This part is a little longer than usual, but since I'm a little late posting, I combined two parts.
From Part 16
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon went out the door to where Hannah's car - nice one at that - was parked to get her bags. Ah, the perks of having one of the world's richest men as a father. She'd driven here. He thought that she didn't fully realize the magnificence of flying and how much faster it was than taking her car. Although if he had a car like that, he might think about driving more often. Then he wondered if she'd ever even flown before. He was glad his dad hadn't tried to suppress their powers. When he came back in, he walked by Jenni's room.
Zared said, "Hey Jon. I hollered at you when you passed a second ago, but you didn't seem to notice. Come in."
"Well, I can't stay long." He sat Hannah's stuff down outside the room and walked in a sat down. "Did you want something, Zared?"
"Actually, Jon, dearest future brother-in-law, I'm wondering about something. Maybe you can enlighten me since you were there." He looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"What I was I there for?" She gave him a look - one of her Jenni leers, as he called it. She never leered at Zared - all she had to do was bat her lashes. That had never worked on him even when they dated. He just shrugged. "I'll do what I can."
"When Hannah, you, and I were in your dad's office talking, she told your dad that she would like to meet Superman and he said, 'I'll see what I can do.' Just like that! 'I'll see what I can do.' I've been asking him to introduce me to Superman for years and he always danced around the issue. That blew me away. I mean, I know *now* that Clark is Superman. What I don't understand is why he so readily agreed to introduce Hannah to Superman." She just shook her head.
Zared said, "That's absolutely *all* she's talked about all evening."
Jon looked like an animal caught in a trap. "Really?" He nearly strangled on his answer. Zared and Jenni both looked at him very intently.
Jenni said, "Then you *do* know why he said that?"
Jon just sat there with his mouth half open and his eyebrows raised. "Well... uhhh.... I... uhh..." He sat there for the merest moment and then literally flew out the open door.
Zared and Jenni just looked at each other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A New Hero Part 17 Jon flew right into Hannah and bowled her over. Fortunately, since both of them were super, neither was hurt.
"Uhhh... Jon, I hate to state the obvious, but somehow I don't think you are supposed to fly in the house."
Jon had landed on top of Hannah. Claire walked out of the kitchen at the commotion. "Oh, for pete's sake! Find a room and close the door!"
"But...uuhhh... " Claire had already walked off. He stood up and helped Hannah up. "No. I'm not really supposed to do that in the house." <It's just that.... > He proceeded to relate to her what had just happened. <I didn't think it was my place to tell them.> "But we are either going to have to leave this hallway or go tell them *now* because Zared is coming...."
Hannah grabbed him and very sensually kissed him. Jon put his arms around her and pulled her close.
They were kissing hungrily when Zared finally said, "Uhhh... guys... Like Claire said... not in the hallway..."
Hannah waved him away. "Go on. We'll be there in a minute." She watched Zared walk back in Jenni's room then giggled. She picked Jon up in her arms and started walking with him.
He started to protest then started giggling, too. He put his arms around her neck and nuzzled it. He knew that Zared and Jenni would realize that there was no way Hannah should be able to do this since Jon was a lot bigger than Hannah. Hannah knew the same. Jon thought to himself that he was pretty sure this wasn't exactly what Zared and Jenni would be expecting. It was in such a manner that they walked into Jenni's room. Zared and Jenni stared wide-eyed.
Hannah put Jon down. She looked at Jenni, "So you want to know why Clark so readily agreed to introduce me to Superman." She giggled. "I didn't realize how badly you have pestered him about meeting Superman. If I had known, I would have thought what he said was pretty odd, too. I'm actually surprised you didn't say something."
Jenni shook her head a little and replied, "I guess I was just too surprised."
Zared snorted. "You must have been *really* surprised to have kept your mouth shut."
Jenni said, "Watch it, Zared!"
Hannah then looked at Zared. "After what you told Jon earlier this evening about there being at least two other Kryptonian-Humans, he rather thinks Clark knows about me and that's why he agreed to introduce me to 'Superman'." Jon put his hands up in front of him and shrugged.
