Best Friends
Lois and Clark – The New Adventures Of Superman
By Thomas Mc

Author's Note:

This is a 'Lois and Clark' story and a prequel to 'Birthday Surprise' and 'Last Name'. This story is set just a bit over two years before Superboy makes his first appearance.

Jack Tiberius Wilson was dying. He just knew that he wouldn't last much longer. Would his family miss him after he was gone? He wondered with a healthy dollop of self-pity. They would probably all feel sorry for all the times that they had mistreated him.

He was drawn out of his haze of self-pity by the light knocking sound coming from his window. He looked up from his deathbed at the small figure standing outside his window. A couple of seconds later the window slowly slid upward and a young nine-year-old girl slipped in through the opening.

"Go away, Lucy, I'm dying." He grumbled hoarsely followed by a fit of coughing.

The girl responded in an amused tone of voice. "You're not dying, silly." She approached his bed and cocked her head, looking at him critically, as she reached his bedside. He did look pretty bad. She cocked her head. "You just have the Flu. "She shook her head then gave a sympathetic smile. "Mother says that boys are such lunkheads when they get sick."

"It feels like I'm dying." He huffed. "And I am not a lunkhead." He grumbled back garrulously, mostly as a response to her insufferable cheerfulness.

"Nobody dies from the Flu!" Lucy retorted with a fair helping of asperity.

"They do too!" Jack insisted with a bit of a pout. "I heard Mom telling Dad that she read something in the paper about some old people in a nursing home that died of the flu!"

"You're nine years old and that was just some old folks that were already dying." Lucy responded as she reached out and gently felt his forehead. Her voice took on a gentler tone. "Mother once told me that when you're sick, feeling bad was good. It meant that your body is working hard at fighting off the infection."

Jack noticed that as soon as she had placed her hand on his forehead he felt slightly better. "Well you still shouldn't be here." He shot back with a lack of conviction despite his curt 'so-there' nod.

She smoothed his hair back from his sweaty forehead. "And why shouldn't I be here for my bestest friend?" She asked him. The two of them had been best friends since they had hit it off on their first day in kindergarten together.

"Because Mom says I'm com . . . comitable." Jack responded. "You could catch it if you hang around me." There wasn't a whole lot of conviction in his statement. Though he knew that she should leave, her presence made him feel better and he didn't really want her to go.

"No problem." She shrugged with a nonchalant grin. "I never get sick, silly." She frowned. "It's just not fair. You get to stay home from school. I never get to stay home from school." Her frown deepened. "You're really hot." She turned and grabbed the pitcher beside the bed and poured the cold orange liquid into a handy glass. As she removed her hand from his forehead, the temporary relief, he had experienced, disappeared and the symptoms of the illness returned at full force.

Then she sat on the bed beside him, instantly bringing back the welcome relief. "When Momma had the Flu last month Dad made her drink a lot of cold orange juice." She reached behind Jack and easily helped him sit up a little straighter. "There, now, drink." She ordered as she handed him the glass of orange juice.

Reluctantly Jack drank. Lucy was very difficult to ignore when she got bossy this way. The orange juice stung his sore throat but the cold liquid felt good when it reached his stomach.

Lucy took the empty glass from him and set it on the nightstand. She took hold of his hand and began telling him all the latest gossip from school until he fell asleep. She placed his hand under the covers and pulled the covers up to his chin, just like she had seen her father do for her mother. Next, she slipped out just as quietly as she had entered.

She paused to look back at her friend's house. The weekend wouldn't be as much fun without Jack.

~ L&C ~

Lucy felt something familiar as her mother's car approached the school the following Monday morning. She began scanning the crowd of children in front of the school as she got out of the car. She soon spotted the person she had been expecting to find. Jack was standing over by the flagpole with a few other friends. Lucy and Jack had recently become aware that they both knew when the other was nearby. Lucy had decided that it was just a part of being best friends.

Jack looked up in her direction and soon his eyes found her. He raised his hand and waved at her. He looked a lot better than he had last Friday but she could tell that he was still feeling a bit drained.

"Hey, Jack." She called out as she approached the group of common friends.

