46
"So he knows ?" Chloe asked, pacing their room.
Clark sighed and perked up his ears. Kon was still sleeping soundly in his crib but he had a feeling that Chloe was about to work herself up into a frenzy and a lot of shouting. "I don't think he does."
"You know I talked to Kara first, right? He might not have quite figured out the phone home part, although the Roswell joke doesn't fill me with confidence, but Perry does know you have powers and that you're kind of like Kon's mom."
"First, that's your job description. I just did the annoying back pain and waddling bit. Second, he just showed a few pictures and mentioned that he'd heard Lois make fun of me for gaining weight. I cannot wait for the rest of you to get pregnant, by the way. You are so overdue for being mocked."
"Sorry," she replied. "Lois and Kara are just a little thoughtless."
"And Metropolis is just a large town," he deadpanned. "I don't know exactly. Honestly, I think Perry has everything figured out, no matter how much we lied today, but he doesn't want to run a story."
Chloe snorted, "Senator Kent's Son: Pregnant Super-powered Alien."
"Swear jar," he corrected. "Also, that would never be the headline of the Planet."
"When Grant was there, it would have been. If Lex's team ever gets enough to prove that, though, he'd never print it. Having your secret? That's complete power over you, us, and your mom and he knows that."
"Lex isn't going to find out," Clark said, wincing a little as Chloe started rummaging through the closet. "Looking for something?"
"Pajamas mostly," she replied, pulling out her Fraggle purse and tossing it onto a chair. Clark winced again and then Kon started crying. He was back from the nursery with their son in his arms before Chloe could blink. "That's convenient." She frowned and sat beside both of them on the bed. "Is he okay? You just fed him-"
"Thanks for reminding me," Clark huffed, rocking Kon a little.
"And he was having his nap and he's not wet."
Clark sniffed. "No, I'd know that."
"He's not sick, is he?"
Clark shook his head and shushed their son a little. "No, I…there's been this buzzing lately."
"Huh?"
"I thought it was just me and then Kara mentioned it today at the diner. I've been hearing this hum and it's like this buzz, kind of like that guy in your dorm freshman year who had 'borrowed' the cable but the connection made this high-pitched whine because it was jerry-rigged."
"Yeah, I remember. You refused to even try coming over after you and Lana broke up because the noise was that bad."
"Exactly, it's like that. It was kind of like background noise but it got worse just a few minutes ago." He frowned and kept rocking Kon, struggling in vain to get him to stop crying. "Did they do construction or a radio tower or something new in the county lately?"
"No public works that I know of. Did your hearing get more acute?"
"Mine did, but both Kon and Kara shouldn't be extra sensitive. It's not awful. It's just probably annoying him right now," he finished, stroking Kon's bangs. "Hey, buddy. Shh, it's okay."
Chloe sighed and stroked Kon's hand. "Clark, that's not a good thing. If it's not a radio tower or something in the city…there has to be a reason you've been hearing things lately. When did you notice it, outside of what Kara said?"
"Maybe when you moved onto the farm, but I doubt you're the culprit, Chlo."
"I didn't say that," she said, reaching out a hand and concentrating. A faint rose red glow spread over Kon and, as he quieted back to sleep, Chloe winced. "You guys hear that all the time and you just start complaining now?"
"Fatal pregnancy and dead wife, I was preoccupied and wasn't worried about a little ringing," he said tiredly. "I don't know what it means. It could be nothing. It could be the Hubbards have new farm equipment or that the town switched cable services or that our hearing was always just going to get more acute."
"Or it could be something else," she said, sticking her index finger in her ear. "That ringing sounds electronic."
"Hence some kind of construction or whatever. I thought we were arguing about Perry and Lex."
"A 'get in line' type deal?"
"Something like that," he replied, rocking Kon just a little. "What do we do now?"
"I called Ollie and J'onn. They're on top of doing everything Perry said and then some. We can't get back any of the security footage from the DP, but Lex saw you in person and then he saw you again a month ago."
"I don't think he saw below the steering wheel," Clark defended.
