Thanks again to my betas!
From Chapter 40
“You want me to do a favor for you?” Lois interrupted. “You have got to be kidding me!”
“Lois, I'm sorry,” Clark said as he pulled his jacket on. “But this is important. If you could go down to the 12th precinct and stay with a kid named Denny, I'd really appreciate it. He's just a kid, Lois, maybe 14, and he's scared. Please?”
“Fine,” Lois agreed begrudgingly. “But we're not finished here,” she warned.
Clark nodded his understanding before jogging towards the elevator.
…
The problem was not Chad – it was Clark. Getting up, Lois grabbed her coat. She was going to go to the precinct like he asked, but next time she saw him, they were going to finish this discussion.
Chapter 41
Clark landed. He had gone home after Denny's call and changed into Superman's suit so he could fly over the city and look for Jack. He had only gotten a few blocks, though, when the next message started, the last message.
He watched as Jor-El placed the globe onto the spaceship in the small crevice at the front where Clark had found it in the Bureau 39 warehouse months ago. He moved his head slightly and realized that the image was clearer when he looked to the left. For a moment, he watched Jor-El and Lara again, but then he realized – it was clearer as that was the direction the transmission was coming from. Taking a fast look around to make sure he was still alone, Clark took off again, continuing to watch the holographic image, but not only for the content, but for the directions it was giving him.
“We have selected the exact destination on Earth and have it programmed into the computer,” Jor-El said. Clark smiled slightly. They had picked Smallville specifically. Had they been hoping for Martha and Jonathan Kent or just a small town? He wondered if Jor-El would tell him. Then he remembered that he needed to find the globe now – before Jor-El gave away the “exact destination” he had programmed into the computer and whoever had the globe saw it with him. He started flying even faster.
“Kal-El, our child. Under Earth's yellow sun his Kryptonian genes will give him powers and abilities no Kryptonian has ever had,” Jor-El said as he watched Lara lower the infant Clark into the space ship. “He is the last son of Krypton.”
There was another tremor. Clark wondered what Jor-El meant. He was the last son of Krypton. Was that what those tremors were? Was the planet in danger?
Clark paused. The image had been brighter a second ago. Taking a chance, he turned around and dove down towards the Metropolis Art Museum. Crashing through a wall, he spotted Jack. The boy was tied up and unconscious, but was fine otherwise. Additionally, he was alone. Whoever had had the globe before had abandoned it. Clark stopped the alarm in the building and then paused, watching the rest of the message.
Jor-El looked at the baby in the spaceship lovingly. “I try to picture where you are now as you hear this last chapter. What do you look like? Are you alone? What have you become? Lara and I will never know. But that you should live to experience this… that is enough. We are content,” he said reaching out for Lara's hand.
He reached over to shut the capsule, but Lara placed a hand on his arm first and leaned over to kiss the baby one last time. Then she softly closed the capsule. Baby Clark reached out for his mother, his tiny fingers pressing against the glass.
“We give you to Earth, to a realm called America, and a place called Kansas. Remember us, but do not regret our passing. All is fate.”
Clark watched as the capsule flew away from Krypton. A moment later, the planet exploded, his parents still on it.
Clark looked around the room he was in in amazement. Krypton had exploded. Jor-El and Lara had saved him.
************
Clark smiled as he entered the farmhouse. It had been a good night and although it was still so early in the morning even his parents would be asleep, he needed to share the news with them. “Mom, Dad!” he called as he climbed upstairs.
“Clark, is everything all right?” Martha asked sleepily from bed.
“Everything's great. Come downstairs,” Clark said as he turned back around and went back to the kitchen.
He was preparing tea when his parents joined him.
“So, what's the good news?” Jonathan asked.
“My parents didn't abandon me,” Clark told them with a wide smile. “They saved me.”
“What?” Martha asked as she sat down. “I don't understand.”
Clark joined them at the table with three mugs of tea – water boiled quickly with heat vision, and told them what had happened that night.
“They chose you,” he said as he finished. “Or nearly so.”
“So, you're happy?” Martha asked.
