I. Bon Voyage
He shouldn't be feeling oddly let down. Some things are worse, after all the "Crisis" is looming and Bart...well Bart gave so much for the team that it hurts. Still, Tess is back thanks to Emil and computer programming he can't understand to create a literal ghost-in-the-machine for Watchtower. He's home in his apartment with Lois for the first time in what seems like months. Even with losses, the team at Watchtower feels tighter than ever, and it's growing, a new life on the way.
He's happy for Chloe, and he means it. There's been so much death and loss and tragedy in their lives. Bart's the newest but of course Jimmy before that for them and so many allies like Lionel or Carter, his dad. Her parents left in their own ways. Moira still sick at the nicest hospital Queen Industries can provide and with the best care, but she's still locked inside of her own mind and never will come out. Gabe's been gone since high school. Chloe's made her own way, admitted as much herself. Even with her ups and downs, with her dark moments-and who among their group hasn't had them-she's done a fabulous job. Most parents don't raise a superhero. Hardly any superheroes raise themselves.
Okay, scratch that, maybe Oliver raised himself with some Excelsior help and instruction.
That's why they fit so well together. It's why they're going to be great parents when their child is born. It's why, even in a fight this fierce, they have to let Oliver and Chloe go, keep the next generation safe. If not, then what the Hell are they fighting for so hard then?
Still, and he can't explain this, not at all, not even if he falls back years ago to a conversation in the loft with his mom. This isn't a back pocket girl debate. He loves Chloe but it's never been like that between them. Maybe a few missed connections, but it's never been that between them.
There's been pain and anger and recriminations. A year of death threatening them with Darkseid, then where they could barely stand the sight of each other, her gone too much and just off the grid, but now? They're back where they were supposed to be, where they haven't felt as secure in four years. It'll be weird to have Tess be the voice in his ear and the person watching his back again instead of her. Weird, that she'll be off in Star City again and more full time with months to go.
But good, and he'll take care of her, stop what's coming. It's what he does, but it'll be a Hell of a lot harder without her.
Despite all that, despite his determination as he changes into his t-shirt to sleep, he feels something oddly empty, as if should have been rocketing her up in the air for more than just a congratulations. As if that child should have been...
No, that's just silly. He's just happy is all for the hope and life that they've been lacking in these dark years. She has both and no one deserves it more than she.
II. Home Turf
Clark eyes the nursery with a lot of confusion. He wasn't supposed to visit. Chloe calls Lois every night. Even on nights when she's too exhausted at eight months to call, Lois tracks her down like the bulldog she is. No one escapes that fierce cousinly mother-henning. Clark keeps his distance mostly. He talks a few minutes with her and forces it to stay on inanities, on how she is, on what she's doing. He won't let her side track him. If he's not careful, she'll grill him on what Lex is up to and if they've figured out anymore about the Crisis, about if Tess 2.0 is working out well enough.
He doesn't want her to do that.
Worrying is bad for the blood pressure and the baby. He wants her son to be strong.
So he lets Lois do the talking and stays forcibly to stuffed animals and baby shower talks, to nothing deep because she'll wheedle him if he doesn't stay strong.
Still, something bad's gone down with the dark archer and they need Oliver and Mia in Metropolis for that. The price of that is a hero exchange for the night. Chloe and the baby shouldn't be left alone, unprotected. Clark's done that before, lost his greatest asset to Checkmate. He knows better now. So he's at their penthouse tonight.
"So, uh, this is distinctive."
Chloe frowns up at him and it should be a comical sight. She was never terribly tall, and at eight and a half months, she looks like she's wider than she is tall now. The one plus side to all of it is that that stupid jacket she loves so much hasn't fit her since the second trimester. Clark's glad. He likes her in purple more than green and the flowy lilac-colored top she wears is nice on her. Still, she's glaring at him like she's the one with heat vision and it freaks him out.
"What's wrong with it? Are you acting like Oliver on me? I mean, Bart would have loved it. J'onn though the theme was awesome, and I know Lois will love it."