Jack frowned at her. "How can you be so cheerful on a Monday morning?" He shook his head. "You're just weird." He declared grumpily.

She responded with a laugh. "How come you're so grumpy on such a pretty day?" Sunny days like this made her feel energized. Her smile turned sympathetic. "You still feeling a bit under the weather?"

At that moment, the first bell rang and everyone started moving toward the school's front doors.

Jack was dragging and Lucy slowed down a bit in order to stay with him. He frowned at her. "You know, I think it is really unfair that you never get sick."

Lucy nodded with a frown of her own. "Yea, I think it's unfair that I never have a good excuse to stay home from school." She shrugged. "Bit of a bummer sometimes."

As they approached the main entrance, they had started theorizing about why she never got sick. Each theory was sillier than the previous one and soon they were both laughing.

~ L&C ~

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, three weeks since Jack's bout with the flu. Lucy and Jack were playing together at the little neighborhood park. Lucy's squeals and Jack's laughter echoed through the small park as they chased each other in a raucous game of tag.

Lucy was looking back over her shoulder as she dodged ahead of Jack. The peaceful afternoon was disturbed by the sound of screeching tires. Jack looked up to see a grey and black car weaving all over the road and driving way too fast. The car swerved to the right jumping the curb and careening onto the playground.

"Lucy, look out!" Jack cried out as Lucy turned her head and stared in paralyzed fear at the vehicle coming straight at her.

The world seemed to slip into slow motion and Jack watched in horror as the car plowed into Lucy and sent her body flying thirty feet through the air into a large tree. He clearly saw a branch, as large as his leg, catch her across the back of her neck sending her body spinning.

The car slid to a stop near the same tree as Lucy's body bounced off of several more branches before dropping to the ground with a thump and a small cloud of dust. Suddenly time shifted to normal and Jack snapped out of the momentary paralysis that had taken hold of him. He started running toward where Lucy lay.

With a spray of dirt and gravel, the car spun around and sped away from the scene of the accident. Seconds later it disappeared into the labyrinth of residential streets that surrounded the small park.

The dirt thrown up by the fleeing car had nearly covered Lucy where she lay. Jack crashed to his knees beside his fallen friend. "Lucy, Noooo!"

Lucy suddenly sat up and shook herself, sending dust and small twigs flying everywhere. She looked over at Jack with a dazed expression and blinked. "What happened?" She mumbled uncertainly.

Jack stared at her in disbelief. Her hair was a wild tangle and her clothes were torn in several places but she didn't have a scratch on her. "You . . . you should be . . . dead!" Jack declared in amazed disbelief. He reached out and gently prodded her at one of the rips in her clothes. "You're not even hurt."

Lucy looked down at her ruined clothes for a couple of seconds then looked up at Jack in surprise. "I . . ." She glanced down at herself again then her gaze returned to Jack. "I feel OK." She finished with a shrug.

"But I saw it." He remarked and pointed to a spot about forty feet from their current location. "That car plowed into you way over there." He pointed upward. "It threw you way up into this tree." His face took on a look of amazement. "You must have bounced off half of those branches on your way down."

"Lucy thought for a moment. "It hurt a little tiny bit at first but I feel just fine, now." She looked directly at Jack. "So, why am I OK?" She asked in confusion. "It doesn't make sense."

"I haven't ever seen you get hurt as long as I've known you." Jack remarked. "Do you remember the last time that you actually got hurt?" He asked.

"I know I've been hurt before." She thought for a moment. "I remember falling down and skinning my knees real bad when I was four."

"Do you remember any bad falls since then where you did not get hurt?"

She looked at the ground, paused to think about his question, and finally responded a bit hesitantly. "Yyyeeeeesss . . . I do remember a couple of times that I fell down real hard but didn't get hurt." Her brow furrowed in thought. "And last year when the family went camping, I was climbing where I wasn't supposed to go. A big rock came loose and hit me on the head. It didn't hurt and I didn't tell anyone." She looked up at him. The look of amazement in her eyes matched the look on his face. "What does it mean?"

