Giving Newton the Bird

"I'm not so sure about this, Chlo." Clark said as he eyed the bottom of the gorge.

Chloe rolled her eyes and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "Look, it's simple. You want to fly, so we're just going to start with a good jump off point."

"I don't think this is how it's supposed to work."

"Well birds chuck their hatchlings out of the nest all the time. From the nest, off a cliff, it's all kind of the same thing." She turned to him and clasped her hands together. "Please let me be your mother hen."

And this was the problem with having a city-raised girl as a best friend. "You know that chickens don't actually fly. I mean, they get off the ground but they don't go very far. They just sort of crash."

She frowned. "I guess then you won't be idolizing Foghorn Leghorn as your flying role model."

"And pretending I even know where that obscure reference comes from, I still don't think this is going to work."

"Do you really think this isn't going to work, or are you just scared?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and felt the heat vision flare just a little in his eyes. "I'm not scared."

"I mean, it's okay if you are. I know you had that fear of heights through most of high school, but now that you know you can't be killed by a steep fall…"

"Yeah, falling from the atmosphere is real fun. I'm thinking of selling tickets and making it an amusement park ride."

"Now who's being sarcastic?" She said, shaking her head. "Granted, so falling's not the most fun thing in the world, and remember I fell out a second story window at the mansion and I'm not invulnerable, erm, wasn't then, but still, I think it's like riding a bike. You're going to eat it a few times before you get it right."

"But I'd really not eat it off a freaking cliff. Can't we just start from the loft window and work our way up to bigger and more idiotic things?"

She nodded and grabbed his hand. "You know, you're right. You worked so hard at making me comfortable out in the back forty that maybe it would be best if we started somewhere you'd be more comfortable." See and he knew he'd be able to talk some sense into Chloe. He grinned to himself, pausing for a few seconds to enjoy the view. It was then he felt the shove.

"Holy crap!' He yelled waving his arms in the air frantically, trying to find purchase. He managed to grab onto her before he tipped all the way over the edge. Unfortunately a hundred and ten pounds of Chloe really wasn't going to balance him out. She let out a shriek and tumbled over the side with him.

They landed in a tangle of limbs and an explosion of dust on an out-cropping of rocks below. Usually, Clark could alter his perception of time so that even several seconds felt like hours. This time, however, he'd been too busy freaking out about how high he was falling from (and, yes, he did realize that at this point his phobia of heights was not only ironic but also ridiculous), to be able to concentrate enough to shift his perception. He laid there, drawing in shaky breaths, and trying to pull himself together. Again, it's not like falling led to shattered bones or anything, but it wasn't enjoyable either. He sighed, letting out a large gust of air that just spread the dust around worse, and then noticed someone else coughing next to him.

Oh God, Chloe.

He was on his feet in a blur, turning around in the dust, trying to find her. "Chlo!"

"Down here, flyboy. Jeez, you didn't have to drag me down with you." She chided, climbing to her feet. "You know," She continued, brushing the dirt off her arms. "You're really lucky I was already shifted when I pushed you or I'd be shattered in a million tiny pieces all over the canyon floor."

He was too relieved to let her complaints bother him. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her what for anyone else would have been a bone crushing hug. She barely batted an eyelash at the pressure of it. It was really nice not having to be careful with one person in his life for once. His relief was soon replaced by something deeper, that same warmth that always swelled between them when their hands touched was amplified with her whole body shifted. Clark could feel the warmth of her and a strange buzzing sensation---a little like sticking his tongue in a light socket, which he'd tried once in his barely speaking English days---percolating under his skin. It was amazing.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

She pulled back and he smiled at how beautiful she was. She was like fine crystal come to life and he marveled in the dozen or so points where the setting sun reflected off of her skin. It created a prism effect and a myriad of colors shone across arms and face. She looked amazing. She looked like home.

"It's okay," Chloe replied, taking his hand in hers. "It was kind of mean to push you. Clearly, the tough love approach is not going to work for flying."

"Maybe," he said, biting his lower lip. "But maybe we could keep trying with the cliff jumping. After the first time, it's not so bad."

"Like that time in eighth grade you were scared to go off the high dive at the community pool until Pete bet you half his baseball card collection. Man," she said, shaking her head. "We couldn't pry you off that thing afterward."

He nodded. "Like that. But I think you might have a point about starting from somewhere high. I think that's going to work best."

"Alright then. Since I'm being the coach this time, then I deem us ready to go back to work," she said, and he could see the peachy tones creeping back into her skin.

