Acquaintances

Clark closed the screen door. He had just finished feeding the horses and it was time for his lunch. Evelyn was still in school and he had no idea where Lana might be.

He opened the fridge and looked at the few contents. A half a bottle of milk, three eggs, grape jelly, and expired butter. Today, he had to go to the store. Clark wasn't going to order out anymore. Partly because Evelyn needed healthier food and also because they were running low on money again.

Clark sighed as he shut the fridge. He wasn't that hungry. He could last another few hours.

The front door opened and the clacking of high-heels could be heard. Clark could hear the rustling of paper bags. He turned and saw Lana. She was carrying several grocery bags. They were all filled with the groceries that they needed.

Clark got up from his seat. "Let me help you." he grabbed several of the heavier bags and carried them with ease to the kitchen counter. He began taking out the contents and putting them away.

Lana plopped down on a stool. "Thank you, Clark." she said with a heavy sigh.

"So what made you come back?" Clark asked. Usually when Lana would take off, it would be at least a month before she finally decided to come back. And when she would come back, she'd never come loaded with groceries. Instead, she'd come back with five hundred dollar shoes or a three hundred dollar purse. Lana's shopping sprees were the reason they were going into debt.

"I stayed with Nell. While I was there, I did a lot of thinking." Lana said. She started making herself some tea. "You were right, Clark. I have been causing a lot of problems here, lately."

Clark grunted his agreement.

"I wanted to sincerely apologize. I haven't been the kind of person I would be proud of. And definitely not the kind of person you would be proud of."

Clark looked at Lana. She seemed really sincere this time. "Have you noticed how much it hurts Evelyn when you leave? How much it hurts me?"

Lana looked ashamed. "Yes, I noticed. But I had to leave. I started feeling suffocated. There were so many things that I never go the chance to do. So many dreams that I gave up."

"I never asked you to give up your dreams."

"But I did because I love you, Clark. I would do anything for you."

"That's what scares me." Clark turned back to the counter and poured himself some coffee.

Lana didn't say anything for a few breaths. All the words that were said were still sinking in. "I'm going to do better, Clark." Lana said. "I promise."

Clark didn't know how long Lana would try and keep her promise, but he didn't think it would last more than two months.

Ms. Kidance was at the chalkboard explaining how to subtract using borrowing. Ella was paying very close attention. She wasn't all that good in math and she wanted to get a good grade on the worksheet Ms. Kidance had handed them. Love was doodling on the worksheet. She had already finished the entire page without listening to Ms. Kidance. Apparently, she already knew what to do. Evelyn sat quietly at her desk observing Ella and Love. She was paying half attention to Ms. Kidance. Math was just too boring. Why couldn't they go on to something more exciting like reading or writing?

The loud-speaker turned on. "Ms. Kidance?" asked the secretary.

"Yes?" Ms. Kidance set down the chalk and looked to the intercom.

"There's a man here who says that he has something urgent to tell you."

"Then send him down." Ms. Kidance turned to the class. "Okay, I think I explained it enough. Go ahead and start working on those problems that I gave you. If you need any help just skip the problem and work on the next one. If you finish early, you can read a book, or you can talk quietly." There were several quiet exclaims of glee.

Ella sighed in frustration as she looked down at the complicated problems. She didn't get it at all.

"Do you need help?" Love asked Ella.

Ella looked surprised at Love's offer. "Okay."

Evelyn looked down at her worksheet. She was bored immediately. Instead, she took interest with Ms. Kidance.

Ms. Kidance was becoming very nervous. She would sit at her desk trying to grade some papers. The pen in her hand was bouncing in a simple rhythm up and down. There was a knock at the door and Ms. Kidance slightly jumped. She got up to answer the door. She opened it to a man with dark hair in a black suit.

Love looked up and recognized the man. She smiled the biggest smile Evelyn had so far seen on her face, even though Love could smile bigger.

"Margaret." he said.

"It's Ms. Kidance in front of the class and could we talk outside? I don't want the kids to get distracted."

The man looked around at the children. "All right."

"Michael, if anyone starts misbehaving, I want you to tell me when I come back." Ms. Kidance told one of the students. She and the man left the room.

Ms. Kidance closed the door. "What are you doing here, Bruce?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous this could be? You could blow your cover!"

"Don't worry, Bruce. I won't blow it this time.

"I just want you to be careful, Margaret" Bruce told her with genuine concern.

Ms. Kidance looked down. "I'll be fine, Bruce. Don't worry."

"Have you come in contact with him?"

"Bruce…" Margaret whined. She really didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Just answer the question please."

"No…" Margaret prolonged the answer.

"Why am I starting to get a dreadful feeling?"

Ms. Kidance rolled her eyes. "It's nothing terrible. I'm just being his daughter's substitute." she mumbled.

Bruce's eyes widened. "What?!"

"You weren't loud enough, Bruce. I don't think the class upstairs heard you!" she hissed.

Bruce rolled his eyes. He would do that at least ten times when he was with Margaret. "I'm going to need to talk to her."

"Who?"

"His kid."

Margaret stood there in silence. "Why? She has no idea who I am and I doubt he told her anything."

"Margaret, we need to be sure. Remember what happened last time?"

Margaret huffed. "Fine." she opened the door to the classroom. "Evelyn, could I speak to you outside, please?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Evelyn to Ms. Kidance. Evelyn stood up slowly. She really hoped that she wasn't in trouble. She didn't do anything wrong, at least nothing that she could remember.

