Here we go
. This is the section that some of you have been waiting for
.
Martha's letters *are* coming. The BR I sent them to had a serious family problem so... I sent them to Alisha but I've overloaded her lately so...
Thanks Alisha!! You rock!!
I'm hoping that I can get enough done to speed up the posting schedule again but I don't know if/when that's going to happen.
Note that has nothing to do with this section: I realized that if this is the 1980s and if Aunt Louise lost her fiance in WWII then she wasn't as old as I thought she was so instead of Iwo Jima, she lost her dear Joe in Argonne Forest in France in WWI. Not a big note but it'll come up once or twice later so...
Carol
*****
Chapter 6
*****
"I don't know how you've done it, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, but the apartment looks much nicer than you would expect for this neighborhood."
Lois and Clark exchanged a glance. People had been calling her Mrs. Kent all week. It was easier, they'd discovered, to just let it go for the moment. It didn't really matter with most of the people they talked to.
"Clark did most of it. His classes don't start until next week and internship doesn't start until the week after that. I've been going to school and started a new job so I haven't been able to help as much as I would have liked." Lois stood in the middle of the freshly painted living room.
"I know the judge said a one bedroom was okay with her if the neighborhood was good enough and I think this will work but where will Lucy put her things and sleep and so on?"
Lois pointed to a stair case on one side of the bedroom. "There's a loft up the stairs that Lucy can use for her room. There's no wall, but it'll give her her own space. And if we can get the cash together, Clark will put one up as soon as he can. It's not very big, but her bed and dresser from home will fit up there." She pointed to a nook to the side of the front door. "We'll put a desk down here for a computer and for homework and stuff."
The social worker nodded. "I guess that will work. Not my preference, but sometimes you have to work with what you have."
Clark stepped to Lois' side and grasped her hand lightly. "It's not what we would prefer either, but you're right – we have to work with what we have and hopefully, we won't be here for too long."
The social worker frowned slightly and headed to the small dining room and sat down at the table covered with papers, motioning for Lois and Clark to join her. "Okay – so I do need to know a little bit about your finances. Lois, you said you had a job?"
"I started yesterday at the fast food place down the street. It's not much more than minimum wage, but the schedule is flexible and my boss promised me most Sundays off so I'll always have at least one day to devote only to studying. The plan is for me to work between 15 and 20 hours a week, at least for now. More on weeks when there is no school."
"Okay. What about you, Clark?"
"Well, I have an internship at the Metropolis Star that starts soon. It pays $250 a week, not much but something. I'm also going to be delivering papers twice a day around my classes. I'm hoping to find a pizza delivery job or something else if I can, but we also want one of us to be here most evenings with Lucy so that's a factor when we look for jobs. I hope to get some handyman type stuff – putting furniture together and stuff for people in the neighborhood. I also have my parents' farm in Kansas. I fixed up the house recently, but the rest of the buildings need a lot of work. There's a family renting it right now but no money coming in. They're going to fix up the rest of the farm in exchange for a year's rent. The executor of my parents' will is on the next farm over and he's keeping an eye on things for me. Hopefully, next year, we'll have some income from that. We'll also have the foster care stipend. We won't be eating out every night or buying expensive cars, but we'll get by just fine." He reached over and squeezed Lois' hand. "We'll be together and that is the most important thing."
The social worker nodded. "Well, I'd like to see you two work up a budget and make sure you really have a handle on things, but overall, I'm impressed with what you have done. I'm going to tell the judge I think Lucy would be fine here. Better than she would be moving across the country to live with your great aunt."
Tears glistened in Lois' eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.
Clark pulled her into a side hug and kissed the top of her head before turning back to the social worker. "Thank you. You've made my wife very happy."
*****
March 1985
*****
Soon, they were settling into a comfortable routine. Clark had flown himself back to Kansas, bought the car from Pete's dad and taken care of things at the farm – including hiding his ship. He'd returned on Sunday, as promised, with a car full of his things. They'd sold the house and most of the furniture. Neither one wanted to use her parents' bed, for instance. They'd had a nice bedroom set but not one that either Lois or Clark particularly cared for. It had brought a good price and they decided to use Lois' furniture but buy the matching bed frame in a larger size. Sam Lane had bought Lois a nice, solid wood bedroom set in a fit of guilt a few years earlier, but after trying out the double bed one night after they left the hotel but before they moved into the apartment, they decided it had to go. They sold it and used it and some of the other money from the sale of furniture and other things to buy the matching king size frame and a new mattress set. They didn't splurge on much, but they decided to on that. They were probably going to be exhausted enough in the future without an uncomfortable bed to keep them from getting good rest. They'd kept the couch and TVs and Lucy's furniture, among some other things, but neither Lane sister had much of an emotional attachment to most of the things from their parents' home.
