"You think she's a risk to us, to me?" Clark was astounded, absolutely confounded by what his father was saying.
Jonathan bent his head slightly forward. "Come on, Clark, think about it. How safe is it to have more people know your secret identity?"
Clark let out a quick sigh. "You sound like I told everyone in Metropolis. We're talking about Jean, Scott, and Samantha. Yes, they know about my abilities and John's. And we know about theirs. Both families have to protect their own secret and protect another. It's fair, it's mutual."
Jonathan shook his head. "I don't like it." He put his hands on his hips. "What if someone makes a mistake? Then you're all in trouble."
Lois fired back this time. "But if everyone's in trouble, then everyone can help each other too. Since I'm the only one in both families with no superpowers, I think I can say that if we're in trouble, I'd rather have five people with superpowers helping out than two."
Clark kept his smile to himself. "That's how it is. We work together and we help each other out. How do you think John and Sam got to be such good friends? Our families spend a lot of time together. And the kids are great together. They can relate to each other, they understand what it's like to have this kind of secret. I don't see a risk that's there with both families that isn't there with just one."
Jonathan lifted his head. "Okay, so everything is fine now. What about the future? What if something happens and they threaten to expose you?"
"That's not going to happen."
Martha didn't want to be in between Clark and Jonathan, but she had to add her thoughts. "Clark, you don't really know that. It seems unlikely now, but it's a possibility."
Clark shrugged. "Then we'll deal with it then."
Jonathan looked down at his hands and grinned. "Yeah, that's a good plan."
Clark stopped pacing the room and faced him. "Look, Dad, right now, there's no problem. What you said at dinner caused a problem. You dared Samantha to read your mind, and I hope she didn't. If she did, all she got were insults to make her miserable."
It was dark now, and Samantha glanced back towards the house. "Think they're done yet?"
John looked at the house too. "Done with what?"
"Arguing about what your grandpa said at dinner."
John squinted his eyes. "You knew?"
Samantha smiled. "I saw your dad nod to you for us to leave."
John laughed. "Oh. Yeah, he's probably been going at it with Grandpa."
"Your grandma seemed pretty angry too."
John nodded. "She's the only one Grandpa will listen to."
"Are we done now?" Lois asked. No one had said anything since Clark's last comment.
Martha watched Jonathan. He didn't move to say anything else. "I guess so," she said and looked at Clark. "Where are John and Sam?"
Clark looked up from the floor. "They went for a walk." He squinted and looked around the room. The walls blurred and faded away as he switched into X-ray mode. He blinked his eyes. "They're in the far field, at the fence. I'll go get them."
Martha nodded. "Okay. It's getting late. We should get to bed."
Thump. Thump. Sam lied awake in her room. She glanced at the clock radio on the nightstand. 2:30 a.m. Thump. Thump. Samantha sighed. She had been hearing the thumping noise for the past few minutes, and it didn't seem like it would stop. She sat up in bed and then stepped off and walked to the door. Thump. Thump. She could tell it was coming from the next room—John's room. She walked out into the hallway and opened his door a little wider. His bed was empty and she still heard the noise. Samantha glanced toward the ceiling and then held her gaze there. "Whoa…." she whispered to herself as she stepped into the room. John was floating near the ceiling, still in a lying position, with a bed sheet somewhat over him but mostly hanging down. His dark hair was ruffled and stuck out at odd spots. Now Sam saw the source of the noise. Every few seconds, John would rise a little higher and bump against the ceiling. Thanks to his invulnerability, though, he didn't feel it.
"John!" Samantha sharply whispered. Then a little louder, "John, wake up." John didn't respond. "John!" Samantha tried once more. "Okay, fine, need backup," she said to herself.
She walked down the hall to the room John's parents were sleeping in. She tapped on the door.
"Come in," Clark's voice was quiet, but it carried out to her.
Samantha walked into the room and Clark sat up in bed. "Oh, Samantha, is there a problem? You okay?"
"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Kent. I'm fine, but John…John is in his room, um, floating."
Even in the dark, Clark's eyes shined. "Floating?"
