Alright, I wrote a really short chapter today, but I suddenly got the urge to write yet another chapter, and I'm really glad I did. This one is the longest yet, beating chapter 25 by almost 1 000 words. I hope you'll like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Superman, Justice League, or anything DC related. Except my OCs, who is a fucking badass and I love her.
Chapter 27 - Aftermath
Jonathan and Martha Kent were sitting in their living room, watching the event in Metropolis LIVE on their TV. Martha's hand covered her mouth, her eyes full of unshed tears.
Jonathan wasn't much better. His son. His little boy. He was up there, helping. He revealed himself to the world, and yet, Jonathan could not be more prouder. His son is a hero. They raised him well, even though he still has a long way to go.
Jonathan hugged Martha close to him and kissed her forehead.
„It's over, Martha. Clark is okay. Everyone is okay. They stopped it," he murmured gently. Martha just nodded, but didn't say anything else, but Jonathan knew what she was thinking.
It may be over, but the cost was still too high. Metropolis looked like a war zone. Their son has revealed himself to the world. People will be afraid of him, even with the Justice League. They will be afraid of him now more than ever, just because of what happened today.
But they will push through it. They will help him.
He may be the strongest hero on the planet, but he is still their little boy.
It's over. Clark couldn't believe. After hours, it's finally over. They did it. From the corner of his eye, Clark saw some civilians, along with a group of firefighters, make their way to him.
The civilians started checking the building, the pillars, and eventually, him, and what he was doing. The firefighters just looked at him like they've never seen something like this before.
Clark figured that the civilians were architects or something along those lines.
One of the civilians stepped closer to him.
„We are here to stabilize the building, Mr.." said one of the civilians, waiting for Clark to elaborate and tell them his name.
„I would shake your hand, but I am a bit preoccupied at the moment. You can call me Kal for now. Okay, do what you have to do and tell me what I have to do," said Clark.
The man nodded. Clark figured that he was probably their boss or something, since he started directing the rest of the people.
„Jonah, check the stability of the pillars in the west corridor. Lezewski, you do the same in the east corridor. Kang, you take the north, and finally, Gale, you take the south. Got it? Good. Go."
The man then turned to him.
„Sorry for that, uh, Kal. My name's Robert O'Connor, I'm an architect, but I specialize in demolishing, as well as stabilizing unstable buildings. Seeing that this baby here isn't too damaged, we think we can stabilize it with your help."
„I'm listening," said Clark.
About an hour later, the building was finally stabilized with steel beams, with which Clark helped. Normally, it would take the team about five to six hours to stabilize building such as this, maybe even more.
After almost an hour and a half of non-stop supporting almost 150 000 tons of rubber, steel and glass, Clark wanted to just go home with Sarah, hug her and his parents, and watch Netflix and cuddle.
That was until he saw everything that happened while he was holding the damn skyscraper.
The city was in shambles, many Justice League members, such as Zatanna, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Batman, Aquaman and even some of the newest members, such as The Atom and Blue Beetle, were all helping with the search and rescue.
Clark decided without a second thought that he would help, whether the Justice League wants him to or not.
Quickly focusing his energy, he slowly floated up into the air, and with the use of his x-ray vision and super-hearing, he was able to locate some of the people buried alive in the debris of various buildings.
He found and rescued about 12 people before he found something he feared most. The dead.
As respectfully and gently as he could, he slowly picked up the dead young woman in his arms, and floated her up downtown, where most of the.. casualties, as people called it.. were.
Tears pickled in the corners of his eyes, but he willed them not to fall yet. He still had a job to do.
When he finally reached downtown, the woman still in his arms, he knew he made a mistake. There, on the street, were dozens of people, covered in black body bags, long towels, blankets, anything able to cover them.
This time, Clark didn't willed the tears back.
This time, he let himself cry. For the people he couldn't safe.
He was too late to save them.
And it was all his fault.
Wonder Woman was also helping with search and rescue, along with all available Justice League members. She woke up just in time to see the blue gas replace the green.
