Thanks as always to Nancy and Carol.
PART ELEVEN
*~Jay~*
I had chosen Smythson Gym on the east side of town to be my regular haunt because it gave me exactly what I needed, and nothing else. There were no polo-shirted staff members wandering around offering unsolicited fitness tips, there were no over-priced machines taking up floor space, and the clients minded their own business. Although I didn’t have much in my apartment, there still wasn’t enough floor space to really practice a lot of the drills that I was used to. Plus, Smythson’s had a punching bag.
I usually spent a couple hours there a day running through the various combinations I knew. Kicks, punches, rolls, you name it, all in a variety of disciplines. That day, I had been at the gym for about an hour before I was interrupted for the first time ever.
“Hey,” the girl said, standing several feet away from me. The tips of her shoes were just touching the edge of the mat I was on. Her arms were crossed in front of her in the traditional ‘defiant teen’ posture. She had a tiny stud in her nose, and judging by the redness around it, it was fairly new. Her hair was streaked with that fake bleach-blonde, and I could see hints of clumsily applied makeup around her eyes. Despite all her efforts, I didn’t think she was any older than thirteen. Fourteen tops.
“Hey,” I returned, a little out of breath.
“So, um… you come here often?”
I stifled a chuckle. She was far too young to be going to bars, and I guessed it would be a few years before she would be fluent in bad pick-up lines.
“I’m here pretty often,” I told her, not wanting to mock her. She interested me, and I didn’t want to alienate her. Why exactly had she approached me?
“Yeah, I… I knew that, actually,” she stammered, dropping her gaze to the floor.
“You did?”
“Uh huh,” she nodded. “See, I sometimes… watch you. From the window,” she tilted her head in the direction of the smudged front window. I guess the downside of no polo-shirted staff is that there’s no one to clean the windows. But apparently, they were still clean enough to see through.
“You do, huh?”
“But not like a stalker!” she blurted out. “I just saw you maybe a month ago when I was walking by and I just… I-I thought… Oh, god, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she repeated. She turned away to leave, but I lunged after her, placing my hand lightly on her shoulder. She turned around to face me.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I told her. “I don’t mind, honest.”
“You don’t?”
“No, of course not.” I glanced around at the other patrons in the gym. No one seemed to be giving us a second look, yet I didn’t like having a conversation out in the open like this. “How about we go sit down?” I suggested. “On those benches over there.”
She nodded mutely, and allowed me to lead her over to the benches. I took a grateful swig of water, and then turned to face her.
“So why were you watching me?”
“Um, well, I was kinda noticing some of the stuff you do here.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Like all the punching and kicking and stuff. And you… you’re pretty good.” She blushed a little, and dropped her gaze again.
“Thanks. I work hard at it.”
She nodded, and bit her bottom lip. “You’re probably, like, really busy…”
“Not too busy,” I told her. “What is it you want?”
“Um…Well…I-I…Nothing,” she finally muttered, getting ready to stand. “I was just… never mind.”
“Hey,” I reached out and caught her again. “It took you a month to come talk to me. Are you going to make me wait another just to hear what you have to say?” I kept my tone light, and tried to avoid pressuring her. There was a delicate balance in this conversation, and I felt that if I made one wrong move, I would scare her away forever.
She gulped, but then came back and sat beside me. She was silent for a while, and I wondered if she would ever speak. But then finally, she broke the silence.
“If someone… was coming after you. Of if they wanted to… to hurt you…” She bit her lip again. “You could stop them, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I could. Most of the time, anyway.” Her question worried me. What exactly was she getting at? “Look, if someone is hurting you, you need to-”
“I don’t want to call the cops or anyone like that,” she cut me off violently. “They wouldn’t believe me,” she added softly.
Her words chilled me. So she was in trouble.
“I don’t want to call the police,” she repeated slowly. “But I was hoping if you… if you would…”
“If I would what?”
“Teach me?” For the first time since I had started talking to her, she looked me straight in the eyes. “How to defend myself? I mean, I know I probably wouldn’t be very good, but I think I could at least learn *something*. I-if you would… Well, I dunno. Do *you* think I could learn?”
