find the original laser and chunk of Kryptonite, then there’s an excellent chance that the initial results will repeat,” Ellie mentioned.
“We’ll have to find someone willing to participate in the exchange.” Brad was reluctantly softening to the idea.
“I’ll do it,” I volunteered. The room echoed with uneasy silence.
“Kaylie-”
“I’m sure about this, Jor. Jon. Whatever your name is. You’re not going to convince me otherwise, so don’t even bother trying.”
To my surprise, he laughed instead of voicing more objections. “If you’re absolutely sure, Kaylie, I don’t see how I could even try to stop you.”
“Good,” I told him smugly. “I’m glad to see you’re coming around to my way of thinking.”
“Kaylie, are you really okay with this? Clark asked seriously. “You’re making a big sacrifice.”
“Yeah, like it’s a big sacrifice to be able fly and be invulnerable.” I scoffed. “Someone has to do this, and it might as well be me. Now shouldn’t someone be hunting down that laser?”
“Dad and I’ll go do it now,” Ellie offered. “There’s no sense in delaying it.” They both spun into their respective costumes, and zoomed out via the balcony. Then Brad stood up, stretching.
“Kaylie, I’d like to give you a quick physical if that’s all right.”
“Oh! Um, sure.”
“Can we use your bedroom maybe?”
“Um… Okay.” I hadn’t been exactly prepared for this, but I supposed Brad wanted to make sure everything was all right before we did anything crazy. And speaking of which… “So is this the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” I asked Brad once we had gotten into my room.
“Well, this is definitely among the top ten, but you’d be surprised by the interesting circumstances the Kent family gets into. They just seem to attract the bizarre.”
“So what attracted you to them?” I asked curiously.
“Lab rats,” he told me briefly as he wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm.
“Um, excuse me?”
“It’s a motorcycle group of doctors and researchers,” he explained, looking a little embarrassed by this admission. “Dr Klein, their previous doctor, was at the same rally I attended shortly after I got my doctorate and was looking for a permanent research position. He liked me and I liked him and by the end of the weekend, he had offered me a job. I moved to Metropolis where I met Lucy, who was already working at STAR labs. We got married, and when Dr Klein wanted to retire, the Kents decided to let me in on the family secret so I could continue as their doctor.” He was silent for a moment as he pressed his stethoscope to my chest to hear my breathing and heartbeat. “That’s all I really need to do, Kaylie,” he told me. “I actually asked you here because I wanted to make sure that you’re absolutely certain about doing this procedure.”
“When will people stop asking me this?” I exclaimed. “I *want* to do it!
“I just want to make sure you understand the risks,” Brad commented as he checked my heartbeat. “Jon doesn’t really have a choice, but you are more than able to back out of this.”
“Jon needs someone else for this thing to work,” I argued. “We can’t exactly transfer his powers onto a lab rat.” I could see that he still wasn’t convinced. “Brad, if you had to risk your life for your wife, wouldn’t you do it?”
“Of course I would.”
“Well, it’s the same for me,” I told him. “I need to do this for him, and although it may be dangerous, I know that we’re doing it in the safest way possible.” Finally, Brad looked convinced. He packed up his medical kit, and we reentered my living room. Clark and Ellie had already returned from their search successfully.
Ellie was fiddling with what looked like an archaic video camera, but I assumed was the laser. “Everything’s in working order,” she told us.
“So how do we do this?” I asked, suddenly nervous. I had been confident in my decision to do it, but now it seemed to be happening so fast that I didn’t have time to think.
“You two will need to stand on the opposite side of this room to get a proper distance,” Brad directed. Jor stood and met me in our designated location. He still looked a little weak, but he was getting healthier by the minute. Funny how in normal circumstances that would be a good thing.
“When it happened before,” Clark told us, “Lois and I were touching.” Jor wrapped his arms around me, and I drew close to him for comfort.
“Are you okay?” he asked me quietly.
“Yes.” I told both myself and him.
“How long was the blast?” Brad asked.
“Not long,” Lois answered. “Maybe five seconds?” She looked at Clark for confirmation.
“I think even shorter than that,” Clark said.
“Well all right,” Brad hefted the camera-laser up onto his shoulder. “Here goes nothing.”
I felt a warm numbing sensation flow through me and dark blotches blossomed to cover my field of vision as I lost all sensation in my body.