And so, Clark would wake Lois before he left to deliver papers. She'd spend an hour studying, then get ready and wake Lucy up. Lucy would get ready while Lois made something semi-edible for breakfast and they headed out for Lincoln High. Clark worked his internship and attended classes during the day, delivering the afternoon paper during one of his breaks.
Lois and Lucy returned about 4 in the afternoon, when they would both study. Most nights Clark came home about 515 or so, just in time to walk Lois to work and then spent his evening helping Lucy with her homework and doing his own before picking Lois back up at 11.
It was one such night about three months after they married that things changed.
It was a slightly chilly spring evening and Lois had left her jacket at home and forgot to ask Clark to bring it with him when he came to get her. He had wrapped an arm around her to keep her warm. It was a Saturday and neither of them had to be anywhere the next morning so they were walking slowly, just enjoying the time together – something they rarely had – time to just chat and be friends.
Out of nowhere, Lois felt something hard in her back.
"Don't move and no one will get hurt," a low voice warned. "Give me your purse."
"I don't have one," Lois answered defiantly.
"Fine. Then give me those rings."
"No."
Clark tried to convince her. "Lois, give him the rings. They're not worth it."
"They were your mom's, Clark. I am not letting this creep have them."
"So I'm a creep?" the voice asked.
"Yes, you're a creep."
"Lo-is." Clark's voice had a warning tone to it. "Give him what he wants."
"No."
Suddenly, Lois' leg moved up and then back down as she stomped on her assailant's foot. She brought one elbow back sharply, catching him in the stomach. As he doubled over, she brought one arm down on his back.
He lost control of his gun hand during her attack and it went off without warning.
Clark grabbed his stomach and stared at Lois and the mugger.
The attacker turned and ran down an alley as Lois ran to Clark's side.
"Clark! Clark! Are you okay? Let me see." She tried to move his hands from where they were grasping his abdomen.
"Um, Lois. There's something we need to talk about."
"Not now, Clark. Let me see that! We have to get you to the hospital!"
"No, Lois. I'm fine. I promise." He slowly moved his hands, showing her his uninjured stomach. He then held up a small piece of metal. "See this?"
"How were you not hit, Clark?! And what is that?"
He took a deep breath. "It's the bullet, Lois. I was hit."
"Then what... How..." She shook her head, trying to clear it and comprehend what Clark was saying.
He looked intently at her. "Lois, do you trust me?"
"Of course I do, Clark."
He held out his hand to her. "Then trust me now."
She grasped his hand. "I trust you, Clark."
He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Put your arms around me and close your eyes."
She did and he looked around carefully to make sure they didn't have an audience.
"Hold on tight."
"You're scaring me, Clark."
"There's nothing to be scared of," he whispered against her hair as they shot up into the night sky.
*****
Lois clung tightly to Clark, trying desperately not to scream.
She had wrapped her arms tightly around him and felt him pull her close to his chest.
And then, suddenly, the ground disappeared from beneath her feet and she felt the wind rushing by her, her hair blowing around her face.
"Clark?" The word was barely a whisper.
"Shhh. Trust me."
How had he heard her? The sound of the wind was rushing through her ears. She had barely heard herself.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately not to hyperventilate. What was going on? How were they... she could barely bring herself to think the word... flying? Is that what they were doing? There didn't seem to be any other logical explanation. But was *flying* a
logical explanation?
She finally decided to try to shut off the questions until Clark was ready to talk to her. Whatever explanation he had for whatever was going on... well, it had better be good.
It seemed like forever but was probably less than 10 minutes before her feet were back on solid ground.
She felt his grip loosen slightly, but she refused to let go. Not until she knew what was going on.
"Where are we, Clark?"
"In Colorado. In the mountains."
"How did we get here?" Her eyes were still tightly shut and her grip solid around Clark's waist.
She felt and heard Clark take a deep breath. "We flew."
"I figured that. But how?"
"I'm going to do my best to explain it." She could almost feel his smile through his chest. "You can let go now, you know."
She relaxed her grip slightly. She moved her head so that she could see his face. She had been right. He was grinning at her. That slightly impish grin she was quickly coming to love. It was all she could do to not laugh at that point. He had a way of making her feel at ease, even in situations that were entirely out of her comfort zone.