I hadn’t expected this. I thought maybe she was looking for someone to go beat up whoever it was that was bothering her, but to want to take things into her own hands… I couldn’t help but admire that. Even though she really should go to the proper authorities.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
Her face darkened, and I saw a stubborn attitude emerge that overruled her meekness for a moment.
“If I tell you my name, then you’ll just tell someone about me,” she told me. “I’m not stupid.”
“No, you’re not,” I agreed. “But are you sure that you don’t-”
“I can’t do that!” she told me urgently. “And you can’t either! Promise me you won’t do that!”
“Okay, okay. I promise,” I told her, trying to calm her down. “I promise I won’t tell the police or anyone.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “It’s just that… nothing’s actually happened yet. I just know it will. And I want to be prepared.”
“That’s your decision,” I told her. “But I have to have a name for you. If I’m going to teach you like you want, then I have to have something to call you.” She shrugged. “It can be anything,” I said. “A nickname or something… You can even make up a completely different name if you want.”
“What, like a secret identity?” She seemed intrigued at the idea. If only she knew.
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
“I’ll have to think about it,” she finally told me.
“Okay.” No sense pressuring her. “Look, I’ll even tell you my name if that helps.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, yeah, of course I will. I’m Jay.” I reached out my hand in greeting, and she took it shyly. I wasn’t usually one for handshakes, but the situation seemed to call for one.
“Jay, like the bird?” She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
“No, Jay, like short for Jason,” I corrected.
“Oh.” She wrinkled her nose.
“What, you don’t like it?” I was glad to see some of her personality peak out beneath the layers of fear and defensiveness.
“It’s okay,” she shrugged. “It just seems kind of weird to shorten a name like Jason. It’s not that long of a name in the first place.”
“Well, weird or not, you’re going to have to put up with it,” I told her teasingly as I got up from the bench. “Now, how about you stand up and we’ll get started?”
“Wait!” she told me, hesitating for some reason. “I, um… I can’t pay you,” she mumbled in embarrassment. “But can I maybe do something else for you instead? Like shovel your walk, or… anything else? I can do a lot of things, honest!”
Obviously, I didn’t need snow removal at my apartment, but that was beside the point. “I don’t want you to pay me,” I told her. “You don’t have to worry about that at all, okay? Now how about you stand up?”
She obeyed.
“Always stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and with your knees slightly bent,” I instructed. “That will keep you grounded in case someone wants to knock you over. Keep your hands up, and in front of your face. That protects your jaw and face from being hit. Now, there are a few basic blocks that everyone should know…”
She wasn’t a natural. Her body didn’t pick things up quickly, and I often had to repeat instructions and remind her of things she had forgotten. But she tried hard, and her focus was incredible. And although I doubted she would ever get to the skill level of people I was used to dealing with, I found that I was genuinely enjoying the time I spent with her, and she did make a lot of progress.
It was a surprise to both of us when I glanced at the time and realized that almost an hour had passed.
“Time to wind down for the day,” I announced.
“What?” she asked in dismay. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion, but also excitement. “I can keep going.”
“Maybe you can, but you’re already going to be sore,” I told her. “You did a lot of things today that you’re not used to doing, and you should take it easy for the rest of the night. Have a hot bath or shower or something, and be sure to stretch before you go to bed.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “So, um… when can I come back?”
“Well, I’ll be here at the same time the day after tomorrow if you want to stop by then.”
“All right,” she agreed, walking over to pick up her purse.
“So are you going to tell me a name or not?” I asked gently.
“Um… Well, my friends call me Chris,” she stammered hesitantly.
“It was nice meeting you, Chris,” I said. “I’ll see you back here in a couple days, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied. She turned to leave, and had taken a couple steps towards the exit before she turned back around. “Um, Jay?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
* * *
*~Ellie~*
Although I was thoroughly a city girl, there was always something special about flying over the farm as snow gently fell from the sky. Although all the surrounding land had been rented out after Grandpa had his first heart attack, the house itself had never really lost that farmhouse quality. Grandma didn’t want to sell the property, and with the Ross girls visiting frequently to help her out with the housework and keep her company, she did just fine on her own.
