Thanks to Nancy for sticking through this whole thing despite a very busy schedule. And thanks to everyone on the boards who was kind enough to leave me feedback. You all had so much influence on this story and you made it oodles better! And one last reminder: the parts outlined in *** are flashbacks!
PART EIGHTEEN
***He had almost finished his patrol for the night when he saw the woman being pushed into the alleyway and shoved against the wall by two scruffy looking men.
“Give us your purse and any jewelry you’ve got,” one of the men demanded, “and we won’t lay another finger on you, lady.” Congratulating himself on his good timing, (the woman hadn’t even needed to call for help) Jon flew down to the alley, pulled the men away from the woman, and held them up by their collars. Having managed to subdue the petty offenders, he glanced back over his shoulder to check on the woman. Somehow, she had fallen to the ground, and was sitting there with her legs tangled up and the contents of her purse dumped out on the street.
“Are you all right?” he asked in patented superhero fashion. The woman impatiently tossed the hair off her face and fixed him with a deadly gaze.
“I was until you got here,” she replied snappily.
Jon froze in shock. “Excuse me?” he gaped. She unraveled her long legs, and rose gingerly to her knees, shoving things back into her purse.
“I’m perfectly capable of defending myself, Spaceboy,” she asserted. Despite her abrasive attitude, he found that there was something he liked about it. “You had no reason to just barge in and push me out of the way,” she continued. At this comment, however, Jon remembered that he was supposed to be a superhero. It was his job to help people and therefore he had every reason to jump in and give her a hand. He drew himself up to full superhero height.
“I saw a woman being mugged,” he defended himself sternly. “Excuse me for wanting to help.” That had sounded more antagonizing than he had meant to. What was it about this woman that made him so off center?
“Well, I didn’t ask for your help, now did I?” she shot back. She had started to get to her feet, and he noticed that she flinched involuntarily and swore under her breath when she placed weight on her right ankle. When he looked closer, he realized that the heel had broken. He must’ve knocked her over somehow when he swooped in for his “rescue”, inadvertently hurting her. But she wasn’t about to accept any of his sympathy. Instead she looked pointedly at the two criminals still dangling in his grasp. “Aren’t you going to do something with those two?” she demanded accusingly. He gaped at her for a second longer, but then, realizing what a picture he must’ve been making, took off into the air with the criminals in his grasp.
He was able to get through the proceedings at the police station in record time, and then flew back to the street where he had first seen that woman. She was hobbling down the street painfully, and he yearned to go help her out, yet her reaction to his earlier attempt forced him to stay where he was. She obviously wasn’t looking for someone to baby-sit her.
He held out until he saw her stumble on the sidewalk, and then rushed down at super-speed, catching her just before she reached the ground. Silently, he led her to a nearby bench, and helped her to sit down without straining her ankle.
“Please just let me look at your ankle,” he asked her pleadingly. She tacitly gave him permission. He knelt on the ground, and tenderly slid off her shoe. He ran his fingers over her smooth skin, and he thought that he heard her stop breathing for a split second. But then he felt he must’ve imagined it, because she spoke suddenly after that.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she apologized.
“It’s no problem,” he replied absently, still gazing at her delicate ankle that curved up and disappeared into her pant leg.
“No really,” she insisted. “It was rude and inappropriate. You were helping me and I yelled in your face. I should’ve been more appreciative.” He was a little stunned by this open omission of a mistake. Jon hadn’t thought this woman would be willing to do that. But then, as if she felt that she was giving him too much, she hastily added: “Even if I could’ve handled it myself.” It was so beautifully self-protective, that he couldn’t help but be amused. “You don’t believe me?” she demanded.
“Oh, I believe you. You don’t strike me as the type of person who makes false claims.” His teasing diminished when he realized that if she was capable of defending herself, then he had just injured her for no good reason. “I should apologize too,” he offered. “I should’ve been more careful when I rushed in there, but things tend to happen so fast in those situations, and I don’t always have time to adapt. Sometimes people get hurt even if I don’t intend to.”
But it turned out her ankle was fine, just a little muscle strain. And although she had been upset with his interference before, she turned out to be more understanding about the situation than he expected. Before long, he found himself telling her the story his own dad had told him when he first became Supernova. In any other circumstance, it might seem unwise to tell a person who he had just injured about a man who tried to make some cash from a similar incident, but he found himself inexplicably trusting this woman. He was even teasing her. Or could it even be seen as casual flirting? She seemed to open him up in a way that he had never thought possible since… Then a wince interrupted her smile.