"But he already noticed the weight gain part." She sighed, "I feel handicapped. I can't even tell what Lex wants. He has the Kryptonite. He knows that Arrow must have a Kryptonian working with him or his men wouldn't have been ready for Kara. He's at least hinted that Lana might not have been the one carrying Kon-"
"And Kon's still here and so am I a month after the fact. If he knew enough to get the Blue and Gold K, then he should be here right now, but he hasn't come at all. What's he waiting for?"
Chloe frowned at the picture of Jackson that Perry had given him. "Maybe he's waiting for a full set?"
"Jackson and Kon shouldn't be a part of any of this at all."
"And neither should you or Kara even. You're all still pretty young. I don't think there's a correct age for being made into a lab rat, but you can ask all the 33.1 inmates about that," she snapped.
"I'm sorry….I didn't mean it like that."
"I know, and I'm the one who brought up 33.1 at all. My point is that he might be interested in all of you. It's not just you and Kara. Connor and Jackson….they're almost more valuable. If we're right about what Connor can do when he's old enough, then he and Jackson both have at least one more ability than either you or Kara do."
"And they might not be as affected by the Kryptonite."
She shrugged. "I'm not willing to risk that, ever, but you could see how intrigued Lex would be with all of it. It's not just the last two survivors of Krypton he can move on when he's ready. Jackson and Kon…they're a new type of people, really."
"Species," Clark sniffed, holding Kon tighter.
"I didn't say that. Half-Kryptonian or half-squirrel," she replied, grinning. "Kon's my son, but I meant that you have someone unique, at least since some time five hundred years ago in China or Egypt. One of you would be priceless but the four of you together, especially Kryptonians with the potential to have none of your weaknesses?"
Clark shivered. "I can see your point. He can't have any of us, but he definitely can't have Jackson or Kon. I won't let him near either of them. Iad , Kon's barely a month old and Jackson's not even nine yet. What kind of a monster would-"
" Lex would," Chloe finished. "Look, we've got Arrow on fixing your records and we've got Dinah on keeping Lana secure. Lex won't move until he can prove something, you know he wouldn't. Who you are puts you in the spotlight more than it should-"
"Because of my powers?"
"No, because your mom's a senator, but it's a good thing, too. He can't move on you without doing something insanely illegal. It's a much bigger deal when a senator's family goes missing."
"Yay for special treatment."
"I'm just saying that if he's going to make his move, he's going to do it when he has all the cards in order and he doesn't. We just have to keep him away from the farm and from you guys."
"But Mary Donovan doesn't have the resources of Lionel or the League behind her. She doesn't even know the kind of danger that's after her."
"Then maybe we need to figure out how deeply Lex is digging and then we can figure out how to help both of them."
"So, we're going to New Mexico?"
"Exactly," she replied, leaning against his shoulder. "But first we're going to try getting some rest." She sighed and kissed the crown of Kon's head. "Is the noise better?"
"It's really not so bad," he lied. "Just…try and get some rest, okay?"
"I can do that," she replied, snuggling closer into him, and, for all the tenseness of the day, Clark at least felt better.
"You see him, don't you?" Chloe asked, pointing at the man in the rumpled suit who was casually sitting on the park bench.
"Him? Yeah, I noticed he didn't have any kids or an I-pod or book or anything. He's just staring at the sandbox."
"Where Jackson is."
"Yup," Clark replied, nodding. "Do you know him?"
"It's Johnson from the top floor. I bumped into him once or twice, sneaking up to see Perry. He's good."
"And obvious."
"Not that obvious to everyone else. You can see that he's been here for almost an hour."
"So have we," Clark defended.
"We brought an alibi," Chloe replied, pointing to his stomach. They had one of those carrier things and now Kon was resting, papoose style, right over Clark's middle. It was a little like the olden days, except for him getting to keep his powers and looking a lot less like a kangaroo.
"True, damn!"
"Swear jar," Chloe hissed.
"I know, but he's heading to that café, maybe he's calling in something to Lex."
"I'll trail him. You keep an eye on Jackson, okay?"
"You sure? I can just perk up my ears…"
She shook her head. "I want to see how the operation is being run. I'll be back in about five minutes, okay?"
"Fine," he replied, watching her kiss Kon and then him. Oh well, he was getting used to coming in second, and if he had to do it, doing it to the cutest baby in the universe (and Clark was in no way biased no matter what Lois said) wasn't so bad.
Clark sighed and watched Chloe slip away. "See, buddy, that's what mommy does for a living. She trails after bad men and gives daddy heart attacks."
Kon looked up at him and gurgled.
"You're not anymore talkative than you were two months ago, you know."
"He's cute."
Clark blinked up from Kon and realized that Jackson was standing in front of him. From where Clark sat, he could make out the gleaming blue pendant around Jackson's neck. It had been carefully etched into the symbol for "hope" and it was enough to make Clark sick. He didn't care how badly Dax-Ur had needed to hide Jax, there was nothing hopeful or good about poisoning one's son.
"I think he is," he replied smoothly. "Uh, don't you want to go back to the sandbox now?"
Jackson shrugged and sat down on the bench next to Clark. "The other kids don't like me very much."
"Why?" Clark asked and then he let out a sharp breath. "I'm sorry that was rude. I didn't mean to."
"No, it's okay. They don't like me. I skipped a bunch of grades and I do weird things."
Clark frowned. "You do?"
He nodded. "I can remember tons of stuff. I never have to even study for tests or anything and, sometimes, even if I don't want it to, if I get mad, things happen."
"Jax, maybe you shouldn't be telling me things like this. You don't even know me."
Jax frowned. "Sure I do. You visited my dad. He knows you and you visited my mom, too."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did. I was coming in the back door right when you and the pretty lady with the blonde hair were leaving. You know my parents."
Clark sighed. "So much for incognito."
"Huh?"
"Jax, I don't think your mom wants me to hang out with you all that much."
Jax concentrated on him and his eyes were eerily intense. "But you know about me, don't you? You know that I'm special. I heard you tell my mom that when you were looking for my dad's papers. You remember things too, don't you?"
"Everything," Clark confessed. "I remember everything that's ever happened to me and I remember everything I've ever heard or read. I didn't have to study in school either."
"And you love Calculus too, don't you?"
"I don't love it, actually. I want to be a writer when I grow up." Clark paused and laughed at that.
"What's so funny?"
"I am grown up. I…this is my son Kon."
Jax quirked his head at Kon but didn't touch him. "I know. He wasn't here before."
"Well, no, he's just a month old."
"But he was here, kind of, when you visited. I heard it."
Clark shook his head. "No you didn't."
"Yes, I did. I…sometimes I hear things from far away. Not often. Most of the time the weird things I do are all in my head, like how I can do math so well or how hitting a baseball is so easy because the ball always looks slow to me."
Clark nodded, "It does to me too."
"Yeah, but sometimes I hear things. I was getting a soda out of the cabinet and I heard Kon. I heard the other heartbeats in the room with me and there were four of them."
Clark sighed and looked down at Jax. "Your necklace wasn't touching your skin was it?"
He shook his head. "It's a pendant. Necklaces are for girls. Also, yeah. Sometimes if I move it, different things happen. I took it off once and I just felt different."
"Different?"
"Stronger, but then I got scared mom would know I'd taken it off and put it back on." He frowned. "I don't like wearing it, but dad made me promise."
Clark swallowed and hated himself for what he was about to say. "You can't ever take it off. Your mom and dad told you that, didn't they?"
He nodded, "Uh-huh. I'm supposed to always wear it and I'm not supposed to tell people about the way things move too slow sometimes or about how good my memory can be."
"Exactly."
"You don't have one."
"Huh?"
"You and Kon, you don't have anything blue at all. My dad had a bracelet he wore because he could do special things too. I saw him take it off once. He doesn't know I did, but I saw what happened when it wasn't there."
"What happened?"
"He went running and he was so fast. I could see him but my mom couldn't. I can't do that."
Clark nodded. "The blue stuff is very important, Jax. It's how your father wanted to keep you safe."
"From who?"
"Jax," Clark started, sighing again. This would be a conversation he'd be having again with Kon and probably more than once. God knew he and his own father had argued a lot over keeping his powers a secret. "Other people can't do what we can. They don't remember things or run fast or hear so well."
"I know. That's why only a few kids play with me."
Clark nodded and barely resisted the urge to squeeze Jax's shoulder. He was part of his family in that same odd way the Kawatchee tribe had now accepted him and Kon and Kara, but Jax was still not his son. His responsibility, sure, but never his son. "I didn't have a lot of friends when I was your age either."
"Because we're different?"
"Yes, and there are a lot of people who'd be very jealous if they knew just how special you were. They'd want to…Jax, it's just not good to show off your powers, okay?"
"What would they do?"
"Nothing. Just don't tell anybody about what you can do and keep the blue stuff on like your promised your dad, okay?"
"But you and Kon-"
"I'm here to take care of Kon, but your dad's not here to help you with the hearing and maybe the running if you could even do it. This is the way he wanted it and you're not ready for anything else."
"But you could help me be ready."
Clark shook his head. "Not right now. One day, I promise. If you need to talk to me, I'll come find you."
"Really?"
He nodded. "I always hear even better than you can on your best day." And exponentially better since the hormones had changed everything. Clark concentrated and forced himself to memorize the rhythm of Jax's heartbeat which, like his and Kara's, was slower than a regular human's. "Your mommy has my phone number if you ever want to talk to me, but if you're ever in trouble and you need me, you just have to scream."
"But you live in Metropolis. The blonde lady said so."
"I'll still hear you, I promise. You just have to yell for 'Clark' and I'll come, no matter what."
Jax nodded, his wide eyes solemn. "But you and Kon won't come to visit me, will you?"
"No, your mom doesn't like me very much and it's not safe for you to be seen with me either."
"You're like me."
Clark shook his head. "No, I'm not, exactly. Connor is, though. He's going to grow up to be just like you."
Jax frowned down at the sleeping baby. "Do things break when he's upset? I don't mean to do it, but sometimes the windows break or my mashed potatoes explode or stuff in art class gets hurt. I don't mean to, I swear."
"I know you don't. It's not your fault. Kon can't do it right now, but when he was still in his mommy's tummy, he used to make things break too. It's just something special only the two of you can do."
"You can't?"
"Nope."
"The tall lady can't either?"
"The what?"
"Jackson Dean Donovan, what are you doing?" Mary demanded, stalking over to them. Despite his returned invulnerability, Clark was suddenly very afraid. She looked like she was ready to tear him apart.
"I'm talking to your friend, Mr. Clark."
"Jackson, go back to the sandbox, I need to talk to Mr. Clark for a minute," his mother said, eying Clark angrily.
He shrugged, "Okay." Before he left, though, he leaned over and gave Clark a quick hug. "Thanks for talking to me. It's so cool that Kon's just like me. Too bad he's just a baby, though." And with that, Jackson rushed out (human speed, of course) and back to the sandbox.
Clark looked up at Mary, "I can explain."
"What you're doing here, interfering with my son after I told you never to bother either of us again. I'm not even surprised. There's been this blonde girl, much taller than Chloe, who sometimes shows up here. She talks to Jax too but when she does it, she speaks strangely."
"Kara," Clark hissed.
"She's the fourth, isn't she? She's your cousin?"
He nodded. "I had no idea she'd been meeting with Jax at all. I didn't even know she knew where to find him."
"And that quaint gibberish she has Jackson repeating everywhere, what is that? I sometimes heard Dexter mumble in it in his nightmares."
"I…" Clark floundered. "It's her native language."
"Not yours?"
"I grew up here, speaking English," he admitted. "I can speak the other just as well as Dexter could or Kara does, but it doesn't really feel like my language. I had no idea she was doing that. I'm going to talk to her about that right away."
"I don't want you to talk with her. I want the both of you to leave my son alone. He has a hard enough time as it is trying to fit in. He doesn't need to learn some bizarre dialect from your cousin or to hear about your son's abilities." She snorted and looked down at Clark, "He doesn't need to end up like you."
"Like me?"
Mary narrowed her eyes at his stomach, which was considerably smaller than it had been the month before, though not completely normal for him yet, and then at Kon. "I'm not a fool. I'm not a math prodigy like my husband and my son, but I'm not stupid either. Wherever you and Dexter came from…I don't want Jackson to be a part of that culture."
"I'm not forcing anything on him. I was telling him to keep his pendant on and to never tell people about his powers. He was way too upfront with me."
"Fine then. Message delivered. Why are you even back?"
Clark bowed his head. "Do you know who Lex Luthor is?"
She nodded. "He's the richest man in the country. Why do I care?"