Jenni said, "Oh, my god! Clark's not your father is he?"
Zared said, "Jenni! I don't think so. Not with the lip-lock I caught them in a minute ago."
Hannah answered. "I'm not sure who my real father is - maybe Ran. It's definitely not Nor. That's about all I know. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about this. Okay?"
Zared said, "We are bastions of secrecy around here."
Jenni looked at Jon and said, "I had thought maybe I would tell you that you might want to learn something from your brother's mistake and tell Hannah about yourself before you two sleep together." Then she giggled, "Unless you two have already..."
Zared nodded. "I take it you told her. It must have been *after* dad said he'd see what he could do about introducing her to Superman."
Jon shrugged, "Well, I..."
Hannah interrupted, "Well, actually *I* told him. He thought it was hilariously funny. I never realized what a wicked sense of humor he could have." She swatted Jon on the arm.
Jon gave Hannah a silly grin then said to everyone, "We need to go. I love you Jon, Jenni. Oh, and I definitely love you, Hannah." He turned toward the door.
Jenni said, "Wait! Aren't you going to tell us what happened?"
Jon and Hannah laughed and walked out with their arms linked.
Outside of Jenni's room, Jon picked up Hannah's stuff and headed toward the den.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claire was in the kitchen eating when Caitlyn walked in. Caitlyn wondered how any woman, even a teenage one, could eat as much as Claire had eaten and still had left to eat. It must be nice. She wondered if that had something to do with the Kryptonian-Human physiology, or if she just have a really fast metabolism.
She must have had a slightly shocked look on her face because Claire said, "What? What?! Am I bothering you?"
Caitlyn grinned and said, "No, I just thought it would be nice to eat anything I wanted."
"Oh. I can't ever seem to get full sometimes. I have a huge appetite. Zared made Puerto Rican. There is still some leftovers if you want. I'll give a zap to anything you want." Claire didn't like Caitlyn, as she had made her dad well aware, but he would still expect her to be polite. It was faster to zap stuff than nuke it in the microwave.
Caitlyn saw the tostones sitting on the table and picked one up. "I love these things. Did you 'zap' em or did you make fresh ones?"
"I made fresh ones, actually. You know what they are?"
"Oh, yeah. Have you ever had mofongo? It's not bad, either, but I like the tostones, better." She started rummaging around in the refrigerator or one of them, anyway. She had just noticed they had two of them. She thought, 'They must eat a lot around here.' She found the habichuelas con calabaza and the arroz con pollo, and she was hungry, but she mostly wanted the tostones and decided that's what she would eat - that and a huge portion of flan. "Zared habla Espanol. ¿Hablas Espanol, tambien?"
Claire answered her, "Yes, I've had mofongo, but I also like the tostones better. Hablo un poquito Espanol - muy poquito. I didn't seem to get my dad's talent for language. He always thought most of that was from being Kryptonian, but Zared doesn't seem to have the knack, either. At least not like daddy. But then daddy is way smarter than either of us. He made better grades in school and everything." Her eyes lit up, "I can speak a little Russian and I do very well with Italian."
"Your dad has a knack for languages, huh? I didn't know that."
"Yeah, he speaks around a hundred or so fluently - maybe more - and he can order food in about another three or four hundred. Zared can only deal with three languages and that's only because dad has pushed him. Otherwise, it would only be English and his choice of another language - one that he has to take in school."
"Wow, one hundred languages? What languages does Zared have to 'deal' with?"
"English, Spanish, and Kryptonian. He's not so happy about learning the Kryptonian. It's a hard language. I actually do really well with that one. I didn't think to mention that a second ago. I mostly just read it though. Dad is the only one that can really speak it well."
"Wow, you guys are just impressive. I thought I was doing well with two."
"Thanks," Claire said shyly. Then she decided to be bold and said, "You're sleeping with my dad, aren't you? As in sex?"
Caitlyn got so choked that Claire got a little worried. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you get choked. Are you okay?"
Caitlyn nodded then said, "No! Your dad is not well enough to have sex." Caitlyn knew one of Clark's kids *really* disliked her a lot but she hadn't known who until now. "Ah, so you are the one that hates me."