And yet, the casualties were still too high, but there was nothing she could do. She had to put on a brave face and try to find as many living people as she could.
And that's how she found herself downtown. She found too many dead and too little living. She gently put the middle-aged man in the row of the covered bodies, and prepared to fly off, when she noticed something, or rather someone, from the corner of her eye that made her stop in her tracks.
She looked into the direction, and saw the man in blue. The man that fought her. The man that urged her to fight the gas, and the man who was able to beat her. He was shaking. And she knew the reason why.
He was new. Inexperienced. He's never seen death up close. She was like that, too, in Themyscira.
She quickly flew over to him, and the closer she got, the louder she could hear his sobs. She didn't make her presence know, but he could feel her.
„Will it ever get any easier?" he asked her, his voice hoarse.
She contemplated whether to give him a white lie or to tell the hard truth. She decided to go with the former.
„No. It doesn't. It never gets easier. But we have to push through. There are people still depending on us. We can't fail them," she said gently.
He turned his head and looked at her. She noticed his face for the first time. She was too focused on fighting the gas before. He looked young, so, so young. He couldn't be older than eighteen, and yet, he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sad, but not unexpected.
„What's your name?" she asked him.
„You can call me Kal. That's my birth name," he told her, his voice slightly stronger now.
„Kal," she tested the name on her lips, „I know how you feel. But there is nothing we can do to help these people. They're not here anymore. What we can do, however, is to help the people who are. What do you say?"
He nodded mutely, and with that, both of them rose into the air.
Jimmy Olsen smiled to himself a little sadly. He heard the conversation between this Kal and Wonder Woman, while also getting a good picture out of it. She was right, but it still hurt.
Lois Lane was making her way down the street, helping everyone she could. Years ago, she wouldn't give a crap about any of this – she would try to get the story out of it.
She is not the same Lois Lane she used to be all those years ago. She didn't care about the story at the moment. All she cared about right now was the current state of her city, and the people in it.
As hard as she wanted to deny it, Jonathan Carroll has indeed changed her in more ways than one.
But when she noticed the man in a blue suit with a red cape flying overhead, she couldn't help but be very curious.
Who is he?
Sarah didn't know what to think, and she didn't know what she was currently doing in Metropolis, when she should be at home, with her aunt and uncle, not helping here. There was Justice League for that.
And yet she knew. She knew how hard Clark would take it all. She knew how hard she took it all. And she knew, that the price for this all was too high. There are people buried alive in there, and if you think even for a second that she wouldn't help, you're dead wrong.
She and Clark would find comfort in each other later. Now, she had work to do.
It's been hours since the event, now dubbed by the media as The Takeover, has ended, it was past the evening, and it was getting dark, but Clark was still working. Most of the Leaguers went either to the Watchtower or somewhere else to rest, but not Clark, even though he is not a Leaguer.
He discovered a family in the rubble that used to be a subway station. They were alive. The father had a broken leg because he tried to protect his daughter and wife from the falling debris, and he did it. Clark personally carried them all over to the hospital, getting a fair share of curious glances in the process.
Clark was currently standing downtown, looking at nothing in particular. The streets were now mostly empty.
„You should rest, you know?"
Clark turned around, not expecting to hear the sound of her voice. He thought for a second that his senses deceived him, but it turned out he was wrong. There, in front of him, stood his girlfriend, Sarah Wilson, in her usual, skinny-jeaned and t-shirted glory. She was dirty, but to him, she looked more beautiful than ever.
„I'm not tired. I want to help," he said, determination laced every word he spoke.
Sarah's eyes softened, and she slowly walked towards him.
„You are tired. Not physically. Emotionally. Clark, you are strong enough to lift a train with your pinky finger, but you've never seen something like this. I can see it in your eyes. The guilt. The regret. You think you weren't good enough. Strong enough. You feel like it's your fault. I'm here to tell you that it wasn't. You did everything you could, as did the rest of the heroes.