He brought his hand up to her shoulder and inhaled sharply at the overwhelming warmth that flowed through him when he did it. "You don't have to change back. It's just us out here. It's not like the gorge is that popular a hang out spot for anyone."

"Only kids high on parasites and low on brains." She deadpanned, looking away. "Look, Clark, I thought this was a day to practice your power, not mine."

He placed his other hand under her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. Her eyes shone a green deeper than Kryptonite did. They were a brilliant emerald color and he felt like he could stare at them all day. He wouldn't of course because that would be a wee bit stalkerish. Not through my telescope stalkerish, but odd enough that Chloe'd totally call him on it. "You should keep practicing. If you weren't so good at it already, you would have been smashed when we fell."

"I know. I just---"

"It's weird."

"A whole panel of the WoW weird. I know, I know. I don't want to end up out-moping you, but it's only been a week and it's so hard to get used to this," She added, bringing her arm up to emphasize her point.

"For what it's worth, I think you're beautiful."

"You're just saying this because I look like the missing birdbath from your crystalline garden."

"Not a birdbath, maybe an angel."

She swatted at his shoulder and it actually stung. Now that was weird. "Well, Mr. Kent, with lines like that no wonder you're a winner with the ladies." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, you're a writer. You can do better than that."

"Ex-writer and I think my brains got scrambled on impact."

"That's for damn sure." She said, letting her skin harden back. "So," she added, putting her arms around his neck, "You are going to superjump us back up because I am so not a mountain climber."

He gathered her legs up as well and squatted down. He felt the rush of leaving the ground and for a second it felt like he was flying, although, he'd always felt that there was a difference between jumping and soaring through the skies. Wasn't there?

Chloe was sitting on the edge of the cliff, swinging her legs against its side. He'd relegated her to that corner because even though he was willing to wipe out and fall flat on his face dozens of more times before he flew, he didn't want to be pushed, and he didn't trust her unless he could see her. That sounded weird based on their seven years of friendship, but Sullivan-Lane girls had a mean streak. He trusted her with his secret and his life but he definitely didn't trust not to give him just an extra "helping" push.

"You know, at this rate humans will have figured out how to fly before you do."

"Well I could always clue together some wings and goose feathers and call it a day."

She snorted. "Yeah because that worked out so well for Icarus."

"Alright, maybe I'll add super-super glue, something nice and sunlight resistant."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not even dignifying that with a response. So the way I see it we have two approaches."

He turned to her and put his hands on his hips. "I thought humans didn't know how to fly."

"Do you?"

"Not really but my birth parents didn't really think far enough ahead to send an instructional manual, which, come to think of it, would have been appreciated."

"Doesn't the A.I. at the Fortress count?"

He scrunched up his face in disgust. "But it's so bossy and has this slight meglomaniacal bent, not exactly helpful to the fledgling Kryptonian with hormonal problems."

She laughed. "Sex-triggered heat vision. Funniest superpower ever."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "So much for having supportive significant others. You know, I'm going to figure out something embarrassing about your ability just so I can bring it up at awkward moments and embarrass the Hell out of you."

"No you won't."

"Oh, there's always an embarrassing side to superpowers, believe me"

"Yeah, but you're a better person than I am. You'd never tease you wilting flower of a girlfriend."

Wilting flower? More like stampeding elephant, but he didn't say that out loud because he didn't want Chloe to kick his ass and there was now a chance that she could do just that. Still, Chloe was anything but delicate. Yeah, she was not taller than Lana, but while the other girl really elicited images in his brain of Southern Belles and fainting spells, Chloe had always seemed like an unstoppable force. Even before her meteor-power manifested itself, she'd been able to keep pace with a Kryptonian.

And boss him around more than he'd like to admit.

"Keep telling yourself that, Chlo. So, you were saying about the two approaches?"

She picked at the grass around her, pulling one stem to pieces as she spoke. "The Peter Pan method dictates that you need to think happy thoughts."

"Are you serious? I'm not a lost boy."

"Well you are an orphan, although it's a shame you aren't a hot Keiffer Sutherland vampire."

He rolled his eyes and ignored Chloe's pop culture contribution of the day. "I'm just saying that's a possibility. I mean, we don't have any fairy dust but maybe it is a happy thought thing." Her tone became more serious and she quirked her head at him. "Do you remember the first time you ever floated?"