"I.. I... I..."
"It's okay, Claire. I understand. I really do. When I was 13, my mom died. My dad got remarried a year and a half later. I wasn't happy about it one bit. I didn't want to have to share my daddy."
Claire was shocked. Caitlyn had said the 'm' word. "Are you two getting married?"
"No, I didn't say that, but our relationship is getting more serious. So is that how you feel? You don't want to share your daddy with anybody else?"
Claire bit her lip. "Dad's not supposed to be with anybody but my mom."
"You know, I felt the same way. Exactly the same. It's not easy. But I have come to love my step-mother very much. You have a boyfriend, don't you?"
"Such that he is. I haven't decided if he's going to stay my boyfriend. What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, you enjoy having a fella in your life, don't you? Even if you are not particularly happy with this one?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Well, don't you think your dad deserves that, too?"
"I... guess." Then she said suspiciously, "Are you sure he just doesn't want you around to have sex?"
"No, Claire. You surely know your dad better than that. Hmmm... Is your boyfriend pushing you to have sex?"
Claired squirmed and hung her head.
"Claire, is there something more? Claire?"
"He's really pushy."
"Has he pushed you to do 'something' already."
Claire shrugged, "Not too much."
"Not too much?"
"Nothing really intimate. He wants more - a lot more."
Caitlyn got up from her chair and hugged her. "Claire, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do, okay?"
Caitlyn was totally surprised when Claire fiercely hugged her back. She burst into tears. "I wannabreakupwith him, but he's the most popular guy in school." She had totally slurred the first part of her sentence.
Caitlyn thought to herself, 'I can understand why Clark said it was so interesting living with a bunch of teenagers.' She said, "You know, Claire, the most popular boys don't always make the best boyfriends. Don't stay with him just because he's popular. You are a beautiful young lady and you deserve the absolute best." Claire just nodded against her shoulder. Caitlyn couldn't help but smile. She thought maybe she had just made a friend - even if Claire didn't want her with Clark.
"I'm not really that pretty. I don't look like the rest of the family. Look at my hair. It's reddd!"
Caitlyn said, "Well, *somebody* looks like you. You have an identical twin."
"You know what I mean. Before we were born, there were rumors that mom was having an affair with some redhead. I can't help but wonder."
"Now, where in the world did you hear such a thing?"
"I read it on the net."
"Oh. I bet that came from some tabloid. She was always a target and your dad still is. I remember years ago when some guy faked pictures and said your mom had an affair with 'Superman'." She paused, "Hmm... I have to wonder now if those pictures were real."
"Those were fake. Dad has talked about that. He thought he was going to have to tell the world about himself until Jimmy proved the pictures to be a fake."
Caitlyn smiled at her. "Claire, just exactly what redhead do you think your mom would have had an affair with? That wouldn't exactly explain your powers, now would it? I'm sure there must have been a redhead in the family."
"I don't know..."
"Oh, honey, I'm sure there's someone in your family that was a redhead."
Chloe walked in the kitchen and rolled her eyes. "Alex is on the phone, Claire. Dad would have a cow if he knew he was calling this late." Claire nodded.
Caitlyn pulled her to her and said, "Remember what I said."
Claire nodded and said, "Thank you Caitlyn. I'm going to go break up with him right now. She walked out of the kitchen and all Caitlyn could think was that she thought that Clark would be elated to know that his daughter was breaking up with a guy that had a name that was so close to 'Lex'.
Chloe said, "Oh, that's going to go real well. He's a jerk. I don't know what she ever saw in him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannah was waiting for Jon at the bottom of the stairs. They walked up the stairs together.
Jon knocked on Clark's door.
"Come in." He nodded to the two of them. He noticed they were very fidgety. "Hey." <Did you tell her?>
<That's an understatement.>
<Uh-huh.> He nodded. "Did you two have sex?"
"Dad! What makes you think that?"
Clark raised his eyebrows. "I hope you were safe."
"We didn't. We..."
Hannah just stared at him with her mouth open. "We... we..."