Clark nodded. “I knew, sort of, that I was the only Kryptonian here. Superman said he's never spent this much time with a Kryptonian before…” Clark paused. “Which is not the same thing as "I've never spent time with a Kryptonian before.'”
“Well,” Jonathan reminded him. “There's the other Clark. The one whose parents died. Remember, Superman mentioned him when he first got here.”
Clark nodded. “Anyway, so maybe I should be sad about the fact that I'm the only one, but I'm not. I expected that and for now, I have Superman anyway. I'm a little sad that my parents didn't save themselves, but… it's just good to know that they wanted me, that I wasn't abandoned.”
Martha smiled. “Of course they did, honey.”
“So, Jack's okay?” Jonathan asked.
“Yup. I went to the precinct and Henderson had already secured a good home for Denny and a place at a halfway house for Jack. And Perry agreed to give Jack a job as a copy boy at the Planet.”
“No idea who took him and the globe?” Martha asked.
Clark's face fell slightly. “No. But Superman said he was rarely wrong to blame Luthor for any wrong doing, so I'm going there.”
************
“More wine,” Lex asked, motioning to Lois' half empty glass.
“Sure,” Lois said, smiling at him. It was Sunday night, and normally she would limit herself to one glass of wine on a work night, but she was still feeling annoyed at Clark for their argument last night and so decided another glass of wine would not be a bad idea. While she had forgiven him for leaving in the middle of the fight when she saw Denny at the precinct, Clark had been missing in action all day. He was avoiding her. She was sure of it, and she was not going to let time erode her anger at him. Time might heal most wounds, but not this one.
“You're friends with Superman, aren't you?” Lex asked her bringing her back to their date.
Lois nodded, wondering the best way to phrase what she wanted to say. “Yes, we're friends,” she finally decided to be vague. No need to let Lex know how she felt about the superhero. She had learnt her lesson with Clark – there was no need to hurt Lex as well.
“Has he ever mentioned anything to you about how long he's been here?” Lex asked.
“Why the sudden interest in Superman?” Lois laughed. Lex had always shown less interest in Superman than anyone she knew. What had changed now?
“It's not sudden,” Lex said. “I'm always curious to know more about people who live in Metropolis. Particularly others like myself that do so much to help the common man.”
Lois choked a bit on her wine. She was not sure, but thought she was probably one of the “common men”. She covered quickly, though, and smiled at Lex. “Still, I don't really understand the question,” she said. “He got here months ago, last September or so. During the attempt to explode Prometheus.”
Lex nodded his head, then moving to play with Lois' fingers softly, he said, “I just wondered if he was here before that. As a boy, you know. Maybe he has a secret identity.”
Lex looked thoughtful and Lois looked at him closely. Was he right? It did not seem like Superman had a secret identity. He lived with Clark and seemed to have few possessions. On the other hand, he had said that the ball thing had messages on it from his parents about why they had sent him here. Why had they not just told him? Unless he was sent here as a baby and was too young. Was Superman holding out on her again?
************
“Okay, so how should we do this?” Clark asked Superman at dinner. He had spent the day in Smallville with his parents and had come home to find Superman out on a rescue. He decided there was probably no time like the present to discuss how they were going to share duties and so had made dinner so they could talk when Superman got home.
“I could take day time stuff and you night time stuff,” he suggested. “But then you'd be working one job or another non-stop, so maybe that doesn't make sense.”
“How do you balance things at home?” Clark asked, realizing he had no idea how Superman did this.
“Well, like here, I don't respond to every call for help,” Superman explained. “It was hard to do at first, but my parents and Lois kept reminding me that it was okay. And mostly, it is. I run out on things at work occasionally, but…” Superman smiled. “Well, it helps when your boss knows you moonlight in tights.”
“Perry knows?” Clark asked surprised.
“He didn't get to be editor of the Daily Planet by learning how to yodel,” Superman smiled. “But he's not my boss.”
“Wait – is he or is he not editor of the Planet in your universe?” Clark asked confused.
“He was. He retired a few years ago,” Superman explained.
“Is Lois your boss?”