Jack lowered his head deep in thought, his eyes glazed over and mumbling softly to himself. "You never get sick . . . you can't be hurt even if you are hit by a car . . . or a big rock . . . I'm two inches taller than you but you can easily pick me up . . . you run twice as fast as me . . . hmmm . . . could you be adopted?"

Though he was barely making a sound, Lucy could clearly hear what he was saying. His words sent a cold chill down her spine. "I am not adopted." She retorted in annoyance. "Everyone says that I look just like my mom except that I have dad's eyes and skin coloring."

He looked back up at her in surprise. "You heard that?"

"Yea, so what?" She retorted as her annoyance increased.

"How good can you see?" He asked.

"What?"

He pointed to a tree on the other side of the small park. "How good can you see that tree?"

She rolled her eyes then looked where he pointed. "I see it just fine. Anybody can see it from here." She responded.

"Look real hard. How good can you see the bark?" He instructed.

Lucy stared at the tree, trying to see the texture of the bark. Suddenly the image zoomed up close and the tree looked like it was only a foot in front of her. She jumped back with a surprised yell. The image returned to normal and she looked at Jack, too stunned to speak.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

She paused, trying to think about it as she responded. "I was looking at the trunk, trying to get a good look when it suddenly looked like I was looking at it from real close." Her tone became uncertain. "What does it mean?"

Jack seemed momentarily lost in his thoughts then he looked her in the eyes. "You don't get sick; you're stronger than you should be; you're faster than normal; you can see and hear much better than normal; and you can't be hurt, even if a car hits you." He paused and. "You have Superman's powers." His eyes got wide. "You must be Superman's kid."

"My Daddy is not Superman! My Daddy is Clark Kent!" Lucy insisted. "I even have his eyes."

"Are you sure about that?" He insisted. "Does your dad ever do anything odd, anything just a tiny bit unusual?"

She opened her mouth to again deny the allegation then she paused, looking down as her brows furrowed in thought. She began to speak slowly as she considered her words. "Welll . . . Daddy is always forgetting things and having to run off to take care of it." She looked up at him hoping he would explain.

"That must be when he runs off to help someone as superman." Jack responded triumphantly as he stood up.

Lucy looked up at him uncertainly, her head in a whirl, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

Jack held out his hand to her. "Come on, let's get you home so you can clean up and change." He cocked his head. "Your clothes are all torn up."

She let Jack help her to her slightly unsteady feet. He waited while she got her wobbly legs under control then they started walking toward her home.

~ L&C ~

Lois, Clark, and their oldest daughter Martha Ellen were sitting in the family room deep in conversation when they heard the front door open. All conversation ceased as they looked toward the front of the house. Clark and Martha both gasped in surprise. Then Lucy and Jack entered the room. Lois gasped and was on her feet.

The next second she crouched down before Lucy. "Oh, Lucy, honey, what happened?"

Lucy stood there with her eyes downcast, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Meanwhile, Jack was staring intently at Clark. Clark stood up and moved up next to Lois.

After a moment Clark spoke. "Sweetheart, please tell us what's wrong?"

Lucy finally looked diffidently up at Clark. "Daddy, are you Superman?"

"What?!" exclaimed Lois and Clark simultaneously. Then they both glanced uncertainly at Jack.

Clark and Lois looked back at Lucy taking in her disheveled appearance then Clark reached out and gently caressed Lucy's arm as he spoke. Sweetheart, what made you ask that?"

Lucy reached over and took hold of Jack's hand then looked nervously back at her father. "A car hit me in the park . . ."

"What?!" interrupted Lois as a flash of anger crossed her face.

Clark placed his free arm around Lois's shoulder. "Honey, let's hear everything Lucy has to say before we say or do anything else." He then addressed Lucy. "Go ahead sweetheart."

Lucy swallowed, took a deep breath, and started again, speaking very rapidly to get it all out at once. "Me and Jack were in the park and a car left the road and hit me then ran off." She quickly glanced down at herself. "It messed up my clothes but it didn't really hurt me." She glanced over at Jack. "Jack said that meant that I couldn't be hurt. He pointed out some other things that I can do and said that I had powers like Superman." She looked her father in the eyes. "Then he said that that means that you must be Superman." She looked down a moment, catching her breath, and then glanced, a bit shyly, up at her father. "Is it true?"