"Look. I know what I know." <Let's just say it has something to do with the enhanced senses. I can smell the pheromones all over the both of you. It's fairly easy for me to tell when someone has...> He looked between the two of them. Then he looked at Hannah and cocked his head. "Ahh... I see.." He just shook his head. "That still qualifies as intercourse, you know."
"How can you...?" Jon looked at his dad incredulously.
<You haven't used yours senses enough to know what different smells are. It takes a while.>
"Oh." <So, you knew that Zared had sex on Valentine's Day?>
<No, I didn't see him right away. It's been very recently for you. I take it he told *you* right away, though.>
<About a week, later.> Jon sat down.
"Please! Both of you be careful."
Hannah watched the expressions on their faces and realized they had been 'talking' and thought that she was supposed to be able to do this, too. 'Could you block certain people out?' She wondered what that had 'talked' about other than him thinking they had had sex. 'What did he mean by what he had said about that qualifying...?' She decided she wasn't about to ask.
"Dad, the reason we wanted to talk to you is that Hannah's father was a New Kryptonian."
Clark nodded and said, "Yes, I've known for some time."
Jon said, "Yeah, I kind of thought that. Zared told me what you said at the lab."
Hannah said, "But how?!"
"Well, I saw you 'cut' your finger or at least it should have cut your finger. Then I looked at your DNA. I didn't say anything because it wasn't my place to. And, I knew when you were ready to learn more that you would seek me or rather 'Superman' out." He paused briefly and looked at Jon. "You did tell her I'm Superman, didn't you?"
Hannah nodded at Clark. Then she said, "How did you *look* at my DNA?"
Clark shook his head a moment not quite understanding what she meant. He thought that certainly she would know what he meant by that. Wouldn't she?
She cocked her head and said, "I'm not very good at all this Kryptonian stuff and I guess there must be a lot I don't even know about. My powers aren't nearly as developed as Jon's it would seem."
Then he comprehended. "Oh. You have kept your powers suppressed then?" She nodded. "You haven't practiced. I'm surprised you haven't had some accidents - especially with the heat vision."
Jon smiled, "Well, she did try to set the den on fire..."
"That was *your* fault. Besides you put it out."
"You set the den on fire?! I didn't hear any of the smoke alarms."
"Jon put it out right away."
"Ah. I looked at your DNA with what you could call microscopic vision. I can work with you when I feel better. Jon and Zared or even the twins can work with you, too. Does Bruce know? I mean, I know your are not his biological child, but does he know about this?"
"No, I don't think so. How did you know that I'm not his biological child? Hardly anyone knows that. And you said that as if you knew that I knew." Then she giggled, "I kind of thought he might be Superman for a while."
"Bruce told me, and he told me that you know. But then Bruce and I know a lot about each other. So you thought Bruce Wayne was Superman? Why's that? And how did you find out about your special abilities?"
"Oh, I think I figured it out when I fell asleep and woke up and was floating." Then she shrugged. "I don't know why I thought dad was Superman. He's just mysterious sometimes. You know? Does dad know about you?"
Clark thought that this could open a huge can of worms, but he didn't want to lie. "Yeah. Your dad is very intelligent." He thought he'd bend the truth a little. He could see that she didn't know about her dad's nighttime occupation. "He had his suspicions. He asked me. I told him."
Actually Bruce had told him. He thought about how poor Bruce had gone to all the trouble of lining his mask with lead only to be told by 'Superman' that Batman was Bruce Wayne. Seeing his face wasn't the only way 'Superman' would know about Bruce.* In truth he was fairly sure he had known about Bruce for far longer than Bruce had any clue about him.
In fact, he knew who most of the super heroes were. He imagined most of them would be very surprised. He remembered how he had once made the mistake of telling Spiderman that he liked his photos and he should think about sending some to The Daily Planet. The look of total shock under that mask had been telling. He had profusely apologized to Spiderman and told him he hadn't intentionally found out (though he had). He had convinced him that he was very good at recognizing mannerisms and that was what had tipped him off. He now wondered if Peter Parker knew about him. They had both found themselves in Florida looking for a murderer and he had gotten a little too comfortable around Spiderman. He liked the guy. They had a lot in common. His reverie was broken when he realized that Hannah was speaking and he turned his attention back to her.