"He sent one of the best reporters at The Daily Planet to town two months ago to spy on your son. So far, he hasn't found anything and since the blue meteor rock keeps Jax pretty normal, he's not going to."
"Define 'pretty normal.' What happens if I take the rock off?"
"Don't ask me that again. I won't answer it. You keep it on and, aside from his intelligence, there's nothing noticeable about Jax. You take it off and then Lex finds what he's looking for."
"And what is he looking for?" She prodded.
Clark hesitated and stared down at Kon. "Proof that Jax is just like me or Kon."
What Mary did next surprised him. Reaching over, she pulled the tiny pair of Oakley's (specially commissioned gift from Ollie) off of Kon's face. Kon blinked up at her before slipping his thumb into his mouth and falling back to sleep. "Jackson's eyes looked like that until he was eleven months old. I've never seen any infant anywhere before or since who looked like eyes don't look like that."
"And I don't know what you're getting at," Clark gritted out.
"Where were you and my husband from? It wasn't Eastern Europe."
"It is if I say it is," Clark replied, his tone clipped. "Lex Luthor is dangerous and psychotic."
"Lex Luthor? The same man who's given millions to hospice and other charities? The one who rebuilt Metropolis from scratch after Dark Thursday? That Lex Luthor? He's an even bigger philanthropist than Alfred Pennyworth or Oliver Queen."
"And he hurts people too. He does experiments on people whom he thinks has abilities. Jax is so very smart. He'd be a target. I have half a dozen friends, I've busted out of his labs and the things he does…he tortures people, Mrs. Donovan. If he gets his hands on Jax, he'll hurt him too."
"Why is Lex even interested in my son? I sold someone from Cadmus the meteor rocks and that was the extent of our business together. How does he even know that Jackson is connected to you?"
"I think he must have had someone on me when I came here last time. It doesn't matter. You and Jax aren't safe and you can't stay here," Clark fished in his wallet for the information Ollie had given him. "Here, take this."
Mary eyed the card warily as if it were a proffered mousetrap before taking it. "This is Oliver Queen's private number. How many billionaires do you know, Clark?"
"He's the only one that matters. Please, go to Star City and take a job offer from him. He can put you in a penthouse in Queen Towers near his. He can put his personal security on you as well. It's the safest thing for both of you and he can give you a fresh start after everything with Dexter."
"So I'm going to take off across the country and abandon my job and my friends and family because you led someone to my family?"
"I didn't mean to!" Clark defended and Kon started to cry. He cursed quietly and hunched over on himself, even as he felt his chest grow damp. He'd worn a green shirt (in light of nature's latest joke, he'd changed his whole wardrobe colors for the duration of the nursing) and he hoped nothing was so obvious.
Mary shook her head, "You don't mean for a lot of things to happen but they do. You led that serial killer to my husband and now you've led someone who captures people with abilities to my son and you still won't tell me everything I need to know. I know that Jackson is special but I can't figure out why. I know that there's something wrong with you and your family-"
"There's nothing wrong with me or with Kon."
"Where'd Kon come from?"
"Not the stork," Clark replied brusquely. "I can't tell you everything. When Jax is old enough but he's not now. I can't protect you. I have my own family," he said, trying to shush Kon. "And they're in danger too. But I have friends who can help keep you safe, who can give you the attention I can't. Please, just take the deal."
"If I agree to see Mr. Queen, would you finally tell me what you really are, Clark?"
"I'm Clark Kent," he replied, in no mood to argue semantics over the Kal-El part and infinitely glad Kara wasn't there. "I'm a guy who's desperately trying to clean up the mess that your husband left behind."
She shook her head. "God, you're what? Twenty years old?"
"I'll be 22 in May," he replied.
"I'm twice that, Clark. You're this scared kid and you have no idea what you're doing at all, do you?"
"No," he said honestly. "I don't. I'm trying to keep everyone safe and this is the only way I know how to do it. I…whatever you think you know, you can't possibly know all of it, and whatever you think you've guessed, forget it. My father died protecting me and the secret I share with your son. My best friend was tortured for it twice and almost died. It's not that I don't trust you. It's that you can't be beaten into revealing something you don't know. I'm older now, stronger. My mom knows and I can keep her safe. Ollie and Lionel can keep her safe. Jax, as gifted as he is, is eight years old and he can't protect you from Lex, even if you were insane enough to take the meteor rock off of him. Please, listen to me."
