Samantha woke up in her bed. "Johnny," she whispered to herself. She slid out of the bed and leaned out into the hallway. John was at the top of the steps, fully dressed.
"Hey, John!" Samantha whispered.
He turned to face her.
"What are you doing?"
John grinned at her. "Stopping a bank robbery." He started walking down the steps.
Samantha sighed. "Okay, wait for me downstairs. I'm coming too."
Samantha closed the door. She quickly put on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and her sweatshirt on top. She stepped out of the room and looked down the hallway. No one else seemed to be awake. She quietly walked down the steps and met John in the kitchen.
He smiled. "Ready?"
Samantha shook her head. "John, we can't do this." She glanced back toward the stairs. "Let's just tell your dad."
John looked determined. "No, we're going to stop this robbery, just the two of us."
"We'll get caught. Someone's going to find out we left the house."
"We'll finally get to do something. You don't have to come if you don't want to." John shrugged and turned toward the door.
Samantha squinted her eyes. "You know I won't let you go alone."
John nodded. "And you don't want to miss out on the fun. Let's go." He opened the back door and they walked out of the house. John checked his watch. "It's 11:30 now. We should have plenty of time to get there. I'll run and you…"
Samantha was already floating a few feet off the ground when John looked over at her. "How fast can you go?"
Samantha shrugged. "I've never had a reason to find out." She bent her knee and moved higher into the air. Samantha put her hands out, with her palms facing away from her. Samantha pushed her hands down and zoomed forward. "Whoa…" She turned around and gave a thumbs-up to John.
He smiled and ran so that he was standing below her again. "Will you be okay to fly into town?" he called up.
Samantha nodded. "I should be."
"Good." John grinned. "I'll meet you there."
Samantha pushed her hands out and again and flew forward. She looked down and smiled as she saw the ground stream behind her. She looked ahead and moved higher into the air. She had never levitated over a long distance. This was incredible! She was flying into town! "This is so cool!" she said to herself.
John watched Samantha as she took off towards town. He smiled as he watched her figure shrinking in the distance. They had never had a chance to use their abilities like this. He was excited and knew the night would be amazing. John jogged after Samantha and then bent slightly forward, taking off at super speed towards Smallville Savings and Loan.
John got there first, as he had expected. Sam could fly fast but not nearly as fast as he could run. A few minutes later, he heard a whisper and looked around.
"John, up here."
John squinted his eyes in confusion and then titled his head up. Samantha smiled and waved to him from the roof of the bank. "Come up," she said. "The roof is clear."
John nodded. He took a step back from the building and looked up. Samantha had backed away from the edge. John bent his knees and pushed off the ground, soaring up into the air. He bent his knees again and landed gently on the roof.
Samantha stepped next to him. "Nice jump." She giggled.
"Thanks."
"Were you waiting long?"
John shook his head. "Only a few minutes. You fly pretty fast."
"Thanks." Samantha blushed. After a moment, she said, "What should we do now?" She looked around. The only lights in the night shimmered from the street lamps below. Downtown Smallville seemed to be asleep. Except for two thieves, she thought.
John checked his watch. "It's about a quarter of now. Guess we'll wait 'til they come."
John held up his hand. "Wait, I hear something." He walked toward the back of the building and peered over the edge. He nodded to himself and walked back to Samantha. "They're here," he whispered.
Samantha's eyes grew wide. "So what do we do? How should we stop them?"
John thought for a moment. "How about we let them get into the bank. Then if they don't trip an alarm, we make sure they don't get away."
"Okay…"
John looked down at the roof and squinted his eyes. Samantha knew he was switching to X-ray mode. John walked across the roof, looking at the bank's interior. He blinked and looked over at Samantha. "They just go in. Sam, can you use your telekinesis to stop them?"
Samantha shook her head. "I need to be able to see what I'm doing…" She paused for a moment. "Hold on, I have an idea. How long can you use your X-ray vision?"
John shrugged. "I've never timed it to see how long. I guess I could keep it up as long as I wanted, but I don't know."
Samantha took a breath. "Well, what about this? You watch what they're doing and I'll…I'll try reading your mind to see what you see. Then I could move things, do whatever, to stop them."
John looked into her eyes. "Think that'll work?"
Samantha raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "We could try. It'll be easier if we hold hands, though. Direct connection."
"Okay." John held out his hand and she grasped it.
"Let me know when you're in X-ray mode." Samantha smiled and closed her eyes.
John squinted his eyes again and searched for the robbers below. When he found them he said, "Okay, Sam."
On John's words, Samantha let her mind blank out. She had practiced connecting with her mother's mind before. Jean was the perfect teacher to help Samantha hone her abilities, but even with perfect instruction, Samantha had no way to practice her abilities regularly. And now was the test. Once she got to the point where she would see whatever John saw, Samantha knew she could hold the connection. The difficult task was getting there, allowing another mind to completely flow into her own. Samantha took a deep breath. All these thoughts clouded her mind and she needed to clear it to connect to John, to stop the robbery.
After a moment, Samantha smiled. "Got it…" Now she saw through the roof too, as John's eyes swept over the bank.
John moved his eyes towards the back of the bank. "See them?"
"Yeah. They're walking toward the safe." Sam watched as John shifted his gaze down. Something shone bluish-white on both men, near their hips. "What's that?"
"Guns," John said slowly. "They're armed..."
Samantha closed her eyes tighter. "You're used to seeing things in X-ray. Are they wearing jackets or anything?"
"Why?" John asked the question but looked for the answer to her question. "Yeah, they are, but they're loose."