Hannah just looked at him. "Wow! My dad knows. So he knows about Jon, too." Clark nodded.
Jon questioned, "Bruce knows your Superman? He knows about us?" <Dad? Why?> He stared at his dad rather suspiciously.
"Hannah. I asked you if Bruce knows to see what you would say. I kind of have an idea that he is probably aware that you are special." Clark conveniently ignored Jon's questions and stares.
"Are you telling me that you *know* he knows. Mom really doesn't want him to know. Their relationship is strained enough."
"No, I don't know for sure, but I think you need to tell him. I really do." He thought, 'Well, hey, Bruce. You need to tell her something, too, don't you?' He sat up then winced a little. He tried to hide it but was unsuccessful.
Clark didn't have a shirt on and when he sat up the covers had fallen to his waist. Hannah's eyes got wide. "Oh, my. Look at you."
Clark said, "What?"
"Scars. Will they go away?" Clark nodded.
Jon said, "Okay. Conversation's over. You've had a long day without nearly enough rest. Come on Hannah. We'll talk to him more later." She nodded.
Clark said, "Be careful... Please!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon walked to the guest room and knocked on the door. She was walking down the hall towards him. "Do you want me?
He said, "Caitlyn, can you go check on dad? I think he's had rough day." She nodded. Then he said, "I'll chaperone."
She smiled, "No, that's okay, Jon. I promise I to be very professional."
Hannah grinned. "Yes, Jon, I think she can be professional. She was your dad's main surgeon after all. I think she's probably seen everything there is to see and then a lot that no one else is likely to ever see. Wow, I bet that was interesting. Did you all film the surgery? I mean considering who he is and all."
Caitlyn nodded. "As a matter of a fact, we did. The tapes are safely locked away at S.T.A.R. Labs so they won't fall into the wrong hands - not that I really think they would be of any use to anyone. How long have you known the 'secret', Hannah?"
"A hour or two - not long. I think I'd really like to hear about the surgery."
"Oh, you would, Miss Biology - Chemistry major. Later, okay? I think I should chaperone. I heard dad ask you to stay the night. I assume as his doctor, you told him no."
Caitlyn blushed. "This is a very interesting household. The only thing he wanted was for me to stay in the room with him instead of the guest room. Don't worry. I'm not going to put your dad's health in jeopardy. I worked too hard to save his life to do that."
Jon nodded, "Okay. I'm still going to chaperone. Mostly I just want to see how he's doing."
Hannah stood on her tip toes and kissed Jon on the cheek. "It's really late. I'm going to bed. I love you."
"I love you, two, Hannah."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark had decided to make a phone call. He spoke to the person on the phone, "Marilyn, good I'm glad you answered."
Caitlyn, with Jon at her side, knocked lightly on Clark's door. When he didn't answer, she opened the door. Clark was on the phone.
Clark paused, "Hold on just a minute." He looked up, "Jon, Caitlyn, why are you here? Never mind. Can you come back in a bit? I won't be on the phone long?"
Jon said, "Okay." Then he and Caitlyn walked to the sitting room.
Clark said, "Marilyn, this is Clark Kent. How much does Bruce know about Hannah?
"Clark, what do you mean?"
"Marilyn. I know about Hannah. If Bruce doesn't know, then he should." He imagined Bruce might have words with him for trying to interfere. He was just really worried about Hannah.
"What do you mean, Clark?"
"Marilyn. I know about her heritage. I know Bruce hasn't told you about me but I will." He paused. "Are you on a secure phone? If not then go downstairs and call me back."
"Downstairs?" She stuttered.
"All - the - way down stairs."
"Clark, this is a secure line. What are you trying to tell me?"
"I know about Bruce's... ummm, past time, and I have for at least 20 years. Just to make sure no one is listening, let me say this in a round about way. I rather like to wear red and blue myself. Bruce and I both like just a hint of yellow. I also share some of Bruce's interests, shall we say. So let me say again, I know about Hannah."
"Red, blue, and yellow? As in gray, black, and yellow?"