"Yeah," Samantha replied. She pointed up with her index finger. "He keeps bumping up against the ceiling. I tried to wake him, but I couldn't."
"Okay." Clark got out of bed and walked with Sam to John's room. He flicked on the light and looked up. "This has been going on for a few weeks now."
"Really?" Sam looked up at Clark.
"Yeah," he shifted his gaze to Sam, "and two weeks ago, he actually crashed down on his bed at home." Clark grinned and shook his head. "I did the same thing in high school."
"Hmm. He hasn't mentioned anything about this."
Clark shrugged. "Now you'll be able to talk about it." He looked up at John again.
"Hey, John. Come on, get up."
John still didn't respond.
Clark narrowed his eyes and then looked at Samantha. "Do you mind if I go up there to wake him up?"
Samantha shook her head. "No, go ahead."
"Okay." Clark bent his knees and floated up next to John. Samantha kept a smile to herself. Who else had the chance to see Superman in a blue T-shirt and plaid pajamas? Clark looked down to Sam. "See, he's a heavy sleeper. Takes after his mom." Clark smiled and then rubbed John's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Wake up."
Samantha pictured herself dumping a bucket of cold water on John. That would definitely get him up. She smiled to herself.
John shook his head as he woke up. "Whoa!" He looked from side to side, sat up, and then realized he was up in the air. "What?" He barely had time to get the question out before he started falling. Clark moved to catch his son.
"Oh, got you," Samantha said. She held her right arm out, palm facing out and fingers curved. Clark glanced at her and then floated away from John, still in mid-air, and back to the floor. As Sam lowered her hand, John's body lowered onto the bed. At the moment John touched the bed, he snapped his head around and faced Samantha.
"Sam, what was that for?" He rubbed his head. "That was so weird…"
Clark squinted his eyes. "John, Samantha just caught you. It was nothing to be mad about."
Samantha looked at Clark. "No, he's not talking about that."
Lois walked into the room, yawning. "Hey, what's all the noise? What's going on?" She leaned in the doorway.
Clark stood with Lois. "We were just about to find out." He looked at Samantha with a confused expression.
"I…I'm not exactly sure what happened." She looked at John. "But while your dad was trying to wake you up, I pictured myself throwing a bucket full of water on you. Sort of random, but that would get you up. I just thought of it, but I think I made you see it."
John nodded. "Yeah, and it was cold!"
Samantha blushed a little. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it."
John nodded. "Okay." He straightened his bed sheets around himself.
"Wait a minute." Clark stepped forward. "Samantha, you can make people believe things that haven't happened?"
Samantha shook her head. "Not really. I imagined something and accidentally sent it to John. I think if he were awake, he would have realized it wasn't real. But being asleep confused him."
"So people wouldn't actually believe it?" Lois asked. "What would they think it is, then?"
Samantha shrugged. "Just an idea, a thought, I guess. They probably wouldn't even realize it wasn't their own thought."
"Hmm," Clark said as he thought more on it.
"I can't really control it yet," Samantha added. "Just now, that was an accident. I didn't even realize what happened until John woke up."
John yawned. "And no harm done. Can we go back to sleep now?"
Clark looked at John. "Yeah, sure…..are you okay?"
John nodded. "Fine."
"Okay then." Clark held Lois's hand. "Samantha, thank you for catching John. Good reflexes."
Samantha smiled a little. "Yeah, no problem. Thanks."
Clark and Lois walked back to their room.
Samantha walked to John's bedside. "Hey, are you really okay?" she whispered.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you see me float?" John smiled.
Sam laughed. "Yeah, and it's so awesome! Why didn't you tell me about it before?" She nudged his arm.
John shrugged. "I guess I wanted to get a better handle on it first."
"Okay." After a moment, Samantha asked, "Do you think I freaked out your parents with that thought thing?"
John shook his head. "Probably not. Maybe made them uncomfortable, that's all. Only because they don't know much about what you can do with it."
Sam nodded. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do it."
John held her hand. "Hey, don't worry about it. It'll be all right. I definitely think it's cool."
Samantha smiled. "Thanks."
"Yeah, there's good potential in pranks there, I think." He winked.