Nobody could've expected this. Please, Clark. Go home. Take a shower. Get some sleep. Eat. You can come here tomorrow. Just.. no more today," she spoke softly. Softer than usual.
And she was right. He felt guilty. He felt like it was all his fault. Like he was late. Tears pickled in the corners of his eyes for the fifth time today. He let them fall freely.
„Let's go home," she said yet again, stepping closer to him, wrapping her arms around him, burying her hear in his chest, her ear right next to the crest he wore on his chest.
The symbol of hope.
He wrapped his arms around her, finally, and floated up into the sky.
„Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked her, his voice sounding so innocent, she couldn't say no even if she wanted to.
„Of course I will, Clark," she said.
10 minutes later, they stood in front of the Kent house, Clark still clad in his supersuit. Sarah took out her phone and quickly texted aunt Frank and uncle Ria, telling them that she was spending night at the Kents'.
Clark and Sarah made their way to the porch and opened the door.
„Ma? Pa?" he called out.
A few seconds later, both of Clark's parents appeared in front of them, apparently coming from the living room.
Martha took one glance at Clark, his bloody suit, his tear-stained cheeks, and the look in his eyes. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she immediately hugged him.
Jonathan noticed Sarah, who looked pretty much same as Clark, minus the bloody supersuit part. He hugged her, too.
When they finally broke apart, Clark asked his parents if it's okay for Sarah to stay the night. Both of his parents looked at his eyes, and they nodded without words. They understood.
After having some well-deserved dinner, according to his parents, and Clark's shortened version of today's events, Sarah went to take a shower, while Clark fetched her some of his clothes. Granted, it would be big on her, but that didn't matter right now.
Sarah stepped out of the shower, and Clark gave her the clothes. She looked up at him and smiled, before caressing his cheek gently. There was no need for words.
Clark noticed that he was still in his suit. Sarah looked at him a little questioningly, but she knew what he was going to do. He showed her the suit's functions in the fortress a little while ago.
Clark put his hand on the symbol of the House of El under a certain angle. The suit recognized his fingerprints, because right after that, the yellow part of the shield started to glow, and the suit seemed to disintegrate, but in fact, the nanotechnology, which the suit was made out of, just transported itself into the shield of the House of El. The cape then fell down on the floor.
Clark picked it up, and along with the shield, he placed it on his nightstand. He would clean the suit later. Right now, he needed to clear himself.
In the shower, Clark thought about everything that happened today. The gas. The skyscraper. The fighting. The dead. Wonder Woman's words. LexCorp building.
Why would it be there? Why LexCorp? And why would someone leak a gas like this in the first place?
What kind of sick person would to this? Who would do something like this with clear conscience?
Clark shook his head. He'd think about this later, when he had the time.
Tomorrow was Saturday. He planned to spend the weekend with Sarah, but his plans changed. He would help out in every way he could.
After his shower, Clark dressed himself in a pair of boxers and pajama pants. He made his way over to his room, knocking before coming in, for Sarah was there and he wanted to make sure that she was decent.
„Come in," she said.
He opened the door, and saw her lying on his bed in the clothes he gave her.
It wasn't anything special, just a pair of sweatpants and a soft, worn out shirt. She, apparently, noticed his shirtless figure, and checked him up and down, before nodding approvingly. Clark had to chuckle at that.
He was glad for that. Sarah would always make him laugh, even in times such as these. That's why he loved her. And he would tell her soon. But now is not the time.
He checked the alarm on his nightstand. 10:30 PM.
„Is it really that late? How long was I in the shower?" he asked her, surprise clearly in his voice.
„Almost 40 minutes," she answered.
„Wow."
Yeah, his showers usually took no longer than five minutes, sometimes even less, since he could barely feel the hot water anymore. Yeah. Barely. More like, not at all.
She made some space for him on his bed, and he laid down next to her. She immediately cuddled close to him, her head resting on the crook of his next, her hand on his ribs.