"Uh-huh. Exactly. Only I don't use a fancy car. I get around under my own power."
"Oh." Clark could imagine that poor Marilyn had just become very pale.
"You know, you might want to try to talk Bruce into telling her about his nightly activities."
"No!! He might get some idea about putting her in red and green, if you get my drift. He is without those particular colors right now."
"I rather doubt that he'd do that. She'll be in Metropolis this fall anyway."
"Yes, I know. I hadn't considered that. Okay. I'll talk to Bruce. But I think I'll need to talk to Hannah before I can tell him everything. I hear him in the hall. 'Gotta go." She hung up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark called Jon. <Jon. I'm off the phone.> As Clark lay in the bed waiting for Jon and Caitlyn he thought he'd practice a little. He opened the door. He thought, 'I wasn't sure I could do that since I'm still recovering.' Then he thought that Bernie must be right about his telepathic and other related abilities weren't affected by the kryptonite or the long term effects of injury. His realized that his telepathy after having been shot had never been affected. He had continued to use it throughout his recovery.
Caitlyn and Jon walked through the open door. Caitlyn looked at the door then looked at him. "You promised to stay in bed."
"I didn't get up." She just nodded but didn't say anything further. He thought that she and Jon must think someone else had stopped in. He just looked at them expectantly.
Caitlyn said, "Jon is worried about you."
Clark said, "Yes, I seem to remember him yelling at me earlier."
Jon said, "Well, check on him!"
"Jon, you didn't tell me if something specific happened."
"He was in pain."
"Yes, he has been. He's had a long day. And I was pretty rough on him earlier when I examined him. At the lab, Bernie and I both examined him. Then he had to be exposed to kryptonite to start an IV for the blood. Usually when we start an IV on him we expose him long enough to get the IV in and then use a small grain size piece of kryptonite on his skin to keep it in. When we do that, though, there is always a chance that the IV will suddenly stop working. We couldn't take that chance with the blood so even though it was a small amount of kryptonite the exposure lasted during the entire transfusion."
She looked over at Clark and narrowed her eyes. "Then after the transfusion, he felt a better and pushed him self too hard. Didn't you, Clark, my dear Kal-El?"
"I guess I.. uh.. kind of forgot how long that kryptonite exposure lasted. Yeah, I guess I should have come to bed instead of working in my office."
Jon crossed his arms. "I knew it! You *were* working!"
Clark held his hand up in a 'just a little' hand motion. He shrugged.
"A little too much, it would seem, dad."
Again Jon said, "Well, are you going to check on him or not?"
Caitlyn pulled up a chair and sat down beside Clark. When she did so he tensed up and covered his abdomen with his hands in a defensive motion. "No, Caitlyn. No! I'm fine! You just examined me a bit ago."
She brushed the side of his cheek with his hand. "Shhh... It's okay. I'm not going to examine you - probably. As long as Jon is here, I thought I'd have him take a look. I'm just going to show him where." He watched her with trepidation. "Relax!" She put her hand on his abdomen, but he was still very tense. "Jon, I had Zared look in this area earlier just to make sure he wasn't bleeding. Since you are concerned, can you double check, please?"
Jon nodded. "It's ashamed that Hannah can't do this. She would probably do a better job. It looks fine to me. I don't see any kind of active bleeding."
"Okay." Caitlyn looked at Clark as she put her hands in her lap. "You can relax, now. You are really hurting, tonight, aren't you?"
He nodded. "I hate to admit it, but yes I am. I think the day is catching up with me."
She said, "Well, I'm going to give you something for pain." Clark and Jon both just looked at her. "Yes, well, Bernie and I have been working on a way to give you something, but what I have in mind doesn't really involve that. You are aware that we have developed a kryptonite scalpel." Clark nodded with narrowed eyes.
Jon said, "A what kind of scalpel?"
"Oh. The blade is made of pretty much the same metals that a regular scalpel is made of but it has kryptonite mixed in it."
"Was that used during his surgery?"
"The second time, yes. Now, this is what I want to do. I want to make a very small incision in your arm then give you an injection before the wound has time to heal."
"Wait. Won't that release kryptonite into his blood system."
"No. Not with the mix of metals that we have used. If the blade were pure kryptonite, that *might* be true, but I don't really think so."
"I don't know Caitlyn. I..."
"Clark, you need to get a good night's sleep, especially if you want to make it to graduation tomorrow."
He pursed his lips, "I... Okay. Jon, you should probably leave."
"That's okay. I'll stay over here in the corner. That should be far enough away."
Caitlyn nodded, "Yes, I think that will be fine."
Caitlyn walked over to his bureau and picked up a small box and opened the locked box. Jon had thought it was just a jewelry box or some other kind of trinket. The box had kryptonite in it! He backed away involuntarily. She quickly pulled out one of the scalpels then closed the box back. She looked over at Jon. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "I was just surprised. I'm glad there isn't much of that stuff in there."
Caitlyn approached Clark and laid the unopened scalpel beside Clark's arm. He took a quick deep breath. Jon had never seen his dad exposed to kryptonite and he started to walk towards him. Clark held up his hand warning him to stay back. After Caitlyn had drawn up the pain medication into a syringe and wiped his arm with some alcohol, she quickly opened the scalpel, made a small incision in Clark's arm, then gave him the injection. She put a piece of gauze over the incision and said, "Hold that a minute, Clark." He did so. She walked to the bathroom rinsed the scalpel off then returned it to the box. Something as difficult to make as a kryptonite scalpel was not disposable. It would have to be re-used at some point. She would take it to the lab for sterilization tomorrow.
"I don't think I want that to happen to me."
Caitlyn answered, "Jon, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that was a *very* minute amount of kryptonite." She took the gauze from Clark and said, "Good, it's already healed."
Jon walked over to his dad. Incredulously he said, "So what Caitlyn is saying is that was really nothing?"
Clark answered, "Well, it stung, but considering what I've been exposed to in the past, that was very, very mild."
Jon answered in a very quiet, "Oh. Okay. Good night." He decided he'd have to think about that awhile. Then maybe he'd talk to Zared. "Good night."
Caitlyn said, "I think we freaked him out. That should start to work in about ten or fifteen minutes." He nodded.
"I know you are really tired, but will you stay with me a bit." She nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marilyn looked at Bruce. "You are limping. Are you hurt?"
Bruce as usual was sullen. "No, I..." He put his hand on his back.
She sighed. "Still can't admit that your back hurts sometimes? It's been broken, after all." He just nodded. They were in their most used den and she walked over and opened a closet door. A small freezer was inside and she pulled out an ice pack. She handed it to him. He was reluctant to take it. "Oh, please, Bruce. One of the reasons we are married is so that I can tend to your injuries." 'That and to make sure you have heirs,' she thought. "Now put the ice pack on your back." She reached to do it herself, then said, "Oh, crap. Your leg is bleeding. Come on, let's go to my office."
She should have known something was wrong for him to have come to see her at this time of night. Usually he would still be out swinging on batropes and scaring the crap out of bad guys. He never scared her though. He just made her sad. He got up, and they walked to her home medical office.
"Get undressed for me," she said as she got supplies out of a cabinet. She turned back to him and he was sitting in a chair. "Lie down. Yes, yes, I know you'd rather sit, but it's going to be hard for me to get to that wound with you sitting up. He lay down. "Your armour should have kept this from happening. It's not that bad compared to what you have had, though."
"Armor piercing bullet. It's mostly just a scratch."
"Well, this *deep* scratch is going to require a few stitches. Turn over on your side." He did so. She injected him with lidocaine.
"I don't need that."
"Bruce, I'm sure Alfred would use it on you. I've seen him do it. Now hush," she said softly. At the mention of Alfred's name, he turned his head away from her. "You miss Alfred being around more, huh?"
He nodded. "He is like a father to me."
Alfred was retired now and was just too sickly to really be of much help to Bruce anymore. Much to Bruce's dislike, Alfred had moved to a retirement home a few years ago. He often visited but he told Bruce that he liked the retirement home because he got to read most of the day. He'd even found a lady friend.