"No," she replied, standing up and shaking her head. "I can't do that. You won't level with me and every time you show up, my life gets worse. You track my husband down and he dies. You try and find out more about his records and now my son's a target. Why the Hell would I trust anything you told me?"
"Because I only want to help. Jax is just like Kon, you said so yourself. He's family. I…we're not blood family, but he's part of my people and I have to keep him safe just like I'm trying to do with Kara and Kon. Oliver is the only way I know how to do that."
"What if I have another way?" Mary asked coldly.
"Excuse me?"
"Lex is interested in your son and in you and your cousin more, isn't he?"
"I'm not sure."
"Do you think he knows what he has?"
"What?"
"The meteor rocks. He paid an unbelievable price for them. The scientist he sent was euphoric when he found out I had a color they'd never seen before. The meteor rocks do something. They have to. It's why I had to wear one and Jackson and Dexter always do…did." She said, pausing at the mention of her husband. "What does the gold one do?"
Clark flinched and held Kon tighter. "It's just a rock."
"No, it's not. What does the gold color do? The blue…it must do something to make you more normal or Jackson wouldn't have to wear it. I've heard the reports from the EPA assuring everyone that the green doesn't make people sick or cause cancer, but what about the gold one. Just mentioning it makes you sweat."
Clark wanted to kick himself. He truly was the worst poker player in history and he couldn't lie to save his soul. Perry was right about that. He only sweated when he was near green K, worked up with Chloe, or nervous. "It doesn't do anything."
"No, it does something terrible, doesn't it? But Lex doesn't know that."
"I promise you that it can't hurt Kon or Jax. I don't know if any of the colors could really do anything to either of them."
"Besides the blue."
"I can't say more than I have."
Mary shook her head. "The gold does something to you, doesn't it? Dexter would never touch that sample. All the others, even green, I saw him touch once or twice, but he had lead shielding or tongs and thick gloves and everything for the gold. Whatever it does, it's supremely dangerous and it would affect you and your cousin, wouldn't it?"
Clark stood up and crowded over her. "They're rocks. Lex bought rocks off of you and they wouldn't hurt Jax but that doesn't mean that Lex, himself, wouldn't try and do terrible things to your son. Please, let me help you."
"I lost my husband because of you and now my son has all these ideas in his head from your cousin. I don't need your help and if Lex pushes…I know how to bargain. Clark, don't come here again. Lex only thinks that I sold him everything I had."
"What?"
"If you come here again, I'll find out myself what the gold or the green can do to you. Now leave Santa Fe and never come back or I swear to God, I'll go to Lex myself with everything I suspect."
"But you can't-"
She shook her head and glanced at Kon who had finally quieted. "It's about survival, isn't it? You know exactly how I feel, don't you? How close I am to Jackson, how much I love him. Hell, how much it took just to get him into this world."
Clark shook his head, "I don't understand."
"Of course you don't," she sneered. "It's a very simple equation. Lex has a choice between my son or yours and I'd sell yours out to him in a heartbeat and I'd throw in the father at no extra cost. I don't want to, but I don't like being backed into a corner either. Leave my family alone and I'll leave yours alone, do you understand?"
"But Lex-"
"Is your problem, Clark." She replied, taking Jax's hand and pulling him out of the sandbox.
"Mom! I wasn't done. Hey," Jax started, completely oblivious to her anger. "Can Mr. Clark and Kon and the blonde lady come over for dinner? He gets everything and he can do all the math stuff like me and maybe he can help me with my homework."
"No, Jackson."
"But mom!"
"I said no," she replied, pulling something out of her purse and Clark's eagle eyes could discern the number for the League's private line in her grasp. "We're done," she said, shredding the card in two. "Do not come near my son…don't come near this state ever again."
"But mom!" Jax shouted as she dragged him across the playground. Clark could hear his heart speeding up in his frustration and he forced himself to focus one more time on Jax's unique rhythm. When that time came, when Jax finally figured out how alone he was, his call and his heartbeat would be the only clues that he'd need Clark at all.