Clark looked uncertainly over at Lois who was looking uncertainly back at him. Then he glanced at Jack who was staring intently back at him. Finally, he looked back at his youngest daughter. She seemed to be having difficulty looking at him. He felt Lois's hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her and gave a shrug then a nod.

Clark pulled himself up straighter and gave a quick glance over at Jack then removed his glasses. "Lucy . . ." She looked at her father, seeing him without his glasses for the first time that she could remember. "Yes, Honey, I am Superman . . . and you are definitely my daughter." He glanced at his oldest daughter who had joined them. ". . . and, you have apparently started to develop your powers a little sooner than your sister . . . and your brother." He quickly looked Lucy over. "And after what happened in the park today, I am very thankful that you did."

Lois spoke up. "We were just starting to explain everything to Martha when you got home." She shrugged. "I guess we need to include you in that discussion." She glanced over at Jack, who was still holding Lucy's hand and sighed. "And since Jack has already figured it out, I guess we should include him as well." She focused her attention on Jack. "You understand that you cannot tell anyone about this . . . not even your family. It is a dangerous secret to know. Even letting on that you know any secret about Superman could put you in serious danger. And if the wrong person finds out about this secret, a lot of innocent people could be hurt or killed." She held his gaze until he nodded his understanding.

Everyone moved over to the sofa and chairs and Clark began to explain. "First there are two very good reasons for keeping this a secret. If it was known that I was Superman then it would put everyone that was close to me in great danger. Every bad person that wanted to hurt me or try to control me would go after the people that I care about."

He looked around at Martha, Lucy and Jack, in turn, to be sure that they understood how serious this was. After they all indicated their understanding, he continued. "Keeping this secret also allows us to live relatively normal lives, with friends and families, without everyone we know being constantly hounded by reporters and curiosity seekers. It also allows us to have normal jobs and a home."

Clark paused to let what he had said sink in. Finally he continued. "Now that we have taken care of the dangers and warnings, let's talk about what is happening to you two girls." He smiled at his two daughters. "I first became aware that I was different when I was eleven. That's when some of my powers had developed enough to be noticeable. With Jonathan and Martha, it was around the time that they turned thirteen. We assumed that was because they were half-human." He looked at Lucy. "But now Lucy has begun to develop her powers much earlier than I did so . . ." He shrugged. "Who knows what the deciding factor is."

Lucy's face seemed to light up as a thought occurred to her. "Does that mean that I will be able to fly?" She asked excitedly.

Clark smiled at her. "Jonathan first started to develop the ability to fly two months ago so I assume that the rest of you will as well. It's hard to tell when that will happen since each of you seems to be developing at different rates."

Jack looked at Lucy and grinned. "Hey that means you will be Supergirl."

Lucy frowned back at him but it was Clark that responded. "It will be up to Lucy to decide whether or not she wants to become a super hero. It is not an easy life, constantly trying to keep the super hero and the normal person separate. Keeping your powers secret is difficult enough without adding a, very public, secret identity to the situation. As it is, no one will be playing super hero until they are at least eighteen." He looked seriously at both Martha and Lucy to drive the point home.

Clark paused a moment, deep in thought before he continued. "I didn't become Superman until I was nearly thirty . . . although I did often use my powers secretly to help when I could. It was your mother that first gave me the idea to create a secret identity so that I could use my powers openly." He glanced over at Lois. "She was the one that named my alter ego Superman."

He returned his attention to the children. "You may decide to do as I did originally and only use your powers to help in secret like when I was younger. You may decide to create an alternate hero identity and use your powers openly, as I do now. Or you may decide to try to live a totally normal life, though you may find that to be the most difficult road to choose. Whatever life you choose for yourself, that is a decision that requires a lot of thought and soul searching." He smiled at both his children. "Just know that your mother and I love you and we will support you, whatever path you decide to take."

Lois stood up and took Lucy's hand. "Before we go any further, let's get you cleaned up and into some fresh clothes."