As she stitched his leg, she looked at his body. He had a nice body, but it was riddled with scars. She sighed, "Bruce. I need to tell you something. I should probably talk to Hannah first, but I think you need to know, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you."
He waited for her to speak but she said nothing. "Marilyn? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just.. well. You know Hannah came about about because of a rape. That's how we met. You took me to the hospital." It had been Bruce Wayne who had taken her to the hospital - not Batman. "What you don't know is that I was raped by one of the New Kryptonians." He almost sat up. "Bruce, I'm in the middle of a suture, here. Lie back down."
She couldn't help but smile when he had almost sat up. Once and a while, he did show in some little way that he still cared about her. Maybe he never quit caring. Maybe he just couldn't get past Batman. She wasn't sure if he had ever really loved her. She wasn't sure if he even could. Oh, he had told her that he did. But he was smart - smart enough to know that sometimes you had to tell your wife that you loved her. But he had also made it very clear that one of the reasons they had gotten married was so that she could provide medical care to him - she was a nurse practicioner - and to provide him heirs. But oh, if he only knew of the ache in her heart.
"So what you are trying to tell me is that Hannah is half Kryptonian?"
"Yes." She was done and applied a dressing to his wound. "You can sit up. Here, put some ice on that." When he sat up, he held his ribs. She examined them. "You've got a couple of broken ribs. Let me wrap you up."
He just nodded. "I'm surprised. I'm even more surprised I didn't know. I thought she was a meta-human."
"So you knew something was going on then. I'm surprised you didn't tell me. Sometimes I have to drag it out of you, but at least you usually tell me things."
"I know how protective you are of her, and I knew you thought I'd make her a Robin, so I didn't say anything. I guess I now know why you have been so much more protective of her than Al or Thomas. I thought maybe it was because she's a girl."
"Not much of girl anymore, Bruce. It really wouldn't surprise me if she and Jon decide to get married right away. We've always known it would happen."
"Yes, I suppose you are right."
She smiled. "Are you going with me to Jon's graduation tomorrow?"
He gave her one of his extremely rare 'real' smiles. It was a nice smile. She wished he'd do it more often. When it came to business and public relations, he smiled, but it wasn't real. "Yes, I'll go. I'm pretty fond of Jon." He raised his eyebrows thinking how interesting that relationship had just become. "I'm pretty fond of Hannah, too, as well you know." He even winked at his wife. He thought a moment then said, "Who were talking to on the phone?"
"Ummm....Superman."
"He knows about Hannah then." He sighed. "Well, I guess he is the best one to help her with all of this. She is going to have to learn to control her powers and I'm pretty sure she hasn't learned to do that yet. What else did 'Superman' tell you?"
"He told me who he is."
"Hmmpph... I take it Clark also suggested I tell Hannah about Batman."
"Well, he thinks it would be a good idea. So do I. I think all three of our children should know about their father. They are old enough to know. Bruce, will you at least think about it?"
"I'll think about it. Did Clark mention how he was feeling?"
"No. Why would you ask that?"
"Superman... Seriously injured... By the Metropolis Mutilator."
"Oh. Clark Kent is Superman. That will take some getting used to. That wound was pretty deep and it's still bleeding. Can I share your bed tonight?" He just looked at her. She paused. "So I can keep an eye on your injury. I haven't suddenly become delusional, Bruce." He nodded, stood up, got dressed and walked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had been seemingly catatonic at times. He had barely spoken. But he had them all fooled. They actually thought he was insane. He was watching... waiting. Must find her. Then he saw something on television. An interview on LNN. Such terrible lies she told. About him. The waiting was over. He smiled. A demonic, evil, dark smile. He had found *her*. Saw her. Yes her. Found her. Brunette this time. Glorious. He planned. Must have her hair. Her hair. Yes. Her hair. He felt desire. He hungered to touch her soft skin, touch her hair... An oasis. An oasis to stop the thirst, the hunger...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*DC comics - don't know which one.
Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a Batman thing. I put this part in toe develop Hannah's character.
As I mentioned before, when I start writing about Zared and Jenni and Hannah and Jon, my keyboard sometimes gets confused.
If I mess up, please let me know.