She smiled back at him and then with a final tiny squeeze, stepped back. "Okay. Explain."
He suddenly looked nervous – staring at his feet, scuffing his shoe against a dandelion, looking just about anywhere but at her. Then he took a deep breath. "I've never actually told anyone this. None of it. My parents knew some of it but not all. They died before it all began happening."
"Before what began happening?" Lois' fledgling reporter instincts were on edge.
"The strange things."
"What strange things?"
Clark rolled his eyes at her. "Let me start at the beginning."
"Fine." She sat down on the grass in the open field. The full moon highlighted Clark's slightly exotic features.
"Remember I told you I was a foundling and that my adoption was unusual?"
"I'm beginning to think unusual is an understatement."
"You're probably right." He took a deep breath. "It all started about three months after I was born. My parents found me. They were driving home from Maisie's one night when there was a meteor shower. One of the meteors was particularly bright and landed in Schuster's Field. They headed over to investigate and found a tiny spaceship."
Lois was sure her eyes were as wide as the proverbial flying saucer. A spaceship? Her mind raced at the possibilities of what could have been inside. As about two dozen ideas flashed through her head instantaneously, it clicked.
"You were in it?" she whispered, the conclusion suddenly becoming obvious.
She saw him nod soberly.
"They estimated my age at about three months and took me home with them. They took the spacecraft with them and hid all evidence of how I arrived in Smallville. They posted notices in the local papers as well as those in larger nearby cities like Kansas City and even as far away as Oklahoma City and St. Louis. Of course, no one came forward to claim me so the adoption went through.
"I was fairly normal as a young child. I was never sick or broke any bones, though by all rights I should have. I fell out of my tree house at least a couple times a year." He grinned sheepishly. "Balance wasn't my strong suit. But I never did. Break any bones that is. By the time I was nine, I was able to run exceptionally fast. I tried one night to see how far I could go and how fast, and I ran around the farm in about 2 minutes. That's about 4 miles or so. I’m faster now."
A mile in 30 seconds? She could hardly believe her ears.
"That winter we came to Colorado for a ski trip. One night my parents drove to a little town on the other side of the mountain for a nice dinner for two." He shook his head sadly. "Over the few weeks before that night, my hearing had improved dramatically. I could hear whispers over a mile away if I tried to. My eyes had started doing weird things too. I could see through things – like into my parents' room. I had very little control over either one. I was nervous about it but I was going to tell my parents that night. Then I heard the screaming.
"It was my mom. My ears and eyes automatically tuned into my parent's car. My mom was grasping at the dashboard with one hand and checking her seatbelt with the other. My dad was trying desperately to control the car, but something was going wrong. I could hear him yelling something about the brakes. I took off running as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough."
Lois could tell he was close to tears. All of things he was telling her, about being found in a spaceship and finding out all of the things he was able to do... it all paled in comparison to what she was hearing now.
"I couldn't bear to watch them, so I had to turn away. The cliff face was too straight and I wasn't strong enough to climb down and rescue them. If I had just been a few seconds faster..." He had to stop and take a deep breath before continuing. "It was two days before anyone else found them. I had reported them missing the next morning when it was obvious that no one had figured out what happened yet. I couldn't very well show them where the car went over and it took two days for rescue crews to find them."
He sat down while telling the story. Lois moved to sit beside him, one arm around him, her head leaning against his shoulder. In all the letters they'd written, all he had ever mentioned about his parents' death was that they'd died in a car accident. It made sense now that he hadn't told her the details, but she had often wondered about it.
"I wasn't fast enough then, but I would be today."
"What else can you do?" Lois could tell she had surprised him with her question. She had surprised herself.
He shrugged. "I'm fast. I can hear things from really far away or that are said really quietly. I can see through things. I can freeze things with my breath and I can start a fire with my eyes..."
"You can?" Even Lois was surprised at how excited she sounded.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You could make us a little fire right now?"
Clark shrugged. "I guess."
"Would you mind? I am a bit chilly. I forgot my jacket, remember?"
Clark immediately got to his feet. "I'm sorry, Lois. I should have remembered."
"Oh, Clark. It's not a big deal..." Lois gasped as Clark became a blur. Within seconds, there was a pile of firewood in front of her. She watched as he stared at the pile and it suddenly burst into flame.
"Wow."
It was all she could manage to get out.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"It doesn't freak you out?" He looked scared.
