Thanks Nancy for providins some ideas for Ellie's specialty, and for BRing this, as always. Once again, parts outlined in *** are flashbacks.
PART THREE
Introducing Jay to Lois and Clark had gone as well as could be expected. Although they weren’t really angry at the circumstances, it would still take them a while to trust Jay with such a large secret. Jon and I had met with the immediate family this morning to explain the situation to them. Because it was a Saturday, Lois and Clark both had the day off along with Jon, so we were able to drop by their brownstone to visit again later in the day. Jay had to submit to some pretty intensive questioning from the pair, but I think he was cautiously accepted for now.
Ellie hadn’t been able to make that meeting because she was extremely busy at STAR labs. She was currently working through graduate studies in phylogenetics, but I still wasn’t really sure what that was. Although her primary interest was in Kryptonian biology, she needed to have a doctorate in a more publishable field to get a research grant from STAR labs. So she was forced to take on two fields of research at once in order to pursue her desired career, which made for a very busy timetable.
But bringing Jay by STAR labs also gave us the opportunity to introduce him to Brad and Lucy. Although they were not directly affected by Jay knowing, they still shared in the secret. We were greeted by Lucy as we entered the lab. Although I had only met her a couple of times, I had found her to be very friendly and warm. She lived up to that expectation today.
“Ellie told me all about your little blunder last night,” she winked at us. “How are your parents taking it?”
“Better than I thought,” Jon answered. “My dad hardly even lectured.”
“Well, they’re not exactly in a position to do so,” she replied devilishly. “At least you guys didn’t get caught by a tabloid journalist who plastered photographic evidence on every rag across the country.”
“They never told us about that!” Ellie exclaimed as she made her way over to us.
“Well, I’ll let them tell it,” Lucy replied. “They would do a better job.” Jay shifted his weight a little and I was reminded of why we were here in the first place.
“This is my brother Jay,” I introduced. “This is Lucy, Jon’s aunt, and this is Ellie, his sister. Where’s Brad?”
“I dropped him off in Florida,” Ellie told us. “He’s discussing some new Kryptonite theory with Dr. Klein. Our retired family doctor,” she added for Jay’s benefit.
“And you’re not there?” Jon asked. It was a fair question. Usually Ellie was clamoring at the chance to learn more about how their unique biology worked.
“I’m stuck here working on some lousy research project for Met U,” she pouted. “But I’m almost done my part of it so…” she turned to look at Jay. “Are you okay?” she asked pointedly.
“I’m fine,” Jay answered, a little taken aback.
“It’s just that your heartbeat is kinda screwy,” she replied. “And there’s some inflammation in your corneas that’s consistent with-”
“I’m fine,” Jay repeated, this time a little more testily. “Do you normally go around listening in on strangers’ heartbeats? Isn’t that considered to be an invasion of privacy or something?” I could see that Ellie was momentarily taken aback by Jay’s abrasive manner, but before I could jump in to defend her, she collected herself enough to rally.
“No more than breaking into someone’s apartment and lying in wait for them to come home,” she replied sarcastically.
“I’m used to doing things undercover. So sue me,” Jay replied. “That doesn’t give you the right to be critical of what I do.”
“It does when it interferes with my family,” Ellie shot back.
“Jay,” I interrupted him before he could respond. “Can you just drop it? Please?” Why was he deliberately provoking her? Whatever tension that had build so quickly between the two of them dissipated at my intervention, yet I could still sense some stormy undercurrents
We should get going,” Jon suggested tactfully. “There’s a great coffee shop just a few blocks away, why don’t we head over there?” I quickly chimed in my approval, and we exited the lab together.
“What’s the matter with you, Jay? Why were you acting like such a jerk back there?” I demanded once we were out of ear shot.
“I just didn’t like her prying into me,” Jay replied sulkily. “I mean, who surreptitiously gives someone a medical exam?”
“She was just concerned. I know you have privacy issues, but that gives you no excuse to antagonize her,” I defended. When there was no change of expression on his face, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. I would have to be sure that the two of them spent as little time together as possible in the future.
* * *
***He had been on his way to class when he got the call. He impatiently fished his phone out of his pocket and snapped it open.
“Hey, Grandma, I was just on my way to English. How are things going in Smallville?”
“Jon…” Even over the phone, her voice came in sounding small and weak. Immediately, Jon was on alert. Something was wrong. He walked over to an alcove to get some more privacy for his conversation.
“Grandma?” he asked tentatively. “Is everything okay?”
“Jon, you need to come over here right away,” she told him, her voice breaking.
“Come over? To the farm?” Jon felt the panic rising in his voice.
“No, not the farm,” she corrected. “The hospital. Jon, something’s happened.”***
* * *
“I don’t think Ellie likes Jay very much,” Jon commented, as we sat on the sofa in my apartment. Jay had gone off to do whatever it was he was investigating so we had the place to ourselves.
“Well, I don’t blame her,” I replied. “He was incredibly rude.”
“Ellie’s kinda funny sometimes,” Jon told me. “You don’t really expect it of her, but she can get pretty territorial.”
“Did you notice anything wrong with Jay’s heartbeat?” I asked Jon concernedly.
“I don’t usually hear other people’s heartbeats unless I concentrate on it,” Jon replied. “And when Jay seemed upset at Ellie’s intervention, I decided that it would be best if I didn’t pry.”
“Working for the NIA has been hard on Jay,” I said sadly. “Both physically and mentally. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some health problems as a result. I was always careful to keep a division between my life and the NIA. I had my teaching, and never a ton of friends, but always a few. And of course, now I have you.” I smiled up at him and absorbed the warmth of his gaze. “But Jay never had any of that,” I continued. “He gave his whole life to the agency. And I’m sure I only know about half the stuff he’s had to live through.”