I hovered over the house for a moment with Jay clenched firmly in my arms. The disastrous incident where I had dropped him had made me extremely cautious. Maybe I was squeezing a bit too hard, but Jay was being nice about it and hadn’t said anything throughout the flight.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
“Looks homey,” he replied. “So you come here every Christmas?”
“Yep,” I nodded. “Dad helped Grandma and Grandpa do some renovations to make enough bedrooms for all of us to have some room. And when we were younger, we used to fly out here. You know, on a plane. But once we knew the whole thing with Dad, we flew Superman Express.”
“Until you could fly on your own,” Jay continued.
“Of course,” I agreed.
“How old were you? You know, when you started flying.”
“I was fifteen by the time I got going,” I replied.
“I can imagine you at fifteen,” he told me, blinking to clear the snowflakes out of his eyes. “And thinking about you learning to fly is a scary thought. How many buildings did you take out in the process?”
“None!” I huffed. “We never practiced in the city, for one thing.”
“Okay, how many trees did you take out?”
“A few,” I relented.
“I knew it,” he laughed. “And I’m guessing there was no unsure wobbling around or running out of steam and falling back to the ground. I’m guessing that the first time you did it, you just blasted off, probably leaving scorch marks that are still marking the spot today.
“Well, I don’t know if they’re still there,” I muttered, feeling red creep up my face. How unfair was it that invulnerable people can still blush? And since when did he know me so well? “I haven’t been by the spot in years.”
“You should take a look sometime,” he told me. “Maybe it can be included in your next biography.”
“Oh! Here’s an idea!” I said with false excitement. “How about we go to the spot together? I’ll put you down to check it out, and then I’ll just… fly away.”
“You wouldn’t do it,” he told me confidently. “There’s that superhero code of ethics you’re supposed to follow.”
“Doesn’t apply to boyfriends.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”
At that moment, Jon flew past us with Kaylie in his arms.
“Are you two coming down any time soon?” he called. “Anyone watching would think that you’d stalled or something, Ellie.”
“Do I have to remind you which one of us won a certain race last Christmas?” I shot back.
“You can win anything if you cheat,” he replied, dropping out of conversation range before I could reply.
I sighed, drinking in the feeling of the fresh air for just a little longer.
“We should probably go inside,” I told Jay.
“Yeah,” he agreed abstractly.
“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. But you know she’ll be fine, right?”
“Well, I hope so,” he replied. “You know, I’ve watched her every time she’s come into the gym the last few weeks. Just a little glance to see if there are any visible injuries.”
“Nothing?” I guessed.
“Nothing,” he replied. “And she’s never moved as if she has an injury. But her fear is real, I can tell. And it’s only a matter of time before something does happen.”
“And she’s determined to avoid the authorities?”
Jay shook his head. “I’ve tried, but she’s adamant. And even if I was willing to break her trust, it would be nearly impossible to find her. She’s too young to have a driver’s license or anything that would put her face on a government computer. ‘Chris’ is the only thing I have to go on. And that can mean a million different things. Christine, Christina-”
“Christa, Christie, Chrystal, Kristen,” I continued. “Not to mention all the spelling variations. Who knows, maybe her name is just Chris?”
“Or none of the above,” Jay added. “She could’ve just made up any name she wanted to.” He sighed. “Anyway, I’m sure she’ll be okay for the next few days. And I know I can’t take responsibility for her. That’s up to other people. I just worry, that’s all.”
“I know. And it’s understandable. But for now, I can smell Grandma’s ginger snaps from here, and they’re driving me crazy. Let’s go down.”
We landed in front of the door, and I took Jay’s hand reassuringly. I knew Grandma would love Jay, but Jay seemed to get kind of funny about meeting members of my family. Judging by his father, I guess I could see why he would be wary. Especially because we would be staying in Smallville for several days. Grandma usually came to Metropolis for Thanksgiving, but she didn’t make it this year because a friend of hers was having surgery around the same time. She had stayed at their place for the holiday to help out.
We entered the house, which was as full of activity as I expected. Dad, Jon, Kaylie, and Grandma were all crammed into the kitchen, working on a new batch of cookies. As soon as we were spotted, Grandma came over to greet us.