“Lois? Editor? No, she tried it once. Hated it. We did not get along well with her as my boss,” Superman smiled. “Jimmy took over.”
“So Jimmy knows, too. Does everyone know?”
Superman shook his head. “More than I would have been comfortable with when I was your age, but no, not everyone. Aside from Perry and Jimmy, it's just the family – my parents, Lois' parents, and Lucy and her husband.”
“Lucy's married?” Clark asked, trying to picture the girl he had met once, right after he moved here, married. She was so young.
“Yeah, nice guy,” Clark said. “They live nearby and our kids are close.”
Clark nodded. “Wow,” he said, trying to process how many people knew Superman's secret in his universe.
“Anyway, enough about things you're not supposed to know,” Superman said, flushing a bit as he realized he was giving away the future, even if he felt like he was not. “It was much harder when I started. It took a long time before Perry figured it out and even longer before he told me he had. I used to make up the lamest excuses to run out on Lois.”
“I bet she loved that,” Clark smiled.
Superman nodded. “A word of advice. Practice a few good ones. Reusable ones. It will make things much smoother. But for now, I can handle anything during the day.”
“Maybe I should do it if something is happening right in front of me, though,” Clark suggested. “Although, if I'm with Lois…”
“Tell her you're going to call the police,” Superman suggested. “It's what I did.”
“Why wouldn't I just use my cell phone?” Clark asked.
Superman laughed. “No idea. Cell phones weren't as common when I started out.” Clark gave him a quizzical look. “I know. I'm not sure why, but technology was a bit further behind at this point in my universe, so when I was your age, cell phones were pretty uncommon. Anyway, you could say you forgot your cell phone or the battery was dead?”
“I should probably avoid doing things in front of her, though,” Clark thought out loud.
Superman nodded. “Good idea. Lois is likely to spot the change.”
“Okay. So you do daytime things or things were Lois would see, but I do things that are right in front of me provided Lois won't see. We split night time things?” Superman nodded, so Clark continued, “Should I take over one of your patrols?”
Superman nodded. “Which would you prefer? Morning or evening?”
“Morning,” Clark said. “I'll be fresher, more able to concentrate before work.”
“Okay,” Superman smiled. “It sounds like a deal.” He picked up his soda and took a sip, but when he put it down, he was frowning. “What are we going to do about the fact that we act differently, though? I mean, no one noticed that we don't look exactly alike the other night, but like you said, we need to start emulating each other.”
Clark shrugged. “I guess the best thing would be to have an objective third party help us determine the differences.”
“Lois would be great for that,” Superman smiled. “But she's probably not the best choice.”
“Probably not,” Clark agreed. “Maybe Mom and Dad?” Superman nodded. “I can download some clips of the other night and others of your rescues and bring them home tomorrow night and we can take a trip to Smallville,” Clark offered.
“Sounds like a plan,” Superman agreed.
************
“Clark,” Lois called from the doorway. “I'm giving you a ride to work. Stop trying to avoid me!”
Superman groaned. While he and Clark had yet to work on imitating each other, they had decided there had not been enough discussion last time of Clark's performance for Clark to put off taking over some of the duties, so he was out doing the morning patrol. Superman had been trying to enjoy a rare morning to sleep in, but that was no longer looking possible.
Spinning into the suit with a sigh, he went to the door. “He's not here, Lois,” he said as he opened it. “He had an errand to run before work.”
As he looked at her, clearly still annoyed at Clark, he wondered if he had just made a huge mistake. If he was here and Superman was out doing a rescue… He could only pray that nothing big happened this morning so Lois would not see that there was a Superman rescue when she was standing on his doorstep watching him. He could not remember anything happening, so it was probably all right, but from now on he should not answer the door when Clark was out being Superman.
“Oh,” Lois said, deflated. She had been all ready to fight with Clark.
“Okay,” Superman said, moving to close the door, but Lois pushed her way past him.
“Coffee?” she asked as she moved toward the kitchen.
“Did you just barge into my apartment and offer me coffee?” Superman asked, smiling.