"No, none of that, Johnny Kent." Samantha laughed.
"Nah, just kidding. 'Night, Sam."
"Good night, John." Samantha walked towards the door.
"Hey, Sam?" John lied back down in his bed and pulled the sheets up.
Samantha turned back to him. "Yeah?"
"Could you get the lights on the way out?"
After breakfast, Samantha and John went out to the barn to help Jonathan with the chores. When they walked in, he was bailing hay. "Hey, kids. I really appreciate your help."
"Sure," John said. "What should we do?"
Jonathan nodded and glanced at Samantha. He felt a little embarrassed about what happened the previous night at dinner, but he didn't know what to say. "Well," he handed the pitchfork to John, "you can finish the hay." He walked past John to Samantha. "And, Samantha," he smiled, "would you like to milk the cows?"
Samantha nodded. "Okay, Mr. Kent."
"Okay." He led her to the stalls and moved a stool for her to sit on. "Have a seat there. Done this before?"
"Nope." Samantha squatted on the stool looked up at him.
"Okay, you'll get the hand of it quickly." He smiled and pushed a metal bucket below the cow. Jonathan squatted down, grasped one of the nipples, and squirted milk into the bucket. "You have to work the milk down. Just squeezing won't do it." He moved his hand away and stood up. He looked at Samantha and gestured toward the cow. "You try."
Samantha held the same nipple and moved her hand down, gently squeezing as she did. A stream of milk squirted into the bucket. Jonathan smiled. "Good. Get two hands going with a rhythm, and it's a piece of cake." He patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be outside if you need anything."
Samantha looked up and smiled. "Okay."
Jonathan nodded. He turned to walk out of the barn but then turned back. "Uh, Samantha?"
She looked up again. "Yes, Mr. Kent?"
"I'm sorry about last night at dinner. I was out of line and what I said was rude."
Samantha smiled a little. "It's okay. I understand that you have questions about what I can do. If you have any others, I can try to answer."
Jonathan nodded. "Thank you, but it's fine. I'm sorry again for what I said." Jonathan turned again and walked out of the barn.
Thirty minutes later, John walked into the stalls. "Hey, Sam, you almost done?"
Sam looked at him and laughed. "Hi, John. This is the last one." She bent down and continued milking the cow.
"Good." He leaned against the door. "I've been thinking."
Samantha smiled. "Yeah."
"With my floating thing, I don't know how to control it. I don't know how I do it in the first place."
"You'll get it. I'm sure your dad can help you."
John nodded. "I know, I know. I was hoping you could help me too."
Samantha stopped milking the cow and glanced up at him. "Me? How? I levitate too, but it's different than how you or your dad do it."
John crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling. "I know that, and I'm not asking for flying lessons. I was thinking maybe you could look around in my mind and find times when I did float. I'm half asleep when it happens, so I don't really remember." He looked back at her. "If you can help me remember what it's like, maybe I can learn how to do it when I'm awake."
Samantha nodded slowly. "I'd have to go pretty deep into your mind for that." She bent below the cow once more to finish milking her.
"I know. Are you okay to do that, or should we wait 'til we get back to Metropolis so your mom can help us?"
Samantha backed up on the stool and pulled the filled bucket out. "I can do it. You want to today?"
John grinned and bent down to pick up the other two buckets. "Yeah, I was thinking in a couple of minutes."
Samantha nodded and picked up the third bucket. She followed John out of the stall and they met Jonathan in the barn. "All finished?" he asked.
"Yes," Samantha replied. "Where should we put these?" She nodded to the buckets John held and lifted her own up a little.
"You can bring them over here." Jonathan waved them towards a machine on the side of the barn. The front of it had a control panel but otherwise, it was a large rectangular metal box. Samantha noticed a door near where Jonathan stood. "The milk needs to be homogenized and pasteurized. If you set the buckets down here, I'll take care of it." John and Samantha carried the buckets to him. "Thank you for your help."
They both nodded. "Anything else?" John asked.
"No, thank you," Jonathan replied and smiled. "You two are off duty."