“You should get some ice on that and keep it elevated,” he told her authoritatively. Then he hesitated. He usually didn’t do this for everyone, but he was thoroughly enjoying the time he spent with her, and he wasn’t anxious for it to end. “I could fly you home,” he finally offered. “You’ll be able to ice it and put it up on your sofa right away.”
“Uh, no it’s okay,” she refused emphatically. “I can just get a cab.”
Jon shook his head. “The street is deserted. You’ll never find a cab here at this hour. It’s not any trouble to take you home, honest,” he offered again.
She examined him critically for a moment, and then finally made her decision. “You can walk me home.”
“Walk?” he asked blankly
“Yeah, Spaceboy, walk. It’s what people who can’t defy gravity on a regular basis do,” she told him teasingly.
“Well I don’t know…” He responded in turn. “It’s kinda below my dignity, if you know what I mean.”
“You can consider it your punishment for spraining my ankle,” she shot back.
“My punishment?”
“Well I already promised not to sue you, so this is the next best option.” She stood up, teetering drastically and he rushed to put an arm around to support her.
She was just a couple inches shorter than him, and she seemed to fit naturally next to him. Her unsteady gait forced her to lean close to him to get the maximum amount of support. He could smell her perfume… Stop it! He commanded himself. As much as he liked her, it wasn’t as if he could ask her out for coffee sometime. He was Supernova helping a woman home whom he had accidentally injured. The combination of the slow pace and close proximity was starting to affect him, so he swept her up off her feet and into the position that he normally used to hold passengers when he flew. Maybe that would help to remind him of the circumstances.
“Does this count as cheating?” he asked her teasingly when he realized that he had surprised her.
“As long as you keep one foot on the ground at all times,” she told him seriously.
“I won’t attempt a run then,” he joked.
They reached her apartment all too soon, and he was able to get her easily settled on her sofa with an ice pack to reduce the swelling in her ankle. There was an awkward pause. Jon didn’t want to leave, yet there was no reason at all for him to stay. He had done his duty, and that was all he was supposed to be there for. Finally, neither of them could stand the tense situation any more, and they both spoke at once.
“I should get go-”
“Why don’t you st-”
They paused, embarrassed.
“I guess you need to go find some other damsels that don’t need rescuing, huh?” she asked reluctantly.
“Um, yeah. Well I don’t really need— but I should… I should go,” he finally admitted.
“Okay.”
“Is it okay if I use your…?” He pointed in the direction of her balcony window.
“Oh! Sure, go right ahead.” For a moment, it seemed that she was about to get up from the sofa, perhaps to say goodbye, but then she just sank further back into the cushions.
“Well, goodbye,” he said.
“See you around. And thanks for the lift home.” He smiled at her in acknowledgment and made his escape. It was probably a good thing that he hadn’t stayed much longer, and yet he couldn’t help regretting that he had to leave her so soon. And against his better judgment, he couldn’t help hoping desperately that he would see her again.***
* * *
When I woke up, I found myself lying in my bed on top of a mountain of pillows. The pain was gone, yet it felt as if my limbs were weighed down with sandbags, and my head was throbbing. I groaned softly as I stretched some of the kinks out of my body. I heard the scrape of a chair, and Jon’s face popped into view.
“Kaylie? Are you awake?” He asked me. “Do you want some water?” I nodded gratefully, and he quickly handed me a glass. “How are you feeling?” he asked with concern as he sat on the edge of my bed.
“Tired,” I confessed. “But I’ll get over it. What happened at the club? Where’s Sproxton?”
“Everything’s taken care of Kaylie, don’t worry. You don’t have to deal with anything right now except getting better.”
“So what happened?” I persisted.
“Do you want the long version or the short version?” he asked.
“I want to know everything,” I demanded. “But… hold on a sec. I need to get out this bed and stretch my legs a little. Help me up?” With Jon’s help I was able to get out of bed and make my way into my living room. I curled up on the sofa with a blanket, more tired than when I started but still glad to be sitting more or less upright. “I could really go for some coffee right now,” I hinted unsubtly.