He, in response, immediately wrapped his arms around her, and held her close. He left his senses overwhelm him with her. Her scent. Her touch. Her breathing. Her heartbeat. Her.
„You know, when I can't sleep, I listen to your heartbeat," he said after a few minutes of silence.
She chuckled at that. Then, when he didn't say anything, she lifted her head up and looked into his eyes. „Wait, seriously?"
He just nodded solemnly. Her head came into its previous position, in the crook of his next.
„Everyone's heartbeat is individual. Every person's heartbeat has a different pattern. I memorized Ma's, Pa's, and now.. yours. I used to listen to Ma's heartbeat when I was younger, it calmed me. Soothed me. Lulled me to sleep. The same thing happens when I listen to yours," he said.
„You can hear my heartbeat all the miles from here to my house?" she asked him, disbelievingly.
He just nodded, and he knew she felt it.
„Wow. That's both amazing and sweet. And a little creepy, mostly sweet," she said, and Clark gave out a laugh.
Sarah loved the sound of his laugh. He should laugh more.
She lifted her head up again, gave him a quick peck on the lips, and then lowered it down again.
„What was that for?" he asked, the smile in his voice could be heard even if you're deaf.
„For you being you," she whispered, knowing very well that he heard her. „Good night, my superman."
„Good night," he said.
Within minutes, both of them were asleep, tangled in each other, heartbeats in sync.
It was 9:00 AM when Martha decided to wake the lovebirds up. She knew Clark would want to help out as soon as much as he could in Metropolis. She gently opened the door to his room, and the sight that greeted her made her smile.
There, on his bed, lay Sarah and Clark, cuddled close together, both sleeping soundly, without a blanket of a comforter. She guessed that it was because of Clark's body heat. Both she and Jonathan noticed when he was younger, that Clark was warmer than an average human.
When he explained them how his powers worked, she understood the reason for his higher body temperature immediately.
Sarah, as if sensing another presence in the room, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Martha, who was standing next to the door, leaning on the door frame.
She gave her a sleepy smile. „Morning, Martha."
Martha smiled at the cute girl who stole the heart of her little boy. „Morning, Sarah. Would you wake Clark up? The breakfast is ready, and we both know that with his stubbornness, he will want to go to Metropolis as soon as he can," she said.
Truth be told, both Martha and Jonathan woke up at 6:00 AM precisely, as usual, and both of them already had breakfast, but they decided that after Clark's actions yesterday, and Sarah's help, they both deserved some sleep.
„Alright. We'll be there in a minute."
With that, and a one last smile, Martha left.
Sarah kept her promise, and a few minutes later, both of them were sitting in a kitchen, Clark finally wearing a t-shirt and no longer distracting Sarah. Seriously, having abs like these should be a crime.
After breakfast, which consisted of pancakes and orange juice, Clark put on the suit once again.
He now stood in the hallway, Sarah dressed in her clothes from the night before, albeit clean (credit to Martha, who said she was bored while they were asleep), along with Jonathan and Martha.
„Just.. don't overwork yourself, okay, sweetheart?" asked Martha gently, though it sounded more like an order than a question.
„Yes, Ma. See you later," said Clark.
He gave Sarah a quick peck on the lips, before opening the door and slowly lifting himself up in the air.
„Son?" asked Jonathan.
Clark looked at him with a questioning look.
„I'm proud you," smiled Jonathan.
Clark just grinned. „Thanks, Pa."
With that, Clark pushed himself into the air, faster and faster, until he broke the sound barrier, creating a thunderous crack.
Both Jonathan and Martha jumped a little at the sound.
„I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this," muttered Martha under her breath. Both Sarah and Jonathan heard her, and all three of them chuckled a little.
10 hours later, Clark found what he hoped was the last body. A girl. No older than sixteen. He was just a year older than her.
Clark shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
„Kal."
Clark looked around just to meet face to face with the founding members of the Justice League.
„Yes?"