Sam relaxed her eyes. "Should I get rid of their guns?"
John shrugged his shoulders. "Think you can?"
Samantha took a deep breath. She moved her hand out in front of her. "Focus on the guns again." Samantha jerked her hand up and both men's guns floated out of their belts.
"Sam, be careful." John looked around and let his gaze stay on a counter. "How about under there?"
Samantha held her breath as she moved the guns away and slid them below the counter. "Did they notice?"
John looked back at the men. They stood near the wall. "I don't think so. Look, they're at the safe."
"Oh, okay."
One of the men backed away from the safe.
"What's going on?" John asked Samantha.
Samantha smiled. "Watch."
The second man backed away too.
John laughed. "You're spinning the dials!" A moment later, John was serious again. He noticed that one of the men put a hand to his side. "Uh oh. He knows his gun is gone."
Samantha continued confusing the men. Using her telekinesis, she ruffled papers on the counters.
"Sam, you're hand is getting warm…"
Samantha ignored John. She moved the plants around, floated them near the men and then made them zoom away. The second thief jumped back in fear.
"Oh! Did you see that? He has no idea what's going on!" Samantha giggled. "Probably thinks the bank is haunted."
John started to worry. "Yeah, how about we finish up?"
"Okay, okay." Samantha flicked her wrist. "There, I tripped the alarm."
"Good." John blinked his eyes and turned to her.
Clark opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He rubbed his eye with his hand and yawned. He had trained himself to pay attention to signals for help, even in his sleep. No matter what the hour, he was willing to help anyone, but he wished sometimes that he could have a full night's sleep. He didn't need to sleep much, but he appreciated the uninterrupted time. Clark squinted his eyes and focused his ears on a distant ringing.
"Definitely an alarm," he said quietly. Clark looked over at Lois and smiled. She lay on her side with one leg bent and the other locked straight. One of her arms was under the pillow and the other gracefully rested in front of her. Clark leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Lois," he whispered, "I've got to go out."
"Hmm," Lois responded in her sleep, "okay, Smallville."
Even in her sleep, Lois used the nickname she gave Clark. Clark quietly laughed as he carefully stepped off the bed so that he wouldn't disturb his wife. Clark stepped over to his suitcase and unzipped it. He dug to the bottom and pulled out his suit. "Hmm, wasn't expecting to need this for a day or two." Clark glanced back at Lois and in a second, he zoomed out of the Kent house and took off into the sky.
"Hey, are you feeling okay?" John asked.
Samantha nodded her head a little and looked at him. "Yeah, fine. Why?"
John moved their hands up. "You feel really warm." He reached for her other hand and gently squeezed it. "Your hands are really warm."
Samantha narrowed here eyes in confusion. She let go of John's hands and held her own in front of her. She wiggled her fingers back and forth, opened and closed her hands, and then turned them, palms facing the roof. "They feel normal to me…"
John touched the back of her hand. "But they're hot, burning." When John removed his finger, Samantha noticed a reddish tint in her skin.
"What's happening?"
John turned his head. "Uh oh. Sirens. The police are coming."
Samantha still looked at her reddening hands. She turned her hands over again, palms up, and jerked her head back as two bright beams of light shot out of her palms and up to the sky.
John tilted his head back and watched them dissipate in the air. "Whoa! Sam…where did that come from?"
Samantha's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't know. I just…"
John shifted his glance from her again for a moment and saw a police car racing down the street. "Well, whatever it was, we have to figure it out later. Right now, we've got to get out of here. Come on."
Clark still heard the ringing, and he flew towards it, into downtown Smallville. He straightened his body and slowed his speed as he saw two red beams shoot up into the sky. "What is that?" He leaned forward and flew ahead at full speed.
John walked to the edge of the roof and jumped down into the alley. He turned to see Samantha float down to him. Her eyes were distant, as if she were thinking of something else.
When Samantha landed next to him, John said, "Should I um…" He curved his right arm in half an embrace and held his other one out in front of him, bent at the elbow.
"What?" Samantha asked.
"Carry you."
"What??"
"Really. I'm serious. The fastest way back is me running. No offense, but you can't fly that fast, so I can carry you." John looked at her, waiting for a response.
"Well, yeah, but…"
"But what?"
Samantha sighed. "Nothing." She turned sideways so John could lift her up with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. "This definitely takes the awkward factor to a new level."
Clark landed on the roof of the hardware store, thinking the red beams originated from somewhere near there. He scanned the area with his X-ray vision. Clark saw Smallville Savings and Loan across the street and realized it was the source of the ringing. A police car parked in front of the bank, and Clark saw two men inside desperately trying to get out.
"Ready?" John asked.
"Yeah." Samantha draped her arms loosely around John's neck and shoulder. She smiled. "Damsel in distress."
John grinned. "Yeah right." He turned back towards the bank. "They could have gotten out by now."
Samantha shook her head, her eyes sparkling. "Nope, I sealed the doors for a few minutes."
John let out a breath. "Excellent." He jogged towards the street. "I'm taking off."
Clark's jaw dropped as he recognized two people in the alley behind the bank. Then Clark saw his son zoom out at super speed with Samantha in his arms. Clark shook his head. "No way…" He looked back at the bank and jumped off the building. Clark greeted the police officers and wrenched open the bank's door. He ran inside, grabbed the two criminals, and walked back outside. He held them while one officer handcuffed them.
The officer tipped his hat. "Thank you for you help, Superman."
Clark smiled. "Any time." He glanced up and then jumped into the air, heading back to the Kent farm.