Lois was distinctly not going to get it any more than he did. Sure, have a nursery with a zoo theme or maybe sailors. Considering the father, Clark has no earthly idea why it's not a Robin Hood or Green Arrow theme. Lord knows Queen Industries makes enough for charity selling all the League tie-in garb it can. It's space and in gentle shades of red, blue, and yellow.
It's the colors he would have chosen, assuredly.
But this isn't theirkid so why bother?
"I think it's not really fitting your life style."
"What?" She'd be even more terrifying if she didn't have to sit down then to rest in her rocker. She's far more weeble than Watchtower these days.
"Everything else in Queen Towers is green. This is so blue!"
"You love blue."
"True," he says, gesturing to his uniform. "I love blue."
"And red," she adds, gesturing to his cape. "I just... Superman is the most popular hero out there, and I was always a huge Warrior Angel fan. I thought space would be nice. If even you don't like it, then I don't get you people."
"I cannot wait till you get less moody. You're on a hair trigger, I swear."
"I am not!"
Clark arches an eyebrow at her. "It's not really your fault. You and Lois are naturally, uh, stubborn. I think you being pregnant just amped that up a ton."
"Well, no one likes my nursery! How would that make you feel?"
Sighing, he sits down on the recliner across from her. "It's not that it's not pretty. It's just not really Ollie's thing."
"Everyone likes space!"
"I'll hold off judgment on that," Clark drawls. "I'm serious. It's just...why would you let it look, I dunno."
She quirks her head at him and, maybe it's a masochistic thing, but he perks up his hearing to listen to the third heartbeat in the room, the little flutter deep inside of her. Chloe giggles.
"You're listening."
"It's the head tilt, isn't it? Lois says I look like Shelby when I do it."
"Oh you do. I'm just...I can't always be in Metropolis and with you all and I like this. It feels me and nice."
"So Robin Hood?"
"Is nice too, maybe for his big boy room. I wanted this to be-"
"Like something I'd have liked? You see how that's weird, right Chlo?"
She blushes. "I honestly didn't...oh God, that's why Ollie's so snippy!"
It amazes him how incredibly smart she is and yet how something so obvious flew over her head. Of course, a petty part of him is flattered. It's incredibly stupid. He's happily perpetually engaged and Chloe's almost ready to pop. Still, that part, which is crowing very loudly by now, actually likes the nursery very much. It lets his mind wander.
Setting a hand on her shoulder, he shakes his head. "You might want to reconsider the look. For what it's worth, I think it's nice."
"Thanks, uh, maybe I can add some bows and arrows to it at least."
III. Fever
The next time he's in the nursery is a year later and it's just in regular clothes, nothing for patrol. Ollie's working late that night, even if he doesn't want to, but it's something Queen Industries can't ignore. Still, with everything going on, Clark doesn't want Chloe alone tonight. When he arrives there, in a blur per his usual, she's rocking Jonas in her lap.
"How is he?" Clark asks, noting she didn't even startle. It's been years since she had a scare reflex and he did that.
Chloe's eyes are bloodshot and she's sniffling. "It's stupid. It's just a normal cold, but it's his first cold and he has a fever. The doctor said it was completely normal. I gave him some baby aspirin and Pedialyte. He already feels cooler."
"I don't know how parents do it."
"We don't all have super kids," she replies, grinning a little.
"Oh I found lots of things to get me shot or stabbed or sick by high school. I just mean, when Lois called me about it, I felt scared too and it's just a cold, you're right. Wait till he falls out of a tree house or get stitches for playing sports or accidentally shoots himself with an arrow..."
"My son is going to be a naturally adept little archer," she jokes, standing up to settle Jonas in his crib. "Still, I wish he hadn't gotten sick. I'm going to be a basket case if it's even chicken pox."
"I thought they had a vaccine for that?"
"You know what I mean! It's just...he's this little, perfect person. He shouldn't get sick."
"Well," Clark adds, hugging her, drawing her close against his chest, "he has the best mom ever to take care of him when he is. That's a start."
"Thanks, Boy Scout."
"I hate that."
She grins at him. "I know."
He follows her out to the kitchen, always ready for a snack. Giving Jonas one last look, Clark shoulder slump. If Jonas were his, he'd never be
sick, but that's a pointless thought.
IV. Canary in a Coal Mine
"I can't kill him," Clark says, after shutting the door to Jonas's room.
It's no longer decorated with space and why would it be? Jonas is eleven and in love with everything soccer and his "grown up" room reflects that. For Chloe's sake, Clark's glad it's not archery her son fell in love wit.
She laughs but it's not a happy sound, more of a desperate bark. "He does still work for the League. Arrow does good, at least for some
people."
"Not for you, not anymore," he adds, hugging her and letting her cry for a while.
He doesn't say anything, just strokes her hair and lets her pour it out to him. Eventually she stills and they sit side by side on the sofa in the penthouse, not saying much. Clark's far more concerned with letting Chloe catch her breath. They've had silence between them before; it's not longer awkward, not after more than two decades between them.
Reaching out, he puts a hand over hers. It's so small and frail and he always forget that her passion for helping out Tess at Watchtower aside, that she's still just one human woman. "Is there anything I can do. I could maybe break a leg. That'd heal eventually."
Chloe rolls her eyes. "No, I'm trying to be the mature one about this; one of us should be. I don't want to get mad and fight and be bitter in front of Jonas. Oliver's still his father."
"Can I be mad and petty for you?"
"Quietly away from the penthouse, sure. I guess I just expected more from him and Dinah. Stupid me."
"Chlo-"
"At least he didn't steal from me. I guess this is a slightly better end to a marriage than with Jimmy." She breaks down again, tears flowing down her cheeks and her shoulders hitching.
He squeezes her hand. "You didn't do it. I promise, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll visit more and if Jonas needs anything...well, it's like Lois said, he has an uncle who can fly. How cool is that?"
She laughs more genuinely then. "Well he does love Superman, that's true."
"Exactly, don't worry Chlo, I'll take care of you."
"Bomb squad style?"
"How else?"
V. Mentor
"I can't do it!" Jonas shouts and it's infinitely more frustrating working with him than with Conner or Kara.
Of course, he does have his mother's impatience and his father's jealous streak. It makes the teenager in front of him prone to yelling more than other potential heroes Clark's helped.
Taking a deep breath, Clark thinks of his father and channels as much of Jonathan Kent as he can. "Of course you can manage it. It's what you do. You just keep concentrating on your hand, on recreating what happened. It's a reflex right now but you can learn to turn it on or off and soon it won't be hard at all."
"Automatic?" he asks and his eyes are so dark, brown like Ollie's and it feels like looking the other man in the face.
"Yeah, like how I fly, which took forever to learn."
"No shit."
"Language. Your mom would kill me if she knew I let you say that."
"I'm fifteen and mom has bull pen vocabulary."
"Still, don't curse."
"Uh-huh. So I just don't get it. How does mom make it work?"
Clark shrugs. "She doesn't anymore. She hasn't had the power in a very long time. I didn't realize you'd get it."
"Neither did she. It was very weird to heal my own soccer injury in the backyard. I mean, talk about a light show!"
He frowns, really studying his nephew. "Are you upset about it?"
"I've known you were Superman since I was six. I've known all of mom's JLA friends' real identities since I was twelve. Powers don't faze me. I just didn't think I'd get any."
"It's okay to have them...it's not weird."
Jonas rolls his eyes and it's so Chloe. "Oh it's very weird. I wasn't really thinking I'd go into the Titans or anything or, if I did, that I'd do more than shoot arrows. I didn't sign up to heal stuff."
"We rarely sign up for anything. It took me a long time to adjust, believe me. If you don't, your mom can confirm it. It's hard and it's scary being different, but it's not without it's advantages."
"I heal things; it's not exactly as cool as heat vision."
"It's not flashy, but Lois and I wouldn't even be alive if not for your mom's ability. So, it's very cool to me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really, now let's get back to it. Take a deep breath..."