Thanks to everyone who left comments on part one. And thanks again to Nancy and Carol for the BR!
Last chapter...
Lois spun around in her chair, taking in the empty newsroom. Although it was a monumental day, it wasn’t without disappointment.
For one thing, she did not appreciate being escorted out to the parking lot by security before the shuttle was lifted into space. Yes, she did sneak on board illegally, but that was no reason to cut her out of the eye witness account, was it?
And although she stayed around in the parking lot after the launch, the flying man didn’t return, which cut out her chances of an exclusive. Perry had not been happy about that.
But she did manage to write up a pretty decent article, being the person with the most knowledge about this strange man, even though it was hardly anything.
She broke off another piece of her Double Fudge Crunch bar, and savored the taste of the chocolate melting on her tongue. And she did come up with a pretty good name for him, all things considered. And she knew that tomorrow was another day, and she would have another chance at tracking down Superman and finding out exactly where he came from, and what he was doing here.
PART TWO
“I don’t want to hear any more excuses!” Perry White snapped at his news team. “Think! What would draw him out? Use your instincts. Beat the bushes, turn the stones. Get me Superman!”
Lois scurried out of the conference room with the rest of the pack. She couldn’t really blame Perry for his foul mood. It had been three days since Superman’s appearance at the launch, and there had been no sign of him since. Lois was sure she had exhausted every contact on her rolodex, and she was running out of ideas.
Starting to run out of ideas, anyway. Lois Lane was never completely defeated.
Her phone rang as she approached her desk, and she snatched it up eagerly. “Lois Lane,” she answered crisply.
“Hi, Lois.”
“Martha! Hi!” Lois slouched over in her desk, and picked up a notepad to make it look like she was talking to a source, just in case Perry was watching her.
“How are you, dear?”
“Busy,” Lois replied, hurriedly scribbling nonsense into her notebook. “You’ve heard of the whole Superman thing, right?”
There was an unnatural pause on the line before Martha continued. “Yes, I have heard about him. Lois, the reason why I called is because I was wondering if you would have a chance to come out to Smallville this week.”
“Oh, Martha, I don’t think I can,” Lois replied, scanning the newsroom to make sure no one was paying attention to her call. “Perry’s riding everyone hard about the Superman story. There’s no way he would let me take time off unless there was some sort of emergency.”
“Lois…” Martha paused again. “I don’t really want to say much over the phone,” she spoke carefully. “But let me assure you that it will be worth your while to come out to Smallville as soon as you can.”
Lois’ pen stilled on the paper. Was Martha saying what it sounded like she was saying?
“Martha what exactly are you saying?” Lois asked.
“I can’t tell you any more like this, dear,” Martha replied. “Just promise me you’ll come out to Smallville. We could really use your help.”
“I can be out there by tomorrow morning,” Lois told her.
“Thank you. Oh, and another thing, Lois.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t bother buying a return ticket.”
* * *
Lois drummed her fingers on the steering wheel of her rental car as she inched her speed up a couple more miles per hour. She was literally putting her job on the line for this. She hadn’t even had the courage to tell Perry exactly where it was she was going; she just told him that she was following up on a lead.
Of course, she trusted the Kents, and knew that they wouldn’t mislead her. But she still wondered how such simple people got so mixed up in men who could fly and lift rockets into space.
What made her the most anxious, of course, was that she had no idea what to expect. Who, or what, exactly was Superman?
But the Kents were kind people, and she didn’t believe that they would harbor anyone sinister. And they were good judges of character.
They hadn’t even met Claude, and they still knew that he was bad news. Lois shuddered to think about what would’ve happened if she didn’t have the good advice of Jonathan and Martha to guide her when she was working with Claude.
She had been slavishly devoted to him early on in their working relationship, he being the more experienced reporter. And it hadn’t taken long before Lois had developed an embarrassing crush on him. But by talking it through with Martha and Jonathan, she realized she was repeating the exact same mistake she had made with Paul, trying to impress him by bending to his will rather than by showing her true spirit. As it turned out, Claude started getting nasty the minute Lois started asserting herself, and was thankfully transferred to Paris soon after Lois broke her first big story for the Planet. She had won her first Kerth for that story.
As she turned down the gravel path leading to the Kent farm, she smiled to herself, remembering that night. Perry had pulled some strings, and Lois was able to bring both Jonathan and Martha to the awards night, and it had been one of her proudest moments.
Lois knew for a fact that this family could be trusted. But instead of lessening her nerves, the knowledge only served to feed her curiosity. She was desperate to find out exactly what was going on.
As she pulled up in front of the house, Martha came out to greet her.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Lois,” Martha told her as they shared a hug.
“I am, too,” Lois replied. “I think I might be more glad, though, if I knew exactly why I was here.”
“We’re sorry about that,” Martha replied. “But we had no idea how to approach it on the phone, and so we just thought it would be best if we told you in person.”
Lois followed Martha into the house, scanning her surroundings closely. Was Superman here?
“Please sit down, Lois,” Martha beckoned. “Jonathan is out in the barn, but we both agreed we wanted to tell you as soon as possible.”
“Martha, you’re driving me crazy!” Lois exclaimed. “Just tell me what it is, won’t you?”
“All right.” Martha clasped her hands together, focusing herself. Finally, she spoke. “The Tuesday before last, Jonathan and I were sitting out on the porch after dinner when we saw a streak run through the sky and land somewhere near Shuster’s field.”
Lois felt a tingle run up her spine. Something told her it wasn’t just a shooting star.
“We drove the truck out to investigate,” Martha continued. “And in the field we found a… spacecraft of sorts. It had opened up, and inside it was a man.”
“Superman,” Lois breathed.
“Well, that’s not actually his name, honey,” Martha chuckled. “But yes, that’s who we found. He’s from a planet called Krypton.”
“He’s an alien?” Lois asked with curiosity. So some of the wild speculation was right after all.
“Yes, he is, dear,” Martha replied. “There was some big disaster on Krypton, and he’s the only survivor of the planet.”
“Oh.” Lois couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. To be the only person to survive out of a whole planet? It was unimaginable. “So, where is he now?” she finally asked.
“Upstairs,” Martha replied. “He thought it might be best for me to explain before you met him.”
“You mean I can meet him?” Lois spoke, almost squealing with excitement.
“Yes, dear,” Martha laughed. Then she tilted her head towards the direction of the stairs. “Kal?” she called. “Lois would like to meet you now.”
Lois stood as she turned around to face the stairs. She saw the powerful legs first, encased in deep blue jeans. A black t-shirt covered his chest, but the tight fit didn’t leave much to the imagination. Her jaw hung as she took in his large, powerful arms that stretched out to touch the banister on either side of him. The bright suit had been distracting before, but now Lois could really take in all of his physical attributes.
It was a long time before she finally made it to his face. That was certainly recognizable, although his expression looked less lost, but a little more nervous. He reached the bottom of the stairs, and took a few steps towards Lois.
“Hello,” he greeted her with a small bow. Then, catching Martha’s eye, he corrected himself, and stuck out a hand awkwardly. “I am Kal-El.”
“Hello, Kal-El,” Lois replied faintly. “I’m Lois Lane.”
* * *
Kal stood in the upstairs hallway, trying to find a balance between eavesdropping and keeping tabs with the conversation downstairs, for when Martha called to tell him it was okay to come down. He was still unused to the amazing abilities his body now possessed, and this exercise would probably do him some good.
Martha finally called him, and he cautiously walked down the stairs, keeping both hands on the railings at either side. Stairs were not something you found on Krypton, and like everything else, he was still getting used to them. Sure, Earth wasn’t a very advanced civilization, but why didn’t humans realize that motorized lifts or ramps were much better methods of getting up and down?
The woman standing in the kitchen was the same he remembered from the Prometheus launch, although her hair was styled differently, and she wore different clothes, too. They looked more like the kinds of clothes Martha wore, although not quite.
Her expression was also different, her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Hello,” he greeted her, beginning to bow. But he caught himself before he did, and snuck a glance at Martha’s encouraging face before reaching out his hand towards her. Yet another thing he needed to get used to. “I am Kal-El,” he introduced himself.
“Hello, Kal-El,” she replied. “I’m Lois Lane.”
She still looked like she was in a state of shock. She hadn’t let go of Kal’s hand yet, and her eyes roamed over his face.
“Please, sit down, Ms. Lane,” Kal asked her, hoping he got her title right.
She plopped obediently into her chair, gripping the wood of the table in her fingers.
Kal took a seat along with Martha. “I realize this might be quite a shock to you, Ms. Lane,” Kal told her. “I understand that Earth does not have any contact with other planets.”
“Uh, no,” Lois replied. “You would be our first one. Contact, that is. As far as I know, anyway. But who knows? Maybe the government is hiding the existence of people like you from the general population. Of course, if that were the case, then I should know about something like that so I could expose it to the world. That’s what I do. I’m an investigative reporter. I expose things. And call me Lois, please.”
Kal blinked, trying to keep up with her thought process. He had thought his English was progressing, but she spoke with phenomenal speed. He did catch that she had mentioned being a reporter, though, so he jumped on that.
“Martha said you were a reporter,” he told Lois. “And that is why I wanted to ask your help.”
“*My* help?”
“Yes. I’ve seen the news reports on the TV, and I know that everyone is curious about me. And I understand that. But I am not sure what the best way to approach this situation is. With the things I can do, I can understand these people being frightened. I am not familiar with the customs and the culture here. I do not know how to explain my circumstances.”
“We figured you’d be able to help, Lois,” Martha spoke up. “You know how to get the message across to the public.”
“Right,” Lois spoke slowly.
Kal could see that she was overwhelmed by the whole situation. And he thought he understood where she was coming from. It would be a lot for her to take in all at once.
“If you need more time to think about this, I understand,” Kal spoke.
“I need to go for a walk,” Lois announced. “And figure this out.”
“We understand, dear,” Martha told her.
“But I want you to come with me,” Lois said, turning to face Kal. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“Yes, that would be fine,” Kal agreed in surprise. Judging by the look on Lois’ face, he didn’t have much choice in the matter.
* * *
They made the first part of their walk in silence, as Lois’ mind whirred with everything she had been hit with upon her arrival. Imagine having an actual *alien* standing beside her.
Kal made an interesting companion to walk with. He looked at *everything* with such intense interest. His eyes were constantly roaming over the landscape. Occasionally, he would veer off of their chosen path to get a closer look at a tree or something. Lois always followed him, interested to see what he was interested in.
Once, he actually crouched down low to the ground and poked at a cluster of mushrooms.
“Are these mushrooms?” he asked Lois.
“Yes,” she replied, bemused.
“They are different from what I thought they would be,” Kal said enigmatically, adding nothing more to the subject.
The clouds provided endless fascination for him as well. They were thick and grey that morning, and he was constantly gazing up at them, watching their lazy trek across the horizon.
Lois had set a rough course out to the slough on the west end of the Kent farm, and it wasn’t until they were about halfway there that she had the courage to actually speak to Kal.
“I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life last week,” Lois spoke haltingly.
Kal’s head snapped up at her words, and a faint smile touched his lips. “The colonists should thank you. If you did not cut those wires, then there is no way anyone would have found out about the bomb in time. I was not even sure if *I* would be able to make it in time.”
“Where were you when you found out the launch was in trouble?” Lois asked.
“In the Kents’ living room,” Kal replied.
“And you made it all the way to Metropolis in that time?”
“It is hard to believe, isn’t it?” Kal wondered. “I am not even used to it myself.”
“You just got these abilities?” Lois questioned.
“When I came to Earth,” Kal nodded. “On Krypton, I had the same abilities you do right now.”
Lois had a million questions, all shooting around her head in chaos. But she knew that asking them now wouldn’t be the way to go. She needed to organize them in her head and present them in a logical order. Otherwise, she wouldn’t end up getting a clear story from Kal. This was an amazing opportunity that just dropped onto her lap, and she wanted to do it right.
“We need to decide what to do about telling the public,” Lois said instead. “How much we’re going to share about you, and how we’re going to do it. Can I interview you? Then decide what to keep and how to present it?”
“That seems like a good idea,” Kal agreed.
“Not right now, but later this afternoon, maybe. I need to get my head wrapped around this.”
Kal blinked, and stared at her in shock, halting in his stride. “Excuse me?” he choked.
“I said I need to get my head wrapped around it. It’s just a lot of information to process and I need some time to think about it before I can do a good job,” Lois clarified.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, the light switching on. “That was a figure of speech.”
“Oh, yeah,” Lois replied. “Sorry if I confused you.”
“No, that is fine. I have a good understanding of formal English, but I am still developing my slang repertoire.”
A question rose once again in Lois’ head, but she forced it down. She would ask later today. For now, she shivered a little, and rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.
“Do you mind if we head back?” she asked. “It’s chillier than I thought it would be and I didn’t bring a warm enough jacket.”
“Oh, I am sorry, Lois,” Kal apologized suddenly. “Yes, we can head back.” They turned around as Kal stripped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.
“But now you’ll be cold,” Lois pointed out, snuggling into the new warmth regardless.
“I do not actually feel the cold anymore,” Kal shrugged. “I told Martha and Jonathan that they did not have to purchase the jacket for me, but they insisted I would need it to keep up appearances.”
“Oh,” Lois replied with surprise. Imagine not ever feeling cold again!
They had gone a couple more steps before warning drops of rain fell from the sky and hit Lois’ nose.
Kal jerked his head up in surprise to look into the clouds. He stretched his arms out, trying to take as much of it in as possible.
“Is this *rain*?” he asked with excitement as the frequency of the drops increased.
“Uh, yes,” Lois replied.
Kal blinked as drops of rain hit his face. He laughed up at the sky in delight.
“I take it they don’t have rain on Krypton?” Lois asked.
“Nothing like this,” Kal replied. “Come on.”
Before she knew what was happening, Kal had grabbed Lois’ hand and was pulling her along as he ran across the field. Their feet squished into the ground as they ran, and Kal let out a whoop as the rain began pelting even harder.
Finally getting to the farmhouse, Lois took shelter under the covered porch, panting for breath, but grinning ear to ear. It had been ages since she had had that much fun being caught in a rainstorm. Most people in Metropolis just grumbled as they lifted their umbrellas.
Kal, she noticed, wasn’t short of breath at all but was looking at her with concern.
“Your hair is all wet now,” he told her.
“I know,” she replied, running her fingers through the tangled strands.
“Can I try something?” he asked hesitantly.
“Sure.” She dropped her hand.
Kal focused his gaze on her hair, and she gradually felt a gentle warmth landing on her hair, drying it to the roots.
“Whoa.” She ran her fingers through her hair again, this time feeling how soft and warm it was. “How did you do that?” she couldn’t resist asking.
“It’s a kind of… heat vision, I guess you could call it,” Kal replied. “Interesting trick, do you think?”
“Very interesting,” Lois agreed.
Jonathan popped his head out onto the porch. “Hi, Lois,” he greeted. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You too, Jonathan,” Lois replied, walking over to give him a hug. He didn’t seem to mind hugging her despite her damp jacket. .
“If you two are done talking, lunch is ready inside,” he told the pair.
Keeping Jonathan from his meal was never a good idea, so Lois and Kal went in.
Lois was surprised when Kal sat down at an empty place at the table.
“Aren’t you eating, Kal?” she asked.
“Kal doesn’t need to eat,” Martha replied. Although the words themselves didn’t seem judgmental, Lois could tell that Martha didn’t approve.
“I get all the energy I need from the yellow sun here,” Kal explained. “There is no need for me to consume something I have no use for.”
Lois could see Martha biting her tongue at this, so she didn’t push the issue any further. Feeding people was as natural as breathing for Martha, and having a houseguest like Kal would be a different experience for her.
“So you two got a chance to meet?” Jonathan asked, digging into his stew with gusto.
“Yes, we did,” Lois replied.
“Lois has agreed to help me with talking to the public,” Kal shared.
“To be fair, it ends up being a good deal for me, too,” Lois confessed. “My boss will be over the moon when he finds out that you’ve trusted me with this.” She caught sight of Kal’s confused expression. “I mean he’s going to be very excited,” she clarified.
“Oh,” Kal replied. “Well, I guess that means we both get to help each other out. Nothing wrong with that.”
“No,” Lois agreed. “Nothing wrong at all.”