He shifted his feet uncomfortably underneath him. He did remember the first time he'd ever floated. It had happened the morning after being the Crow's newest scarecrow. He should be grateful that he'd had dreams great enough to propel him airborne instead of nightmares about being cold and frightened on the cross. And yes, he was aware that the symbolism couldn't get any more obvious if one tried. Yes, he remembered that dream completely, hovering over Lana and watching her sleep, seeing how ethereally beautiful she was.

Of course Dream!Lana had gone and ruined it by blaming him for the death of her parents and he'd crashed instantly.

Come to think of it, maybe Chloe was onto something. He'd felt like crap after being reminded of his guilt, and he'd ended up plummeting to Earth (or at least his poorly constructed bed).

"Clark, you do know that despite the similarities to Emma Frost, I'm not actually psychic, right?"

Thank God for large favors. "It's just that you're not really going to like this story."

"Oh, so the flying is Lana-activated too?" Her voice was a little to bright when she answered and he knew she was trying to fight off her baser instincts, the ones that usually included yelling and maybe hitting things.

Well there were plenty of rocks around to crush.

"I'm not sure. I just know that the first time I ever floated, I was dreaming about hovering over Lana's bed---"

"Hold it right there, loverboy. I think I can imagine the rest, thank you very much."

"No. It wasn't like that at all. I think there was this whole other part, too with me flying over the fields and that just felt…right. When I got to Lana's room, that's when I crashed. I mean, yeah, my mom yelled to me about breakfast and that woke me up, but Lana---Dream!Lana---might have first kind of accused me of murdering her parents."

"Kind of?"

"She said, 'It's all your fault,' which, Freud, I get was a subconscious thing and really how I felt about myself. I'd only seen the Wall of Weird for the first time the day before and it's a lot to be saddled with, even if I didn't cause it or couldn't control it, I came with it." He started pacing, "I feel like crap about the whole thing. I always have. I…I think I was getting better at not feeling guilty and not blaming myself. I'd accepted that Lex was bald and Lana was an orphan because of the shower and now I managed to hurt you too."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes but did not move from her perch on the cliff's ledge. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about the meteor shower. I was upset and I wasn't thinking."

"But it's true, isn't it? There are hundreds of inmates at Belle Reve and who knows how many people that Lex is torturing off in 33.1 and it's because of me."

"It's because your planet blew up, and I'm pretty sure an infant didn't cause that. On the other hand, that raging sociopath General Zod? Definitely his fault. I swear, if I ever get my hands on his non-corporeal ass."

"I think that's going to be a little hard, what with him a phantom and stuck in the PZ."

"Still, it's not bad enough for him to eviscerate a planet and try to do the same to another one, he has to cause all this fall-out that ruined Smallville too. Seriously, if Krypton ever leaned toward capital punishment, he would have been the guy."

"I know. I still just feel responsible."

"Well stop!" She said, her eyes glittering dangerously. "Ego te absolvo. That's what Father McGrady always says at confession and it's true. You didn't do anything wrong and if you had, I know you're trying to make amends. You've spent the last six years trying to clean up a mess you didn't make. Stop feeling so damn guilty."

He whistled. "Wow, your confessional manner might need some work."

"Well you need a kick in the ass and," she added, banging her left leg so hard against the cliff that chunks of rock split off of it, "I can actually do that now. I blame Zod for this and even that's pretty pointless. It's not like anyone can undo it, and so far I can control it and I'm still sane. That's all a pretty win-win situation for me." She sped up through that last part and he could tell that despite her bravado, Chloe was still scared. Her greatest fear, ever since she found her mother, was going insane. It might even be a more distinct possibility now that she'd been meteor-infected. Most of the meteor mutants had gone homicidal, although there were quite a few who had not, like Cassandra, Dan, and Tobias.

"Alright then. If Priest Chloe tells me I'm forgiven, it must be true."

"I'm Catholic, I so have an inside track to God." She said, winking. "So, thinking about Lana actually kept you grounded. Strike one point against the happy thoughts theory."

"Well, maybe Lana was never my happy thought."

"So thinking about me is going to make you fly?"

"That's a little presumptuous. I could have girlfriends on the sly you don't know about."

"Yeah, there's a lot of girls out there who want to date an alien."

"That's low, but, you know, I could have groupies on the sly waiting for me in Roswell."

"Dream on, Chewbacca." She said. "But I still don't think it's a happy thought thing."

"So much for the power of fairy tales."

"Hah. So then it could try my other theory."

"Which would be?"

"The Wiley Coyote method. If you don't look down, then you won't fall."

"I don't think that's going to work either," He said, chuckling and shaking his head.