“Tea would be better for you,” Jon remarked. “It’s not as harsh on your system and you’ll be able to-”
“Fine.” I interrupted. Apparently Jon had this thing for giving people tea when they’re recovering from Kryptonite exposure. However, he was the expert so I was willing to follow his advice. “Tea, then. I think I may have some shoved in the back of one of my cupboards. Since you’re so gung ho, you can do the rummaging.” Jon grinned in triumph over winning his point, and went in search of the tea. “I think it may be in that corner cabinet,” I directed from my seat. I was starting to feel better with each passing moment, and having a task set before me, even though it was only finding tea, was helping me to feel more awake. Jon opened the cabinet to reveal a mess of packages and containers. “It’ll be near the back,” I said helpfully.
“I take it you’re not much of a tea drinker,” he commented wryly as he emptied the cupboard in search of the tea.
“Well, there’s a reason why we always have coffee together when you come over. I bought some tea bags about six months ago when I was on this health kick and decided to give up coffee,” I explained. “I lasted about a week before I realized that school teachers who secretly work for clandestine government agencies need all the caffeine they can get.”
“You know, some teas have more caffeine in them than a regular cup of coffee,” he informed me.
“Not the stuff I bought. It’s just some sort of generic grocery store brand where they’ve decaffeinated it.” Jon finally found the tea, and he began putting all the half empty boxes back in the cupboard. He plugged my kettle in and got out a couple of mugs. I was struck by the blatant domesticity of the scene. He had made coffee and stuff in my kitchen before, but now that he was here as Jon Kent and not as Supernova or Jor (last name unknown), it was so much more cozy. Jon caught me staring at him.
“What?”
“I was just thinking,” I told him, “that if Mrs. Brent from next door comes to ask me if I’m talking to someone you don’t have to hide in the bathroom this time.”
“I have to admit it’ll be nice to meet the lady who tried to set you up with her twenty year old grandson.”
“She just doesn’t want me to be lonely,” I defended. “Besides, if she asks again, I’ll be able to tell her that I’ve got a boyfriend with stunning good looks who gets extremely jealous if I even look at another guy.”
“Gee thanks. Then she’ll be chasing me away while shaking her crochet needles at me menacingly.” The water had boiled, so Jon filled up our mugs and brought them over to me, sitting beside me on my sofa. “But I’m also looking forward to not having to hide our relationship from the world. Maybe we can actually go out to dinner in Metropolis for once.”
“Yeah, that would be nice.” I agreed, sipping experimentally. He had even managed to make my cheap tea taste amazing. I might have to consider switching again. “I still want to hear everything that happened,” I reminded him. “All I remember is you hitting Sproxton with the TASER.”
“I wasn’t sure how long the TASER would last,” Jon told me. “But I knew I didn’t have much time.”
“No longer than twenty seconds,” I supplied.
“So I called for help. Ellie came in no time and subdued Sproxton while I found where the Kryptonite was and stashed it in a remote corner where it was far enough away that she couldn’t feel it.”
“It was a good thing that she managed to get there so quickly,” I commented. “Otherwise Sproxton would’ve gotten away.”
“He probably would’ve,” Jon admitted. “There was no way I could’ve tackled him myself without my powers. And of course Ellie will tease me mercilessly about that for the rest of my life.”
“So what happened to the briefcase with the Kryptonite in it? Do you know that it also has files about Project Titan?”
“My dad came in soon after. I told him about the briefcase and he flew away and got a different box to put the Kryptonite in. We saw that there was an external hard drive in the briefcase but we didn’t know what was on it. I offered to take a look at it later, but now that we know what it is we can just destroy it.”
“You might want to look at it anyway,” I commented. “There might be something else on it that could be important.” He nodded in agreement.
“So after the Kryptonite was taken care of,” he continued, “Ellie flew us back here, checked you over, and then went to Marten Technologies to make sure every scrap of Project Titan was cleared away. She already knew about the lab after our little trip there, and she went with my mom in case she stumbled across any unpleasant surprises. My dad’s still with Sproxton until we can contact the proper authorities.”
“I can get in touch with someone,” I offered. “I just need to leave a message with-”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Jon told me. “Superman’s got some pretty high connections and he’s got a lot of credibility. He can handle it. You still need to rest. The first exposure to green K is always the hardest.”