“I thought you two worked together,” Jon said.
“We used to do a lot of partner stuff,” I replied. “But Jay’s been doing more and more solo investigations which he doesn’t tell me much about.” I was silent for a bit. “And, he lies to me,” I continued. “He thinks that he needs to spare me from all the terrible things that have happened to him so he doesn’t tell me when things are wrong. But what he doesn’t realize is that I know when things are wrong anyway. I just don’t know the reason.” I turned to look Jon straight in the face. “Will you promise me something?” I asked him.
“Anything.”
“Don’t ever try to lie to me to protect me. It never works the way you want it to.”
“I promise,” he said.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I wanted to take my mind off the sobering topic of my messed-up brother so I turned to a happier topic. “We should set a date,” I told Jon as I wiggled my ring finger to make the ring dance merrily.
“Got one in mind?”
“I dunno,” I thought aloud. “I don’t want to be one of those couples that stays engaged for three years or something before actually getting married. That’s kind of lame, don’t you think? But at the same time, it takes forever to plan a wedding. You have to book way in advance for a location, and when my friend Thea got married it took months for her to get her dress.” I sighed. “Maybe we can get married sometime next summer. I’ll have some time off from Riverview, and we’ll have plenty of time to prepare.”
“That makes sense,” Jon said amiably.
“But that’s almost a whole year from now,” I mused. “Do we really want to wait that long? I’m not sure I do.”
“Mmm, that’s true,” Jon mumbled noncommittally.
“Or we can just stay completely apathetic on the subject and be engaged forever.”
“Sorry, Kaylie,” Jon apologized sheepishly. “I was just thinking about how our lives are going to be when we’re married. Logistical things like where we’ll live and stuff like that.”
“There’s a lot we have to discuss,” I agreed. “We’re merging lives here, there’s got to be considerations! Whose furniture are we going to keep, and how are we going to deal with expenses. And,” I continued with mounting panic, “I drink skim milk, but you drink 2%. It’d be stupid to buy two types of milk, but who’s going to switch milks? I like skim. But you probably like 2%. It’d be completely unfair to expect one person to switch to a milk they don’t like just to cut down on grocery costs!”
“And we’re also going to have to fight over who gets what side of the secret compartment,” Jon added with a smile. “Kaylie, I didn’t mean to make you worried. And I know we’ve got a lot to discuss and work out between the two of us. But the important thing is that we love each other and we’ll work through all the other things as they come. I know we will.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “We will.”
“How about we hold off on setting a date?” Jon asked me as he drew me into his arms. “We’ll worry about that soon enough. For now, let’s just enjoy being engaged.”
“I think I could do that,” I said agreeably.
Then the phone rang, preventing us from any further enjoyment.
“Hello?” I answered
“Are you alone?” My heart sank. It was my dad. There was only ever one reason why he called me. I had spent two glorious weeks with no new NIA assignments, but his call reinforced that my sabbatical was only meant to be short lived.
“Yes, I’m alone,” I lied. Jon was just as entitled to hear about this as me. Besides the fact that we were getting married, he was also an honorary NIA agent, even though he rarely exercised that authority. I held onto to Jon’s hand to silently tell him that I didn’t want him to leave.
“I assume Jason’s already been in contact with you.”
“He came here last night.”
“Good. I wanted to give you some more background information on this case. As you will understand, it’s very important-”
“Dad, I met someone.” I blurted out before he could launch himself further into his debriefing. “We’re engaged.” A moment of silence on his end.
“I see,” he finally commented. More silence. “I suppose I should meet him.”
“Um, I guess,” I spoke hesitantly. “Maybe the next time you’re going to be in Metropolis-”
“How about we meet for lunch tomorrow?” he asked suddenly. “I’ll be able to fly up then. Will your fiancé be free?”
“Uh,” I stammered, feeling shocked. I hadn’t seen my father for three years, and even then, it was inside the NIA base. I glanced over in Jon’s direction to see him nodding yes to being free. “Yes, we’ll be able to have lunch tomorrow. Do you want me to make a reservation somewhere?”
“We’ll meet at your apartment. After lunch we’ll have some time for me to debrief you about the assignment.”
“Dad, I don’t-”
“Eleven thirty, all right? Goodbye then, Kaylie.” And then he hung up. I turned to Jon, still holding the handset.
“That was my dad,” I supplied.
“I figured.”
“I’m not going to do it,” I told him.
“Meet for lunch?” he asked.
“No, I mean I’m not going to do the assignment he wants me to.”
“Kaylie, are you sure about that?” he asked me as his forehead crinkled.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said. “We’re engaged now, and spending time with you is my number one priority. Classes are going to be starting up at Riverview pretty soon, so I’ll need to be spending more and more time at the school now. I think one job is enough for me for the time being. Besides, it’ll be good to just enjoy life for a bit without some huge investigation in the way.”
“But working for the NIA is such a huge part of who you are, Kaylie,” Jon mentioned. “I don’t want you to feel that you have to give up that part of yourself for the sake of our relationship.”
“I may still do the odd investigation,” I replied. “But then again, Jay’s taking a leave of absence, so maybe it’s time for me to do the same.”
“Whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you,” Jon replied.
“We’ll decide what to do together,” I told him. “Isn’t that what almost married people do?”
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. “You know, I can think of another thing that almost married people do.”
“Oh, really?” I asked innocently. “Care to tell me what that might be?”
“I’d rather show you.”
“Wait,” I exclaimed before he could kiss me. “My brother’s going to be home any second. We can’t let him catch us making out again.”
“Luckily, I happen to know a place completely free of sibling infestation,” Jon replied with a grin. “In fact, if you play your cards right you might even get to have a free night’s stay there, if you want it.”
“How fast can you pack an evening bag for me?”