John smiled. He nodded outside and he and Sam walked together.
When they were out of earshot, Samantha asked, "So where do you want to do this?"
John looked back at the barn. "In the loft. Grandpa should be done in the barn in a minute. Then it'll be empty and we can see if my idea works." After a moment, they watched Jonathan leave the barn with a few tools. "Okay, here we go."
Samantha climbed the steps after John. She looked around at the desk and the couch and smiled. John saw her expression and commented, "My dad used to spend a lot of time up here when he was in high school."
"Very cool."
"Yeah." John looked around. It looked the same as the last time he had visited. "So, what would be better? Standing or sitting?"
Samantha thought for a moment. "Sitting on the floor, probably."
"Okay." John picked up the small coffee table on his own and moved it to against the couch.
They sat cross-legged, facing each other in the middle of the loft floor. "Okay," Sam said. She leaned in closer to John. "You'll need to close your eyes and try to keep your mind blank." John nodded and closed his eyes. "If anything hurts or it feels weird or whatever, let me know."
"All right."
Samantha held her hands open on either side of John's head. "Okay...keep your mind blank." John took a deep breath. Samantha closed her eyes and did the same.
She took in a sharp breath as she saw images from John's mind fly into her own. She watched each as it passed, looking for a memory when he was asleep. From his point of view, she saw him wake up and look down to the floor below, saw him fall into bed. The memory passed and another came into focus. This time, he woke up looking down at the floor. He gasped and the light in the room turned on. "John!" It was Lois's voice. Another memory came into focus, and Samantha realized it was from last night. Now she felt the cold water she mentally sent him. John snapped awake and saw Clark floating next to him. Then he looked down and realized he was up in the air. John fell…and stopped at the split second she herself had caught him. Samantha realized now that John had watched her admiringly as she lowered him to the bed.
Samantha shook her head and opened her eyes. She and John still sat in the same position, but now she saw that they were a few feet off the floor. She looked at John, and he still kept his eyes closed. She didn't move her hands away from him, thinking he was still in last night's memory. When Samantha saw that his facial expression relaxed, she whispered, "John?"
He shook his head and opened his eyes. He focused first on her face, so he didn't realize they were floating. Samantha lowered her hands and laughed. "Look down." As John moved his eyes, she reached for his hands.
"Whoa…"
She felt him start to lower and held his hands tighter. "No, John, calm down." Samantha spoke softly. "See if you can stay up."
He looked up into her face again. Samantha loosened her grip. "Did you make us float?" he asked.
Samantha shook her head. "I think you did, and I just followed so that I could still read your mind."
John nodded. "Okay, weird. So, um, could we go back down now?"
Samantha laughed. "Yeah." She let go of his hands. And he fell down a few inches a little too fast. "John." She held him with her telekinesis now and lowered him to the floor as she sat back on the floor too.
John blushed a little. "Thanks."
Samantha smiled. "Sure. Did you see the memories?"
John nodded. "Yeah, and they were crystal clear. You did a really good job bringing them up."
Now Samantha blushed. She looked down to the floor. "Oh, thanks."
John stood up and held his hand out to help Samantha up. She took it and stood. "Seriously," he said, "it was perfect." He moved the coffee table back to its original position and then glanced toward the loft opening. He moved closer to the edge and looked down. John turned back to grin at Samantha. "I think we need a test flight."
She grinned too. "What?" But she knew exactly what he meant. "You've only floated a couple of feet without realizing it, John."
He shrugged. "I know, but it's not like jumping is going to hurt."
Samantha giggled and took a half step back. "All right then."
John laughed and jumped out the window, pinching his nose in one hand as if he were jumping into a pool. Samantha rushed over to watch him land. He bent his knees and gracefully landed on the ground below. He turned and looked back up at her, smiling. "Your turn."
Samantha walked straight out of the window, keeping herself in the air. She looked down at John. "What, you want someone to show you how it's done?"
John scoffed. "Nah, just having a little fun."
Samantha lowered herself to the ground and landed next to John. "Did you even try keeping yourself up?" she asked.
John shook his head, laughing. "Nope. I just wanted to jump."