“I saved time this morning to argue with Clark. He's not here. So, I have some extra time on my hands,” she explained holding up the coffee beans.
“Let me wash up,” Superman said, not sure if he felt happy that she was still here or annoyed.
Lois called out to him as he was drying off from his shower. “How do you like your coffee?”
“Light and very sweet,” he called back. A second later he was finished and walked into the kitchen to see a mug waiting for him on the counter.
“I have no idea how you and Clark can drink coffee that way. You can barely taste the coffee,” Lois said.
“That's sort of the idea,” Superman smiled at her.
Lois looked at him appraisingly and Superman started to feel uncomfortable. What was she up to?
“Superman, can I ask you a question?” Lois asked.
“Um… yeah,” he floundered for words. “I guess. I may not answer it, though.”
“When did you get here?” she asked. “I mean, not Metropolis, but Earth?”
Superman nearly dropped his mug. His Lois had never asked him that. What was going on here? “What do you mean, Lois?”
She shrugged. “Well, I mean, I know you were never really known until you got here, but you said your parents left you that globe thing to give you messages on why they sent you here. I was wondering why they didn't just tell you. Unless you were too young. But then you would have gotten here as a baby.”
Superman told himself to loosen his grip on his coffee mug before he broke it. “I… Lois, my parents did send me to Earth as a baby. But I did not get here until shortly before I found you on the space station,” Superman said, keeping his voice calm. It was the truth after all. He had not gotten to this universe until then.
“So, is Krypton really far away so you got here as an adult?” Lois asked.
“I'm… I don't really know how far away Krypton was,” Superman said.
“Was?”
He shook his head. He really should have known better than that. “This is not for print, Lois,” he warned.
“Of course not,” Lois said, managing to look offended.
“Krypton doesn't exist anymore. My parents sent me here as Krypton was in danger. It exploded shortly after my ship left the atmosphere.”
“Oh, Superman,” Lois said, moving to place a hand on his arm. “I'm so sorry.”
“Thank you, Lois,” Superman said, backing away from her. He glanced at the clock. “Thanks for the coffee, Lois, but I need to do my morning patrol.” He hated to lie, but he needed to get her out of the apartment. This was already too much time together that served no purpose besides bonding.
************
“Kent!” Lois called as she walked across the newsroom. She had managed to harness her anger back into attack mode on her way over.
“Morning, Lois,” Clark smiled – way too brightly in her opinion considering the discussion they were about to have. “I know you want to continue yelling at me, but could you read this first? Perry needs it before the morning meeting. Feel free to make any changes you want.”
Lois snorted as she sat down, but she decided to let the yelling pass. It was an article on the treasures found beneath the Metropolis Art Museum and as with all of Clark's writing, it was good. She made small changes to it here and there, but overall left it as is.
“It's fine,” she said to Clark grudgingly. “Now send it to Perry so we can have our discussion.”
“You can have it,” Clark said softly.
“What?” Lois asked confused.
“Come on, Lois. This is going to be a first page article. Take it,” Clark insisted.
“You mean by myself? But that's insane, Clark. I wasn't even there,” Lois said, looking at him suspiciously. “What are you up to, Farmboy?”
Clark smiled at her sincerely. Or at least she thought it was sincere. What was he up to? “You were right to be upset with me, Lois. Sort of. I should be able to keep other people's secrets from you. But I shouldn't have lied when you asked if anything else was missing. I should have told you that something else was missing and I didn't want to tell you what it was. Not that you ever would have let up if I said that,” he grinned at her. “But I should have. This is my way of apologizing.”
“Really?” Lois asked, trying not to get upset about the "I should be able to keep other people's secrets from you' thing. She knew he was right, but that did not mean she had to like it, did it?
“Clark, Lois, where's the art museum story?” Perry asked.
“Right here, Chief,” Clark said and Lois noticed that even though he had not changed it, her name was the only one on the byline. She had just not noticed it when she read it. Clark gave her a questioning look.
Lois felt like perhaps this was more than she deserved. It was a big story. On the other hand, Clark should know that lying to her was not acceptable. She nodded and Clark gave the story to Perry.