She and Lucy started up the stairs followed by Martha. Clark and Jack looked at each other in uncomfortable silence for several seconds before Clark broke it by asking Jack what exactly had happened in the park. Jack gave as complete a description of the events as he could. As they continued to talk about the park incident, Clark was able, with carefully phrased questions, to draw out many details that Jack had not been aware of. Once he had a clear idea of all aspects of the incident, Clark decided that it had been just a random accident rather than an intentional attempt against Lucy.

Some more questions brought out a clearer picture of how Jack had reasoned out the Kent family secret. Clark complimented Jack on his eye for detail and deductive skills then suggested that he might consider a career as a police detective or as a reporter.

Shortly after that Lois, Lucy and Martha returned. Lucy showed no signs of what had happened to her in the park.

Jack grinned mischievously at her over something that had occurred to him just a few seconds earlier. "Hey, Lucy, in history class they said that Superman is 'First Councilor' of New Krypton . . ." His pleased-with-himself grin got a bit wider. ". . . So that makes you an alien princess." He concluded.

Lucy stopped dead in surprise then placed her fists on her hips and matched his grin. "And don't you forget it." She retorted. Then she giggled.

Martha giggled then mirrored Lucy's pose and remarked. "Hey, that means that I'm an alien princess, too."

Jack took Lucy's hand and executed an awkward bow. Lucy smiled shyly and blushed. Clark smiled indulgently.

Lois groaned. "Oh, Lord, we're never going to hear the end of this."

That produced another round of giggles. Jack and Lucy continued to gaze shyly at each other for a couple more seconds before they broke eye contact and returned to their place on the sofa.

It was right around this point that Lois and Clark looked at each other with the same thought. They had long noticed how close Lucy and Jack's friendship had become. Today, they both become aware of the nearly inseparable connection that seemed to have developed between the two children. They both wondered what this connection might foreshadow of their future relationship. They silently agreed to save that discussion for another time.

They continued talking for another couple of hours. Clark explained the powers, and how to use them, to the girls. He talked to them about using them responsibly and discussed the pros and cons of becoming a super hero versus only using the powers in secret. Several times, Clark emphasized the importance of keeping the family secret safe. Clark and Lois both answered the dozens of questions that all three children threw at them.

As evening approached, Jonathan arrived home. As soon as he walked in the door he could tell that something very important had happened. For an instant he thought that Martha was getting 'The Talk', she was at the same age that he had been when he learned of his heritage, but he couldn't explain the presence of Lucy and her friend.

Noticing the confused look on his face Lois succinctly apprised him of the day's developments. "Lucy and Jack just discovered that she has already developed most of her powers and so we have been discussing the situation."

It took Jonathon a few seconds to recover from the double shock of learning that Lucy was already getting her powers and that Jack, an outsider, knew the family secret. He was given an abridged version of the day's events. Then it was time for dinner. Clark vanished in a gust of wind and twenty minutes later reappeared with a large load of delicious smelling bamboo containers.

There was plenty of food and Jack was invited to stay for dinner. He was amazed that the meal had come straight from Taiwan. Since the youngest brother James Perry was staying over at a friend's birthday party until late, the family secret was a large part of the dinner conversation.

~ L&C ~

After dinner, Clark gave Jack a ride home. Before getting out of the car, Jack paused and promised Clark that he would never do anything to hurt Lucy and he would protect Lucy's family secret. Then he exited the car and entered his house.

Clark then picked up his youngest son from the birthday party and returned home. All the way home, he mulled over the events of the day. Monday morning, once he got to work, he was going to have to see what he can find out about that car that had hit Lucy in the park. In addition, he thought that it might be a good idea to get better acquainted with Jacks parents.

That night in their bed, Lois and Clark discussed the day's events. They also talked about what they had observed of the relationship between Lucy and Jack and some of the things that he had thought about while in the car. Clark commented that that they may have to keep a close eye on those two once they hit puberty. In the end, they concluded that Jack could be trusted. For now, the secret was still safe.

That night in his bed, Jack thought about the day's events. He made the same promise to himself that he had given to Lucy's father. He would keep Lucy's family secret safe, no matter what.

The End

Disclaimer: This story is based on the television series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. The story, however, is a product of my own imagination. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans.