Disclaimer: DC owns the characters within, not I.
Clark reached his hand out to trace the outline of the name on the gravestone in front of him. He let his hand linger for a moment before retracting it and standing up. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stole a glance up at the sky. He closed his eyes and it was then he could hear his voice.
Clark smiled as he opened his eyes and glanced back down at the stone in front of him. He took a couple of steps backward and heard someone approaching him from behind.
"Mom..." Clark said as he glanced back to see Martha Kent approaching with a fresh bouquet of flowers.
"Hey... I thought you might be by today," Martha responded as she reached the grave. She offered her son a small smile before she knelt down to place the fresh flowers on the grave. Clark watched her as he did. He was troubled and he wanted to voice it but was unsure how. As if on cue Martha turned to look up at him. She read his face and stood up in front of him. "What's wrong sweetheart?"
"It's nothing," Clark responded, attempting to change his facial expression.
"Clark..." Martha's voice was softer now. She reached up and placed a hand on her son's cheek. "You can do a lot of things well, but lying is not one of them."
"It's nothing really, just something I think about when I come here," Clark reacted.
"What do you think about?" Martha insisted. Clark glanced down at the grave and then back at his mom. "Is everything okay?"
"Mom..." Clark began. "It's just being here, in this cemetery... it reminds me..."
"What does it remind you of?" Martha questioned.
"That I'm not human..." Clark answered with a shrug. Martha shook her head.
"Oh Clark," Martha responded. "I wish you wouldn't feel that way."
"It's not a bad thing... or I guess, it doesn't have to be," Clark replied. He took a couple steps back and glanced around at more of the graves.
"What I mean is... I don't think I'll ever..."
"Sweetheart, you died already once..." Martha stated.
"No..."Clark rebutted.
"What are you talking about?" Martha asked.
"I wasn't dead, Mom," Clark answered.
"I thought your friends brought you back..." Martha stated as she digested what her son was telling her.
"They did, but not from death... not as you know death..." Clark attempted to explain. "They merely acted as an alarm clock."
"Are you saying you would have come back?" Martha asked.
"Eventually," Clark answered.
"How do you know?" Martha asked.
"I just feel it... I wasn't dead, Mom," Clark answered. "And being here... it makes me think of that now."
"That's a good thing though isn't it?" Martha questioned. Clark shrugged and sighed.
"I don't know," Clark answered. "In a way I guess..."
"It makes me feel better," Martha stated as she stepped closer to Clark. Clark smiled and nodded.
"It's just..." Clark began. "Someday... hopefully way off in the future... but someday you'll be gone... everyone will be gone."
"Oh, Clark," Martha reacted as she began to understood what was troubling him. She without thinking wrapped him in a hug that he quickly returned. After a few moments, she pulled away to look up at him. "I hadn't considered..."
"Yes... well... it um... it's just the way it is I guess," Clark attempted to assure his mother. Martha shook her head.
"I'm sorry," Martha said. Clark turned to walk a few steps away and glanced up at the sky. Martha watched him for a moment before she spoke again. "Lois."
"Yeah..." Clark replied, understanding what his mom was saying. He turned to her.
"Have you ever discussed it with her?" Martha asked gently.
"No..." Clark replied. "It um... it's not the kind of thing one just casually brings up over dinner I suppose."
"No... of course not," Martha agreed. "Still..."
"Yeah, I mean at some point it's going to become a thing..." Clark stated as crossed his arms. "Maybe to a degree it already has."
"How do you mean?" Martha asked.
"Just the fact that I'm thinking about it, I feel like when I'm with her..." Clark began. "I project that on her."
"Do you think she feels that?" Martha asked as she motioned for Clark to walk with her towards the edge of the cemetery to where her truck was parked.
"I think it's definitely there," Clark replied as he walked in step with his mother. "I think right now though she is just letting it slide because she is happy to have me back."
"That's understandable," Martha said with a nod.
"At some point though, if I can't get my mind off of it..." Clark began.
"Maybe in time," Martha suggested.
"Maybe," Clark agreed as the two reached her truck and Martha turned to him.
"I wish I could say more... to help you feel better," Martha said as she reached out and rubbed his arm.
"It's okay, how could you understand?" Clark suggested. "No one..."
"What?" Martha asked upon Clark's pause.
"There is someone who is like me... well... sort of," Clark explained. "Diana."
"Your new friend?" Martha questioned. Clark nodded. "She is like you?"
"She's um... in the sense that she has lived a very long time and will continue to do so," Clark answered. He smiled. Martha cocked her head.
"At least you'll have someone then," Martha suggested.
"Yeah," Clark agreed.
"You two get along?" Martha questioned.
"Yeah, she's great," Clark answered. "We've been hanging out... all of us... the team."
"That's good," Martha said with a genuine smile upon hearing the fondness evident in Clark's tone for his new group of friends.
"Sorry mom... to unload all of that on you," Clark said with a gesture in the direction they had come from.
"No... don't ever apologize for opening up to me," Martha replied before pulling Clark into another hug.
"I guess I'd better be getting back to Metropolis," Clark said as they pulled apart.
"You can't stay for dinner?" Martha asked. Clark considered the offer for a moment before smiling.
"I can probably stay for dinner," Clark replied.
(****)
Clark glanced below him at the Daily Planet building. He scanned the area surrounding it before lowering himself down to the roof. He walked to the edge of the building and peered out over it. He closed his eyes and listened for any sounds of distress.
"There you are," a voice from behind Clark prompted him to turn around.
"Hey, Lois," Clark replied as he offered her a smile. "You are here late."
"I had to work over," Lois answered as she walked up to him. "Have you been home?"
"No..." Clark replied. "Well... I went to visit Mom in Smallville."
"Oh," Lois responded. She studied Clark's expression for a moment and he offered her a smile. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes," Clark answered.
"You sure?" Lois persisted.
"Just being back home, makes you nostalgic I guess," Clark fibbed.
"You can talk to me you know..." Lois stated. Clark furrowed his brow and began to respond but stopped himself. "Since you've been back... I know something has been bothering you."
"I'm sorry..." Clark said. "I didn't mean for it to be obvious."
"I'm a reporter Clark... it's hard to hide things from me," Lois replied, offering him a smile of assurance. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here."
"I..." Clark began. He took in the appearance of Lois in front of him and in lieu of words he moved in and pulled her into a hug. Lois reciprocated the hug as they stood in silence for a few moments.
Eventually she pulled away and looked up at him.
"You don't have to tell me..." Lois began.
"I want things to be the way they were," Clark replied.
"The way they were?" Lois asked for clarification.
"Before I left..." Clark explained.
"It changed you," Lois stated as she placed a hand on his chest and traced the symbol on his suit.
"I just want us to be happy," Clark responded.
"You are not happy," Lois suggested.
"I am happy..." Clark replied. "It's just..."
"You didn't die did you?" Lois asked as she made eye contact with Clark. He shook his head.
"No," Clark responded simply.
"I didn't think so..." Lois replied, pulling upon many clues she had gotten from Clark in their conversations since his return. "That's what's bothering you isn't it?"
"Yes," Clark answered simply once more. "Lois... I don't want this to come between us."
"But it will..." Lois said as she lowered her hand from his chest. Clark searched for a response. He started to open his mouth but there was a loud explosion on the other side of the city. He turned to it and then back to Lois. "Go..."
"I'm sorry..." Clark said before he took to the air in the direction of the explosion. He saw a group of construction workers lying about on the ground with the steel frame they were working on them tilting ever so slowly. He scanned around to see it was a gas leak that had caused the explosion and then heard the steel creaking next to him. He moved to steady the building but stopped once he saw it being moved back into place. He glanced down to see her.
"I got this, just check on them," Wonder Woman said as she tightened the grip on her lasso and pulled the steel frame back up and into place. Clark nodded and flew down to the ground. He checked the workers for injuries and then glanced over to see Diana holding the building upright. He turned back to one of the workers and scanned him for injuries. It was then he heard the sound of metal groaning next to him and turned just in time to see the structure collapsing with Diana underneath it.
"No!" Clark called out as he raced over towards the rubble left in the wake of the crash. He started to pull away beams and concrete, frantically searching for any sign of Diana. He started to lift a beam when he felt it being pushed from beneath. He stepped aside and smiled as Diana stood up from the pile of debris and began to dust herself off. She saw Clark floating just above her and matched his smile.
"Are they okay?" Diana asked with a nod the workers who were getting to their feet.
"Yes, just some bumps and bruises," Clark responded as he lowered himself to the ground just as the sirens from police cars and an ambulance neared them. Diana made her way towards the group of men as they gathered together.
"Is everyone okay?" Wonder Woman asked. The men collectively responded in the affirmative as they offered her grateful smiles. She then turned back to Clark as he took the skies.
(****)
Clark saw Lois sitting at her desk typing away at the computer in front of her. She had just answered the phone next to her and was multi-tasking the job of finishing typing her report while simultaneously getting more info from one of her sources. He smiled and stepped back from the edge of the adjacent building and closed his eyes to stop his x-ray vision.
"Hey," Diana's voice sounded from beside of Clark as he turned to see her moving to stand next to him. She had been watching him stare at the Daily Planet for a few minutes before she had spoken.
"Good work back there," Clark said with a nod back to Gotham from which they had both just came. "Didn't know you were in town."
"I just got in... looking at some apartments when I heard the explosion," Diana answered.
"Oh," Clark reacted with a nod.
"You okay, Kal?" Diana asked. "I couldn't help but notice the way you were staring just now."
"Oh... I'm fine," Clark replied. He turned to face Diana fully.
"You sure... if you wanna talk..." Diana suggested.
"I have talked all day..." Clark replied. "Right now..."
Diana watched as Clark rose into the air. He was hovering just off the edge of the building.
"I just want to fly..." Clark said with a smile. Diana responded with a smile of her own and a nod.
"Okay... well I'll..." Diana began.
"Care to join me?" Clark asked.
"Where are we going?" Diana asked in response.
"I don't know... wherever the wind takes us I guess," Clark replied with a shrug.
"Kal-El, I never took you for the type to just go wherever the wind took you," Diana said as she flew up next to him.
"Well... stick around and I might surprise you," Clark replied with a smile. She grinned in response as the breeze blew her hair in front of her face. She brushed it away. "And thanks..."
"For?" Diana asked as the two hovered in the air a few feet away from each other but hundreds of feet away from anyone else.
"Just being a friend," Clark responded. She nodded and then they took off higher into the sky and out of view from anyone below them.