"Well that was more my outside theory if the happy thoughts plan didn't work." She said, putting her elbows on her thighs and then pillowing her chin in her hands. "Okay, so tell me about the other times you've floated."

He shrugged and continued pacing. "It usually happens after I dream, but I don't often remember what I'm dreaming about." Off her curious look he added, "No I don't think that's a Kryptonian thing. Pete never was very good at remembering his dreams either." Not the specifics anyway. He always swore, though, that they involved supermodels and Halle Berry, although not necessarily in that order.

"Alright," she prodded patiently. "When else do you remember flying?"

"The week that that symbol got burned into my barn."

"The week you burned it into your barn." She corrected, smirking.

"Alright, when I burned it. Anyway, it was the first time I'd ever gotten a download of information and I think my fa…Jor-El was sort of controlling me at the time. Or, I dunno, it's like mom found the key and it and the caves were both calling to me, since that's where Jor-El's will was before the Fortress---"

"That's what you think was also giving you the extra boost."

"Exactly," he replied, nodding and slowing his pacing. "I remember those dreams and they were similar to the one with Lana, just the sense of soaring of everything feeling right."

She frowned at him, her eyes narrowing. She didn't quite believe him, could tell that he was holding something back. And he was. "Okay, so the second time is not that helpful. Were there any other times?"

"Two." He said, sighing and sitting down next to her. He was getting a crink in his neck from staring down at here. Alright, he was pretty sure it was impossible for him to crink his neck, but he had realized that his flying lesson was going to be more a lesson in visualization and searching his feelings (sorry, a Star Wars marathon had been on last night) and not just a jump and hope process.

"Feel free to tell me about them anytime. I'm not going to have to remind you about not being psychic from now on, am I?"

"Nope."

"Ah, so the awkward silence means something."

"It's not that awkward."

"You wanna hear theory number three?"

"You're going to tell it to me anyway."

"I'm going to ignore that thinly veiled insult about my loquaciousness and continue." She said, placing her right hand over his left. The warmth of it calmed him a little, but he wasn't going to be placated. It was going to take more than a few tingles to get him to admit where he suspected his floating ability came from. "My theory is that you know exactly what you have to do to fly."

"I don't." He lied.

"You know, I might not be psychic but you are still a shitty liar, Clark."

"The third time," he continued, ignoring her badgering. "…there was this girl. She called herself Kara and claimed she was Kryptonian, that she'd been waiting in the caves for me. She was sort of offering me this Adam and Eve deal."

"Uh-huh." Chloe drawled noncommittally.

"It doesn't matter," he added, squeezing her hand affectionately and, incidentally, with enough pressure to crush granite. "She was lying. Jor-El had brainwashed her and she wasn't even Kryptonian. Her real name was Lindsay."

"Well that explains that one."

"Huh?"

"You dad came to The Torch only once the entire time we were in high school, and it was to get these mystery fingerprints off of a coffee cup. It turned out to be this Lindsay girl."

"See, still the only one." He said, giving a mirthless laugh.

She squeezed his hand back and, leaning in, gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll just call you Tigger from now on."

He laughed and this time it was genuine. "Did I ever tell you that Perry quotes Winnie-the-Pooh."

"Really?"

He nodded. "After I called him, he actually hung up by saying 'Ta ta for now.'"

"Cool. I knew Mr. White and I were going to be perfect running the Planet together."

"It's nice to have long-term goals."

"Who's talking long term? I was thinking next week." She grinned up at him and he wasn't entirely sure she wasn't kidding. "Anyway, so I assume you and not-Kara went flying."

"We did. It wasn't anything special. I mean, yeah we flew, but it was more like floating, definitely nothing like a jet plane, and not nearly as fast as I can, um, leap."

"Yeah, 'leap.'" She said, making an air quote with her left hand, then adding, "What did you feel like when you did it?"

"Well, I think she was the one doing it."

"I doubt it, or else you would have been dangling or something. It was both of you, wasn't it?"

And it was then that he remembered that Chloe was an investigative reporter, the kind that when you finished asking one of her questions, had another dozen left for you to answer. "Yeah, Chlo. I was doing it to."

"And you know remember how you were feeling. I know you would have, even if you didn't have a photographic memory. I think being awake and flying for the first time would be something you'd never forget."

It wasn't. Being up in the air above the barn was as fresh in his mind right then as it had been almost three years ago. Overwhelmed, he closed his eyes. He could feel Chloe stroking the back of his hand, causing tingles to spread over it in little waves. He didn't want to think about. He didn't.

"It's okay."

"It just felt right."

"So you've said that before, but that's vague, Clark. I edited your work for four years. I know you have a more extensive vocabulary than that.

In point of fact, he had as an extensive vocabulary as the one of the newest editions of Merriam Webster's. He'd been bored one Sunday in middle school and felt like being constructive with his speed reading skills. He also had all the phone numbers in Lowell County memorized. "I dunno, Chlo. I felt like I belonged, that I could be Kryptonian with her and that it would be okay, that it would be better than just okay. I could really enjoy my powers. My parents never let me do that."

"I see." She said, still steadily stroking his hand. "It's okay if you thought that Lindsay was one of yours. I know how lonely you are. I try, but I know it's not the same."

"Well, they did trick me, so apparently I can't trust my hormones." He sighed and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. "Most days you are enough, Chlo. You and my mom, I mean, but it's so fucking hard being the last one." Chloe arched an eyebrow at his profanity. He rarely swore, but it had been a long week and it was beginning to take its toll, even on his invulnerable constitution. "Kara…Lindsay, she came when everything was falling apart. You were in the middle of getting ready to testify against Lionel, Pete and I weren't really talking, Lana was moving to Paris and I could tell that Lex was keeping huge secrets from me---yes, I know how hypocritical that sounds. It was just nice to be with someone who was supposed to be like me, who wouldn't be weirded out like I was afraid you'd be."

"For the record, you're an idiot."

"Maybe. But I felt Kryptonian, I guess, with her, which is pretty ironic because we don't even have these powers where I'm from. It's some weird side effect of the sun's radiation. Yellow light. Ours was red."

"Oh."

"Yeah. If there were a Krypton and I were there, I'd be so freaking average."

"I always said that normal was highly overrated."

"You still believe that?" He asked, opening his eyes to check out her reaction.

"Perhaps. I don't know if I'd like to look like a piece of cut crystal from time to time, but the white picket fence was never really my style anyway." She added, giving a pained smile.

"Mine either."

"Then we're very lucky we found each other." She said.

"Yeah."

"So, what was the last time where you flew?"

"After I got back."

"From where?"

"See that's the part of the story you missed when you were 'dead.' My dad didn't get to me in time with the information and Lindsay tricked me into a position where I had to go into a hidden chamber in the caves. I was there for three months being brainwashed and then when I got out, I wasn't me."

"Okay, Sartre, who were you?"

"Kal-El."

She frowned but her brows, of course, couldn't furrow to show her confusion. "That's your birthname, right?"

"Yeah, but when I came out, I was just like this robot or something. I didn't care that my dad was in the hospital, I pushed my mother around, literally. Anything about being Clark Kent didn't matter. I was just waiting for whatever commands Jor-El was going to give me."

"He did, I assume."

"More or less. One of the crystals that made up the Fortress started calling to me, from one of Lex's private jets as a matter of fact, and I took off to retrieve it. It was so easy. One minute I was on the ground and the next I wasn't. It was like breathing."

"And you don't remember how you did it?" He looked away but, in a reversal of their earlier exchange, she put her hand under his chin and forced him to look at her. Forced him. It was so weird being manhandled, especially by a girl. That hadn't really happened since Zod's female lieutenant. "Clark, look at me. You know exactly what you did, how it felt."

He ran a hand over his face. "I…I can't share it, Chlo. It's too hard."

"And this isn't?" She asked, holding up her left arm. "I'm sitting here, looking like a tourism advertisement for your home planet, and trying to get used to this whole freakish---screw your ban on that word---new side to me. You think that's not awkward or painful for me?"

"It's not the same."

Hers eyes glittered again and she barely kept herself from yelling. "Tell me why it's not?"

"Because your power, I dunno, it comes from a good place. You want to protect yourself. It's a physical manifestation of that emotion. You don't want to hurt anyone; you just want to keep yourself safe."

"So you're saying you want to hurt people when you fly?"

"Of course not."

"Then what is it?" She asked, throwing her hands up in the air.

He closed his eyes and looked away from her again. "It's about being better than everybody else. It's about knowing deep down that I don't belong here and being proud of it. Kal-El, me, whatever had enough contempt for the world that he just left it behind. He…I didn't need it so it wasn't even an obstacle. All that ego, that insufferable superiority complex that Fine and Zod and Jor-El all had, I have it too." He looked back at her, daring her to speak.

Her reaction was telling. She shifted almost instantly, pink skin pouring over and replacing the crystalline shell that had encased her. Her concentration had broken. "No, you don't." She said, shaking her head. "In fact, you pretty much have an inferior complex or else you wouldn't hide your powers from everyone. That and the good common sense that keeps you from telling so you don't get carted off to 33.1." She reached out to touch his forearm and he immediately felt the loss of that special warmth she gave him when she shifted. "You don't really feel that way."

He shook his head and looked away from her, embarrassed. "I do. Deep down, in the back of my mind, I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I ran things. You know I could. Give me a week and I could have the U.N. on its knees. It would be ridiculously easy. I could set up whatever I wanted, 'rule them with strength' and all that crap. I'd never do it, but I've thought about it. I've had a lot of days where I'll be watching the news and know that I could do better than that."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Please, we all think we can do better than the current yahoo in office. That's pretty human of you, actually, and very disaffected twenty-something."

"No, you don't get it, Chlo. I know I'm better than you. I'm smarter than you, much smarter and we both know it. And I'm sure as Hell stronger, probably stronger than most natural forces on Earth let alone humans. There are some meteor mutants that came close to beating me when I was younger and hadn't grown into my powers, but lately, it hasn't even been a contest. During those few times when I floated and was controlling, it was about knowing that I was Kryptonian---knowing that I was superior---and enjoying it. That's why, even though I've known how to fly for over two years, I haven't done it because I can't afford to think that way. I don't want to be Zod."

She ran her fingers lightly over his arm and then took his hand, squeezing it and trusting him to squeeze back and not hurt her frail human body. "You're not going to be, not ever."

"You don't know that. All the others---"

"Were raging sociopaths and Jor-El and Raya were full of themselves. I liked Raya a lot, as little as I got to know her, but she was pretty damn arrogant too, just showing up and expecting you to have followed through with your wonderful training, as if putting the mantle of savior on a sixteen year old boy wasn't flat out fucking ridiculous. I don't know, maybe Kryptonians were just a little arrogant as a race. Maybe they thought they were better than mass space travel, but that was obviously not anymore of a virtue for them than it was for us. They were so arrogant that they're not even around."

"Most of us."

"Minus one orphan, an evil robot, and three criminal masterminds. Okay, so I can see how you could come by those feelings honestly. I mean, even if you didn't have superpowers, Jor-El is one of the most pompous asses I've ever had the displeasure to meet. I resent my 'one human life' not being worth your destiny. Anyone who'd let anyone freeze to death has seriously skewed priorities. And considering what you can do, I understand why you feel superior too. I only have a fraction of your strength, but it's enough to feel really heady. I don't feel drunk off power, but I do feel a bit like a badass. Still, you aren't going to turn out like Zod."

"How can you be so sure, Kal-El was an asshole."

"He was also brainwashed, for one."

"What's two?"

"I wasn't here. If I had been, I would have given you a piece of my mind, and I don't care how many freaking superpowers you have, nothing in your arsenal matches a pissed off Sullivan-Lane girl. Lois just didn't know you well enough to lay the smackdown on you."

"She did do a pretty good job of keeping me reigned in at the hospital."

"See. You're not going to get carried away with how wonderful you are because I'm not going to let you. No matter how great you are at flying, Mighty Mouse, I know everything about you. I know that your still terrified of heights, note to Alanis now that is ironic. I know that you used to trip over your own two feet anytime you got near the so-called girl of your dreams. I'd never seen someone eat it so regularly until I moved to Smallville, by the way. And I know that you're still scared of the dark, just a little bit, because you have an Elmer Fudd nightlight."

"Damn Lois's big mouth."

"Trust me. You aren't going to turn into some megalomaniacal dictator because I won't let you. Plus," she added, shifting just her left hand and flexing it into a fist. "I might not be able to take you, but I could probably give you a big enough ass-kicking to knock your superiority complex down a few notches." Then she burst out laughing.

He joined her, feeling the tension lift, and relief wash over him. "It would be so embarrassing if my girlfriend kicked my ass."

Chloe froze instantly.

Oh crap. He'd used the g-word. "Chloe, don't be like that."

"Not now. I mean, yeah we've kissed a few times---"

"Might I add that the way we've kissed has not been anything I'd ever think of doing with a friend like Pete or Jimmy."

"Yeah."

"And I know you love me. You always have."

"Ego much?" She snipped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And I know that I love you."

She shook her head. "No, you know that you saw me cut open on a lab table and it freaked the Hell out of you, and you're relieved I'm alive. You still have all these muddled Lana feelings and on top of it, I'm not even sure that it's me you're in love with."

"Huh?"

"You might just be in love with my superpowers."

"I didn't even know about the whole tingling thing until after I offered to be your Valentine." He defended.

"But I know you. You fell hard for Khyla, the werewolf, and you married Alicia, the teleporter, about a week after her release. Yeah, I know about the Red K, but you still could have been in it for just the easy sex. You married her because you were deeply in love with her and part of that was because even though she wasn't Kryptonian, she had powers just like you did."

"It isn't about near-death experiences or superpowers. I love you."

She shook her head sadly and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I wish I could believe that. I…we're best friends right now---"

"Who kiss."

"Well there is that part, but I am so not ready to be girlfriend and boyfriend yet. Yeah, I've always wanted that with you, but I'm still trying to find out who I am now, what it means to be a meteor freak, if I'll even be sane in a few months. Not to mention the fact that Lex Luthor is going to hunt me down the second he ties the knot. I just…I can't right now and you need to figure out what Lana means to you and what I mean to you, just as regular old Chloe, not before Super Chloe showed up."

"I…but."

She brought a finger up to his lip. "Not now, Clark, please. Let's just try for lift off and worry about finding me a new place to live. I didn't want to fight today or get all girly. I'm sorry."

He nodded. She had a point. A few good ones, actually. "Okay," he said, standing up and extending a hand toward her. "Are you ready for me to try this."

She extended her left hand, shifting it back to normal before she touched him, much to his disappointment. "Yeah, let's do this."

"'Let's?' Chlo, I don't think I'm passenger ready?"

"Puh-leaze, like it'd hurt if we crashed. I already fell off a cliff. Apparently even the 'vegetation' or whatever on Krypton is made of sterner stuff."

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes. It was futile to argue with her. You couldn't talk a Sullivan-Lane girl out of anything. Damn that fiery Irish temper. "Alright, you asked for it." He said, reaching out to sweep her legs out from under her. He was holding her close against his chest, the same way he had when he'd saved her from Belle Reve almost a year ago. Even if they were "just friends" right now, he loved the feel of her against his chest, loved feeling her warmth and vitality.

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then he took a few more. And some more.

"Clark?"

"Yeah?" He said, opening an eye.

"I'd like to do this before the sun sets. Veronica Mars is on tonight."

"Ha ha."

"Seriously," she said, "It's going to be okay. You aren't going to go all evil dictator because I won't let you. It's okay to let yourself feel more Kryptonian. You don't have to hide it with me or deny it like with your mother. Besides, I think you're wrong. Maybe right now it feels like flying means you have to feel 'superior,' but I don't think that's really it."

"You don't?"

"I just think it's because it makes you feel free." She smirked back up at him. "I know why the caged bird sings."

"I'm not a big bird, Chlo."

"Well Big Bird doesn't fly either." She said, her smirk, widening. "Come on, Mighty Mouse, let's see what you can do."

He nodded and closed his eyes again. Taking in one last deep breath, he honed in on what it had felt like to be Kal-El, to be able to be his true self without worrying about what other people would think of him, to be able to love his gifts. When those same feelings washed over him, he opened his eyes and bent his knees. Letting out a deep breath, he released his knees and shot up, up and away.

Chloe was clutching tightly to his neck as he flew and he had his arms wrapped as tightly around her hips and legs as he dared. At first he was rocketing through the clouds, feeling them whip around his face and through his hair. His perception shifted and he could see everything unfolding before him in slow motion. They passed by a flock of geese heading south and he could see each feather ruffling in the wind, the subtle and incremental movement of their nearly frozen wings. The speed was amazing. So much faster than he'd ever run. Hell, faster than Bart Allen had ever run. He knew it. He was lightening unleashed, faster than the speed of sound, faster maybe even than light itself.

But it probably was a bit too much speed for a human.

Reluctantly, he concentrated and felt his speed drop so that it could be measured in tens of miles an hour. He was doing twenty maybe thirty miles an hour tops. Regaining his normal perception, he looked down toward Chloe.

"Chlo?"

She blinked up at him and gasped. "I didn't even realize we'd taken off. It was so fast."

What had felt like hours for him had probably been barely a microsecond for her. Oh the joys of superspeed. "I know." And he couldn't keep the pride from creeping into his voice. "I can fly faster than I can run."

"Cool, but don't get a swelled head, Mighty Mouse. Just because you can fly, doesn't mean you can land worth a damn."

"Hey! I can so land."

"Uh-huh, we'll see," She said snuggling against him. He felt the tingling before he looked down and noticed, she shifted in his grasp.