“Grandma,” I told her after giving her a hug, “this is Jay.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Jay,” she told him. “I’m Martha.”
“Hi, Martha.”
“Ellie’s already brought your bags, as you know, so why don’t I show you where your room is? And then a little tour of the farm?”
“It’s a little icy out,” Dad warned.
“Nonsense,” Grandma waved aside. “I’ll be fine, Clark, as you well know. Now come follow me, Jay, and we’ll get you settled.”
Jay didn’t look anxious to be left alone, yet I knew Grandma wanted to talk to him a bit without me around, and if it wasn’t now, it was bound to be later, so I let them go.
“Hey, Dad, where’s Mom?” I asked instead.
“Upstairs,” he replied. “Getting settled.”
“I think I’m going to go talk to her,” I told him.
“Okay,” he replied distractedly. He was trying to prevent Jon and Kaylie from ruining the cookies. Not an easy task.
I found Mom upstairs, unpacking her suitcase just like Dad had said. I had been meaning to talk to Mom alone for some time, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to put it off any longer.
“Hey, Mom? Can I ask you a question?” I began nervously.
“Sure. What did you want to know?” Mom asked me. She turned from her task and invited me to sit with her on the bed.
“Well, it kind of has to do with the stuff I’ve been working on at the lab,” I explained. “When I was talking to Dr. Klein, he mentioned that one time that Dad was exposed to red Kryptonite, he couldn’t control his powers.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “It wasn’t easy for either of us. And I can understand some of what you and Jay are going through. You know your dad would never knowingly hurt me, and it really bothered him when he couldn’t control his abilities.”
“So something did… happen?”
“Nothing serious, sweetie,” she told me. “Just a bruise on my arm. I’ve certainly had worse.”
“That’s what Jay said,” I mumbled.
“I guess it doesn’t really help, does it?”
“No,” I agreed. “Jay doesn’t hold any of that against me. I know that. But I still can’t quite let it go.”
“I know this has been hard on you,” Mom sympathized.
“Yeah, it has been,” I agreed, bringing my knees up to my chest and hugging my legs for security. “But there’s one incident that I just can’t seem to forget.”
“And that is?”
“Well, it has to do with my question. Dad’s been exposed to Kryptonite countless times and has had a ton of different reactions, but… has he ever dropped you?”
“No,” Mom frowned. “That’s never happened.”
“Okay,” I nodded.
“Ellie, did you want to talk about it? I’m guessing that has happened to you, right?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “It was… a while ago. But we already knew that something was wrong. Anyway, Jay convinced me to try letting him do, you know, everything. We both figured that there wasn’t much I could do with just my lips, so we should be safe as long as I kept my hands off.”
“But you weren’t?”
“No. I guess I got a little distracted and didn’t realize that I had brought us up several feet in the air. I let go of him when I realized that I was holding on to him, but then of course he fell down to the ground…” It was still disturbing to think about the incident.
“Was Jay okay?” Mom asked gently.
“Luckily, he didn’t get a concussion,” I told her. “But I did end up stitching him up. He was really great about it, of course but…. But I shouldn’t have dropped him. How was I supposed to…? We were just kissing, and then… He just…” I couldn’t continue any more. Mom pulled me into a hug, and I just cried on her shoulder for a long while. Although the whole family knew about our problems in general, I had never shared anything this specific before. It felt good to have that release.
Eventually, I was able to calm down enough to continue with my questions.
“So you and Dad have never had any problems with…?”
“As far as I know, Dad’s never dropped someone,” Mom told me gently. “But what you said does make me wonder. Dad doesn’t always have to hold me in order to keep me flying beside him. Often, it’s just if we’re touching somewhere.”
“The aura effect,” I filled in. “Dad’s aura keeps you with him, even when he’s not really holding you. I hadn’t even thought about that before. You know, I don’t really remember, but I was pretty sure that Jay was touching me at the time. Plus, we were kissing.”
“So what do you think that means?” Mom asked.
“I think,” I spoke slowly, “that means I have a new focus for my research.”