She thought but only for a split second, deciding the best course of action would be the truth. "Well, maybe a little bit. It's a lot to take in and it's not like I have a frame of reference or any kind of precedence for this, but I think it's pretty cool." She grinned. "We'll never have to worry about being cold."
He laughed. "I guess not, but I don't ever get cold. Or hot. I don't really feel the weather changes."
She was thoughtful for a minute. "I guess that's why you keep me so warm at night?"
He laughed again. "I guess. Makes as much sense as anything else."
Lois turned to him. "Those fires. The ones that got you branded as a pyromaniac..."
Clark grimaced. "Yeah. That was when the whole heat vision thing was kicking in. I couldn't control it. "
"Oh, Clark, I'm so sorry."
He shrugged and sat down next to her. "I'm just glad it didn't start at camp. You see those car lights over there?"
Lois squinted a bit and saw a few lights snaking along the side of the mountain. "Yeah."
"That's Red Mountain Pass. It's one of the most dangerous stretches of mountain road around. That's the road they were on, not too far from where we are right now. When I realized I was moving to Metropolis and going to rent the farm out, I took the spaceship and a globe that came with it and brought it here. It was hidden pretty well and no one had ever found it before but no one had done renovations to the farm either. I know it seems a bit odd that I would bury them here, near where my parents died, but it makes sense to me. I've come here several times since I realized I could fly."
"When was that?"
"About two weeks after I turned 18. I had caught myself floating in my sleep a time or two..."
"What?!"
He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I haven't actually done that since we've been married. Maybe you keep me grounded or something, but yeah, sometimes I float in my sleep."
"Great. Just don't fall on me. You might squish me or something!"
"Lois, I would never squish you."
"I know." He looked at her with a tenderness she had never seen and she felt the sudden urge to change the subject. "So when did you realize you could fly?"
"As I was saying, about two weeks after I turned 18. I was working in the barn when a plank in the loft gave way and I slipped out the upper door. Even though I knew I was invulnerable, I still cringed at the thought of hitting the ground outside. The thought of 'wouldn't it be nice if I could fly' went through my head and suddenly I was." He shrugged. "After everything else, it didn't really surprise me. That night I flew here. I'm sure it seems odd, but this was where I was truly happy for the last time. At least before the day I married you."
She noticed that he wouldn't look at her as he said it. "So you buried the things most important to you in the place where you last felt happy. That doesn't seem that unusual."
"Would you like to see them?"
Lois nodded, still amazed that he would share all of this with her. He stood and brushed himself off. "I'll be right back."
She watched as he trotted towards the tree line. She heard a whooshing sound and then he was standing in front of her. Slightly dusty and disheveled, he held a small spaceship in one hand.
"It's bigger than I thought."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. "Yeah. I mean a three month old baby is only..." she held her hands about 18 inches apart, "...about this big. This ship is way bigger than that."
"Well, Lois, there had to be some sort of navigational system and life support system and stuff."
"Okay, okay. I guess you're right, but it's still bigger than I was expecting." She stood and walked to it. "So how does it work?"
Clark shrugged. "I have no idea." At Lois' arched brow, he continued. "We were never able to do anything with it. Mom and Dad showed it to me a couple times, but even though the farm stayed in my name, I didn't really see it much at all after they died. Dad said they tried to figure it out, but apparently Kryptonian technology is beyond ours."
"Kryptonian?"
"Krypton is the name of the planet I'm from."
"Wow. An actual other planet? I was guessing Soviet Union or something."
A look of concern suddenly crossed his face. "Are you mad at me?"
She was surprised. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"I asked you to marry me without telling you any of this. Don't you feel kind of... tricked or cheated?"
"No. Why would I?"
"Because this is something I should have told you first."
"Well, it's not exactly like you could have told me with a letter."
"True, but..."
"And, 'oh by the way, we're about to walk into the chapel, but I'm an alien' wouldn't have worked either so, you told me at the first opportunity."
"True. But we had all those outer space/alien questions in the UnGame..." He let his voice trail off. "I didn't think you would be this understanding about it."
"Oh, Clark." Lois rested her head on his shoulder. "There's a big difference between speaking theoretically about something I truly believe to be sci-fi and talking about your reality."
They stayed as they were watching the fire dance over the blue tinted metal of the tiny ship. Lois stood and walked over to it, running her hand along the stylized "S". "What's this?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Family crest maybe?"
"I think it's nice."
"It makes me feel comfortable, safe somehow." He stared for a few more moments at the ship before speaking again. "We should get back. It's late and I do have to work tomorrow."
"Not until noon."
"Still. Lucy's home by herself."