"You don't trust me not to drop you?"

"Just taking precautions. I really don't want to die, you know? I have to get revenge on Lex Luthor first."

"That's a healthy perspective." He riposted.

They spent the next hour swooping around through the clouds. It would have been very romantic, if they weren't also best friends. Most of their inaugural flight was filled with Chloe's running commentary a far too many Daffy Duck and Mighty Mouse jokes. Leave it to her to take something so majestic and shred it with snark.

She was right. He was never going to become an egomaniac with her around.

Finally, though, the sun was setting and it was time to land. He swooped low, ducking under trees and brush, and pointedly ignoring Chloe's complaints against getting hit by branches. They really weren't going that fast and she should try avoiding low-hanging foliage and see how easy it was. Besides, since they were both invulnerable, it was more annoying than it was painful.

Finally, he worked himself back to the edge of the cliff and, taking a deep breath, swept low for his final descent. It was a lot like leaping pencil style into a pool, or that was the best metaphor he had. Maybe he'd have been better off if he'd done gymnastics as a kid because he wished he'd learned how to stick a landing before. He felt his speed slow until he was just hovering upright a few feet above the ground. Then he just dropped, landing easily, and absorbing the impact with his knees.

Chloe changed back instantly as she prepared to hop down from what she'd playfully dubbed "Clark Kent Airlines." Before she did, though, she made sure he got enough mixed signals for the night by giving him another quick peck on the cheek.

Girls. He might be the Kryptonian, but they were the whole other species.

He let her go and ignored the pang that blossomed in his chest when her warmth was removed from him. "So, did I pass the test?"

"Well, I think my hair's pretty messed up and I might have gotten a bug or two in my teeth, but I think your first trip out was a success, Mighty Mouse," she said, her grin so wide it seemed to swallow up her whole face.

"I like 'Stretch' better." A familiar voice quipped behind them.

They both spun around to find a familiar red-hooded individual smirking back at them.

"Bart Allen." Clark said, shaking his friend's hand and wrapping him up in a manly half-hug. "Good to see you, man."

Bart pulled away and held his arms wide open. "Chloelicious, show me how much you missed me."

"Dream on, Impulse," She said, rolling her eyes, but still walking over and giving him a quick hug.

"Now that was amazing," he said, looking back at Clark. "I've never seen anything else like that."

"You saw that?" Chloe asked, the color draining out of her cheeks.

Clark shifted his eyes toward her but said nothing. She was still sensitive about having his mother watch her practicing and she'd only ever fully shifted in front of him. Even in front of the rest of the Justice Bros (they were definitely going to have to change the name now), she was nervous about looking like the biggest freak. Considering he was part of the group too, he doubted she'd win the dubious title of most bizarre member. Still, she was insecure about her powers and didn't want Bart to see her that way.

"Yeah, señorita, I saw Clark float like a butterfly but not so much sting like a bee."

"You did?" She squeaked.

"Yeah, wish I'd had a better view, though. I only caught a glimpse from behind. You still got the up close and personal view." He said, his brows furrowing with concern. "You okay, you look a little sick."

"Just air sick. High altitude and all that," She said, giving a weak laugh. Recovering quickly, she added, "What brings you here?"

"My favorite reporter gets abducted by Mr. Clean and you expect me just to hang back in Cairo and play nice at command central. Yeah right."

"Bart," Clark said, massaging his temples. Technically, he didn't get headaches but it sometimes felt like he could when he talked with the fastest kid alive. "Does Ollie know you're gone?"

"He will in a few hours."

"Perfect." He replied, letting the sarcasm creep into his tone. "Well gang, let's get back home. I need to call Ollie and explain where the junior member of the Justice Bros got to and then I want to sleep. Flying's pretty exhausting."

And then, in an oddly girlie moment, Chloe stroked her chin and looked thoughtful. "But I wonder how many calories it burns?"

"Who cares?" Bart added. "I just ran here from Egypt. I'm starving. Your mom wouldn't happen to be home, would she?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Congress is out for the next week and she just baked two apple pies. One of which is so mine."

"Dibs on the other one."

"What about me?" Chloe asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I didn't think you'd want any. Don't you want to maintain your girlish figure?" Clark asked.

"I'm so not Lana. I want my half of the pie, Mighty Mouse, or else I'll break out the green rocks and take all of it."

"Busted," Bart said, laughing, as they all climbed into the Kent family truck and headed to the familiar yellow farmhouse, which, even though Clark had now learned to fly, to access the alien part of himself, would always be his home.