They looked at him, and Wonder Woman looked at the girl in his arms. Clark gently put her on the ground, gently closing her lifeless eyes. Clark's blue eyes brimmed with tears. A few of them fell, soaking the girl's shirt. He wiped them away with the back of his hand.
He stood up at looked at the League.
„Yes?" he said, stronger this time. Harder.
„We would like you to come with us, just to ask you some questions," said Batman, his voice a little more gentle than usual. Clark didn't notice it, for he never worked with Batman before, but the rest of the League did. And they knew why.
Kal was too young, too innocent, but he had the power to beat them all.
Clark looked at them, his gaze moved from warm to cold and calculating, as if assessing them, which was precisely what he was doing.
„Why?" he asked.
„We want to know the reason you're here," said Batman.
„You already know why I'm here. I told you that. I'm here to help," said Clark, looking at Batman, not averting his eyes from him.
Nobody matched Batman's gaze before. He did.
„Still."
Sensing that they wouldn't leave him alone, Clark just nodded. He knew something like this would come. He just didn't expect it to come so soon.
He followed them to the outskirts of Metropolis, where, apparently, one of the many teleporters resided.
Upon their arrival, Clark checked the teleporter with his x-ray vision. The teleporter was designed for metahumans and humans only. It wouldn't work on him.
„It won't work on me. It's created specifically for humans and metahumans," said Clark.
„Yes, it is, why shouldn't it work on you?" asked Wonder Woman, her glance questioning and a little suspicious. She wasn't neither human nor a metahuman. She was a demigoddess. But it worked on her nonetheless – her D.N.A., while divine, was still human for the most part.
Okay, here it comes, thought Clark.
„Because I'm not human."
Everyone looked surprised, except for Batman. He expected something like this. No one with this much power would be a metahuman.
„However, I can fly up there. Watchtower does have a landing bay or a hatch door somewhere, right?"
Batman just nodded, as did Wonder Woman.
„Good. See you in a few."
Clark flew into outer space only once – when he learned how to fly. And even then, it was just lower orbit.
Watchtower, the state-of-the-art space station, was orbiting Earth about 22,500 miles above said planet.
Apparently, the Justice League saw him coming, and opened one of the landing bays for the Javelin. At least Clark thinks that's what the ship is called. That's what they said in the news.
A few minutes later, Clark was standing in front of the board, as they called themselves. It consisting of Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Zatanna.
Clark didn't even know Batman was a member of the Justice League until he saw him in Metropolis. The news didn't say anything about him being a member.
„Now, I know you have a lot of questions, so.. go ahead. Ask," said Clark.
Batman was the first to ask.
„Who are you? What's your name? How many powers do you have? What is the source of your powers? You said you are an alien, why are you here? What are your intentions?"
Clark looked at Batman. „Wow, I expected a lot of questions, but I didn't expect to be bombarded. Alright, to answer your questions. My name's Kal-El. This is my birthname. There's no way I'm giving you my Earth name, sorry. I have a lot of powers. I don't know if I should tell you the source of my powers, but I guess I can trust you. My body is able to absorb solar energy from Earth's sun, which, in turn, fuels my powers.
I'm an alien, that's true. My birth planet, Krypton, exploded when I was just a baby. My parents sent me here so that I could live. I've been living on Earth my whole life, I remember Krypton only barely. I consider myself an earthling, so you don't have to worry about me betraying the humankind like in the movies. Not all aliens are like that.
I've never abducted anyone, just to let you know."
The members chuckled at that, and even Batman's lips curved upwards the tiniest bit.
„And I was raised by the principal that when I have the power to help others, I should do it. I have these powers, therefore I have the responsibility to use them not for my own personal gain, but to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
Any more questions?"
The Flash piped up. „Yeah, a few. Why did you choose the red/blue/yellow color scheme?"
He sounded young. Clark could find out his identity in the blink of an eye, just like with Batman and Green Arrow.