Evelyn walked out into the hallway. Ms. Kidance closed the door. "Evelyn, this is Bruce Wayne. He would like to ask you some questions." Ms. Kidance said in her most reassuring voice.

Evelyn looked from Ms. Kidance to Bruce. He seemed so…dark, but good. "Hello, Mr. Wayne." Evelyn greeted politely. Clark had taught her to call each grown-up that she met by their last name unless they said otherwise.

Bruce smiled. "Hello, Evelyn. I'm just going to ask you a few questions. You're not in trouble."

Evelyn breathed out in deep relief.

Bruce chuckled as Evelyn started relaxing. "Do you know your dad's name?"

Evelyn nodded, but didn't say anything.

Bruce waited. "Can you tell me?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Nope. Daddy always tells me not to tell anyone anything."

"Don't worry, Evelyn. I don't think your daddy would mind if you told Bruce."

Evelyn weighed her options. "His name is Clark Kent."

Margaret suppressed a smile. It had been so long since anyone had ever spoken that name in front of her.

"Has he ever talked about anyone called Lois Lane?"

Evelyn thought a bit. That name seemed very familiar. "No…" Evelyn noticed Bruce's face relax and Ms. Kidance's face tighten. She wasn't done explaining though. "But I found some newspapers that he kept that are written by him and Lois Lane. I think that they were best friends, but something really bad happened to her." Evelyn looked back at forth at the adults. Bruce looked like he was contemplating something and Ms. Kidance looked like she wanted to cry out of happiness. "Am I supposed to know who she is?"

"Uh, no. It's okay." Ms. Kidance said. She opened the door. "You can get back to work."

Evelyn walked back in. She went to her table and sat down. Love had finished helping Ella with the problems. "Why did Ms. Kidance want to talk with you?" Ella asked

"They were asking me some questions. Some guy called Bruce Wayne was there too. He was the one asking the questions."

"I knew it was him!" Love said with a grin.

Evelyn and Ella looked at Love. "You know him?" Evelyn asked.

Love nodded. "Of course. I've known him since like forever. Last year, he told me he was going to help me find my daddy."

"Did you find him?"

"No, not yet. But we're still looking."

Evelyn couldn't understand Love. She was always so shy and quiet, but she seemed so full of hope.

Clark pushed in a nail with his thumb into the wooden post. One of the cattle had rammed into the gate and had created a hole. Now, Clark was stuck fixing it.

"Clark Kent." someone said behind him.

Clark turned around. He was met with a man in a suit. They were almost the same height, but Clark was taller by a few inches. "And you are?"

"Bruce Wayne." he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

Clark looked down at the offered hand. "What does the owner of Wayne Industries want with a farmer from Smallville?" Clark ignored Bruce's hand.

Bruce smirked. "It seems that you're familiar with a couple of billionaires. Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor. Why does my presence seem to phase you?"

"Because I learned a long time ago not to trust anybody, especially billionaires. What do you want?"

"You don't seem to have trouble trusting Oliver Queen. He speaks of you often. He says that you were a great man once. A symbol of hope, he said. You could always see the good in people, even when there was none." Bruce looked at him closely. "Seems I've missed the old Clark."

"Look, whatever it is you want, I'm not interested. So please, do me a favor and leave."

Bruce snorted. "Your daughter has better manners than you." Bruce turned around and started leaving.

"Evelyn?" Clark asked. Why was this man so interested in him and his family.

Bruce faced Clark. "Yes Evelyn, unless you have another daughter that I don't know about."

"Leave her alone. I don't care who you are, if you even think about hurting her, I swear, I will hunt you down and make sure that you suffer." Clark said through his clenched teeth

Bruce smiled. "Seems like you still have a spark left in you. I'm sure you're familiar with Oliver's other friends: Dinah Lance, Victor Stone, Arthur Curry, Bart Allen, Kara Kent. Oh wait, you're cousins with Ms. Kara aren't you? I believe biologically?"

Clark stood there not wanting to say anything. "Yes, I know all of them."

Bruce nodded. "Good. There going to need you're help Clark. Sooner than you think." Bruce turned around and started walking. "Nice making your acquaintance, Clark." Bruce said as he continued walking away.

Clark was left in a stunned silence. Who the heck was this Bruce Wayne and where in the world did he come from?

Evelyn hopped inside the truck. Clark waited for her to buckle up before he started driving off. "How was school today?"

"Fine. Some guy called Bruce Wayne came to school today. He asked me if I knew who Lois Lane was."

Clark almost drove off the road. "Why did he ask that?"

"I don't know. Love said that he's a really nice man and that he's helping her find her daddy."

Clark looked to the road. "Did anything else happen?"

Evelyn looked from Clark to her back-pack. "Uh, Ms. Kidance gave me a note. She said that I had to give it to you."

Clark moaned. "What did you do, Evelyn?"

Evelyn opened her back-pack and pulled out the note. She handed it to Clark.

Clark took it from her and held it in one hand while steering with the other. 'Mr. Kent,' the note started. The handwriting reminded him of Lois'. Sloppy, but brilliant. 'I would like to meet with you sometime this week to discuss one of Evelyn's assignments. Anytime after school would be fine with me. Ms. Kidance'

Clark looked back to the road. It seemed like Evelyn wasn't in any kind of trouble, but he was still worried. He hoped it didn't have anything to do with the problems at home.

a/n: i had a little touble getting this chapter out. it seemed good in my head, but once i got it out on paper, eh. oh well. tell me if it's good or bad. and thank you for all the reviews and thank you to d-scarlet. i didn't know if i should have put that in the summary, but now i know. :D