“Luckily it’ll also be my last. Now that we’ve got Sproxton it’s safe for you to get your powers back. Or have you done the transfer already?” I asked him.
Jon shook his head. “We didn’t want to do that until we were absolutely sure that there’s no chance my aura can be traced. That means waiting until Ellie and my mom are done sweeping the lab. Also, Uncle Brad thinks it’s a good idea to wait until you’re totally healthy before we try anything with red K.”
“So Clark’s with the treasonous criminal, Ellie and Lois are stripping the illegal lab, Brad’s doing the scientific scheming, and you have to play nurse? Sounds like somebody pulled the short straw.”
“That’s what I get for letting my girlfriend borrow my superpowers for a few days,” he lamented. “I know you think they’re fun, Kaylie but the next time I’m going to have to say no.” Then he dropped his teasing attitude. “But seriously, Kaylie, I’m never *stuck* spending time with you.”
“Really?”
“Of course,” Jon reassured me. Admittedly, I had been fishing for compliments, but it was nice to see my search was successful.
“Your family has handled this so well, Jon. I can’t even begin to thank them enough.”
“Well, Ellie’s pretty pleased that she got to poke and prod me when I was healthy but not super, my dad will just be glad to know that everything associated with Project Titan will either be in prison or outer space, and as for my mom… Well, she’s still hoping that you’ll give her exclusive rights to the story for the Daily Planet.”
“She’ll get as much as can be made public,” I promised. “Which should actually be quite a lot in comparison to other NIA activities. The NIA’s going to be pretty pleased that they actually managed to capture someone without anyone dying beforehand. They’ll probably claim that they knew about Sproxton for months, and just let him continue in order to learn more about Intergang or something.”
“Government agencies always like good publicity,” Jon agreed. “Even if it’s not actually the agency that did any of the work. You’re the one who deserves all the praise, Kaylie; you’ve been investigating this guy for months.”
“It wasn’t just me. My brother helped me out at first, then there was your family, and you, of course,” I told him. “And I need to thank you,” I continued, “for helping me at the club today. I know you didn’t want to use that TASER, but you did anyway.”
“I was so worried when you disappeared from the roof,” he explained. “And as soon as I saw you in the basement, I knew that there was probably Kryptonite somewhere and that you needed help.”
“Even though I was sick,” I said, “I still think I would’ve been able to shoot him. It wouldn’t have been the best shot, but I still would’ve made it.”
“I didn’t want you to have to do that,” he admitted. “I don’t like the idea of you hurting people. Is that wrong?” he asked hesitantly.
“No, it’s not.” I reassured him. “I don’t like the idea of me hurting people myself. But you have to know that I have hurt people before. I’ve had to in order to protect myself. Sometimes it’s the only way.”
“I know that. Look, I know I didn’t react in the best way possible when I first found out about your NIA stuff, but even over these last few days, I’ve really seen how much a part of you that is. And I can accept that part of you and love it just as much as I love everything else about you. But if I can do anything to keep those difficult situations from happening, Kaylie, then I’m going to do it. I know you can protect yourself physically in most situations, but I guess this just my way of protecting your spirit.” He kissed my hand tenderly.
“Thank you,” I managed to say. “No one’s ever really… done that for me before. I mean, there’s my dad who still makes me feel like an infant every time I even talk to him. And then my brother is even worse than me in some aspects and he’s so deep undercover that he can’t even call me and let me know how he’s doing let alone provide any kind of emotional support. So to have you here for me is just… Thank you.”
“You need to get some rest,” he spoke softly, and when he said that I realized his words were true. My eyelids drooped heavily, and I was starting to feel lethargic. I guess now that I knew everything was being expertly taken care of by the Kents, I could relax. Jon led me back to my bed and tucked me in snugly. Then he turned to make his exit.
“Wait!” I grabbed hold of his hand and he sat down beside me. “Will you… stay with me?” I asked tentatively.
“Sure,” he said.
“No, I mean s… sleep with me. In the bed.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Positive.”
As Jon climbed in beside me and held me close, I thought back to our conversation that morning at breakfast. Whenever he imagined the future, he had said, I was always a part of it. And even though the future held an infinite number of problems and possibilities for me, he was always a part of mine too.