Clark chuckled at that. „The blue is for Earth, the yellow if for Earth's yellow sun, and the red is for Krypton's red sun, Rao."
„You know the sun is actually white, right?" said Flash.
„Yes, I know that, but from Earth, it looks white, because the atmosphere filters it this way."
„You said something about a red sun. Is this why your body is able to absorb the solar energy of our sun?" asked Cyborg.
Clark looked at him. „Hello, Cyborg, nice to see you again," said Clark with a teasing smile. „Yes, it's because of that. Kryptonians developed on a planet much bigger than Earth, in much harsher environment under a giant red star. That's why my body is physically more efficient, denser, and so on."
Batman seemed to take notes of this, Clark noticed.
Guess the man isn't very trusting, huh?
„How old are you?" asked Wonder Woman.
„Seventeen," he answered immediately, and he knew that was the wrong answer.
All of the heads snapped up at him, they looked gaped at him. They expected him to be at least eighteen.
„So, you're telling me, that you are able to hold a skyscraper weighing more than 140 000 tons with your bare hands and you're not even eighteen?" asked Cyborg, disbelief etched upon his face.
Clark just shrugged. „I'm stronger than I looked. And I drink a lot of milk."
„Just how strong are you?" asked Aquaman. Aquaman was one of the strongest beings of the planet, able to lift up to 400 tons at his peak.
„I don't know. My strength seems to grow the longer I am absorbing ‚yellow' sunlight," said Clark.
Batman continued to take notes of this. The man was dangerous. Very dangerous. Yet.. he was so young. He looked innocent. But he knew that looks were deceiving. He didn't trust him. Not yet.
„Any more questions?" asked Clark.
„Yeah.. two. 1) What should we, and the public, call you? You need a moniker. 2) What does the S on your chest mean? And finally, 3) Would you like to join the Justice League?" asked Wonder Woman.
Clark's eyes widened in surprise, as did Aquaman's, Batman's and Zatanna's, who was quiet the whole time, as were Black Canary and Green Arrow.
„I-I don't know. I never thought about it that much, actually. I knew I had to reveal myself to the world someday, I just didn't know it would be so soon. I don't know if I'm good enough to be in the Justice League. I may be strong, but I am still inexperienced," Clark managed to choke out eventually.
„That's exactly why you should join us. You are inexperienced, but you are extremely powerful. You're most likely the most powerful being in the world, but you still need training," said Black Canary. Clark smiled at her.
„I guess you have a point, Black Canary. Okay, then, I guess I will join, if it's not problem for you," he said.
All of them nodded, except for Batman. Wonder Woman looked at him pointedly. He mumbled something, which made Clark smile, because he heard it, and nodded reluctantly. Clark could tell precisely what he said, but he decided to leave it for now.
„Now, what does the S mean?" asked Zatanna with a friendly smile. Zatanna had to say, for a seventeen year old, he was extremely handsome.
Tall, jet-black hair, inhumanly blue eyes, high cheekbones, jaw able to cut glass, a body that would put Adonis to shame. Damn.
„It's not an S. It was a crest of my family. The House of El. It means hope in Kryptonese," said Clark.
„Alright, I have one more question," said Zatanna, „are you single?"
Clark's eyes widened again at her not-so-subtle suggestion, and he blushed.
Zatanna, while a little older than him, at 24 years old, was very attractive, with her onyx hair, blue eyes and a figure no woman would be ashamed of, he already had the girl of his dreams.
„Sorry, taken."
„Shame," she said with a wink.
Batman glared at Zatanna, giving her a silent message to behave.
„I have a few more questions for you, but I think that's enough for now, Kal," said Batman.
„And your moniker?" asked Green Arrow, who was currently playing with one of his arrows.
Clark thought about it.
„Good night, my superman."
Suddenly, he smiled.
He knew exactly what his moniker will be.
And it even fit the symbol of the House of El. It looked like an S, anyway.
Let me know your thoughts, please, and leave a review, it would mean a lot to me:)
See you around.