"You're right." She walked over to Clark. "Let's put that fire out and rebury your ship and..."
A white light began to glow from inside the ship. Clark shot her a puzzled look and walked towards the tiny craft. He reached towards it and the instant his hand touched the outer skin, the side panels fell to the ground and the top hatch opened. As the top raised, into the air floated a spherical object.
It seemed to project a hologram of sorts that enveloped them. Lois could see Clark across a white room of some kind.
There was a distinguished silver haired man and a red haired woman both dressed in silver and white with the same stylized "S" found on the front of Clark's ship.
The man spoke.
"My name is Jor-El. And you are Kal-El, my son. The object you hold has been attuned to you. That you now hear these words is proof that you survived the journey in space and have reached your full maturity. Now it is time for you to learn our heritage. To that end, I will appear to you five times. Watch for the light, listen, and learn."
The man they now knew as Jor-El stood before a waist level console. He moved his hands, touching holographic images above it in order to make it work. There was a large view screen attached to it. Multicolored lights swirled on the screen. There was a work table on one side. On top of the table was an assortment of metal and plastic parts to... something. An egg-like capsule sat on a pedestal. The compartment was filled with some sort of mist.
"Time grows short and we continue to search. The immensity of space is both a blessing and a curse. In that near infinite variety there must be some place suitable. Hope and desperation drive us in equal measure."
The woman with him gestured towards the screen and Jor-El shook his head. They stared into the mist at something Clark and Lois could not see.
"Lara works by my side. She is tireless and endlessly patient. Considering what is soon to come, this is my greatest consolation: that we are together."
A tremor shook their lab. The console flared. Jor-El wrapped his arms around Lara. The tremor stopped and the console returned to normal.
The globe stopped glowing. It looked like a globe of the Earth, but only for an instant and then it changed to a red and blue globe of a place Lois had never seen. She saw a look of recognition cross Clark's face.
"What? What is it?" she asked.
"Krypton." The word was barely a whisper.
"What?"
"Krypton." Clark picked up the globe and turned it over in his hands. "That's the planet Krypton, where I'm from."
Lois looked at the globe more closely. "How can you tell?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that's where I'm from."
Slowly he walked over to the ship and replaced one of the side panels. Before replacing the other, he wrapped the globe in a bright blue blanket that also had the "S" shield on it. "I don't think this would be safe in Metropolis. We'll have to come back sometime soon and see if we can see any of the other messages."
Lois nodded. "I think that's smart. We don't live in a very good part of town and even though you could prevent someone from taking it, you're not home all that much and I wouldn't want Lucy to find it either."
Clark placed the blanket and the globe in the ship and replaced the second panel. He picked it up and was gone in a blur. He was back before she really had time to realize he was gone.
"It's buried and covered safely."
"Good." Lois walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. She felt him wrap his arms around her and for a long moment, they just stood there.
"Are you ready to go home?"
She nodded into his chest. "Yeah. It's been a long day and it's time to hit the hay. Take us home, flyboy."
"Flyboy?" Clark teased.
"Yeah..." Lois couldn't finish her sentence as she realized that they were airborne again.
"Sometime we'll have to fly so that you can see where we're going. You'll love it."
"I'm sure I will, but this is all still a bit too new to me," she murmured into his chest. "Can you even hear me when I talk like this?"
She felt Clark's laugh as much as she heard it.
"Yes, I can."
A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Do you ever use any of your gizmos on me?"
"Gizmos?"
"Yeah. You know the eye gizmos."
"No, Lois," he said seriously. "I would never violate your privacy like that. Now, if I ever thought you were in trouble, I might, but other than that, no. I wouldn't do that."
Lois relaxed slightly. She hadn't really thought he would, but it was reassuring to hear him say it. "I know."
"Hold on tight. We're getting close to Metropolis and we're going to go in awfully fast."
"Is there any other way to hold on?"
Clark laughed again. "Here we go."
When she pulled back from him, once her feet were on the ground, they were standing in the alley behind their apartment building.
"That was about the most interesting night I think I've ever had." She turned and headed towards the building. "You coming?"
She heard Clark's footsteps behind her. "Yes. I'm coming. And yes, it's about the most interesting night I have ever had too." She felt him near her and then his arm was around her shoulder. It was comforting to know he was there beside her, always, even if she didn't love him the way she imagined most women loved their husbands. He was her best friend and always would be. He was a rock when she needed it and nothing would change that. Not finding out that he had strange powers or that he was from another planet.
Nothing.
*****
TBC
