Chapter 8: Family
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
"Wow," Lana breathed, her eyes wide. "That's really impressive, Clark!"
Clark Kent, age 11, was currently hoisting a huge tree trunk over his head that had to weigh several hundred kilos at least. He was wobbling a bit, probably more due to balancing issues than anything else, but managed to keep the huge weight aloft.
"Thanks, Lana! Don't tell mom, though. I want it to be a surprise!"
Lana nodded. Ever since she had learned that Clark's mom was Superwoman, things had been a little tense between her and the elder Kents. Clark had told her a day later that his mom had caught them talking and was aware that Lana now knew her secret. Clark had ended up confined to his room for the remainder of the week, only allowed out for school.
Karen had drawn Lana aside later that same day after school and emphasized that she was not mad at Lana for knowing, but that her secret needed to stay a secret. Superwoman had enemies, after all, and they would not hesitate to go after her family and friends if they knew about them. Lana understood and had kept the secret faithfully ever since. She really did not want to see some of those robots and super villains she had seen Clark's mom fight on TV to pop up in Smallville, after all.
Not soon after, Clark had confided in her that he was also developing super powers, just like his mom. They were kicking in slowly, though, far too slowly for his liking. Apparently his mom's powers had started developing in puberty, as far as he knew, so it was not surprising his were starting to show up now, too.
Lana was certainly impressed, possibly a tad jealous, too. It also got her thinking.
"Have you ever wondered where these powers are coming from?" she asked Clark once he had put the trunk back down again. His strength still came and went, apparently, so he did not want to risk injuring himself (or her) should his powers suddenly give out.
"What do you mean?" he asked back, wiping his hands on his Jeans. "I inherited them from my mom."
"And where did she get them from? It's not like Mr. and Mrs. Kent have super powers," she pointed out, then hesitated. "They don't, right?"
"No, they don't," Clark admitted, frowning. "I don't know. Maybe it was some sort of... what it's called? Mutation? Something that started with mom."
"Could be," Lana admitted as they started walking back towards the Lang farm. "Or maybe she inherited it from her mom, your grandmother. Could be from that side of the family."
Clark's face darkened and Lana almost regretted bringing up what she knew was a sore topic for Clark. Still, her curiosity was stronger.
"She still refuses to speak about her time before coming to Smallville?" Lana asked.
"Yeah," Clark growled. "I get that it probably wasn't a good time for her. Her dad, uncle Jonathan's brother, died before she was even born. And losing her mom when she was barely older than we are now must have been really bad."
Lana nodded. The idea of being orphaned, of losing both her parents or even just one, was too horrible to contemplate. She might get annoyed with her parents sometime, but the thought of simple losing them from one second to the next... no, she certainly would not want that to happen to her or anyone.
"But couldn't she tell me some things at least?" Clark asked, getting worked up. "Surely there must be some good stories about grandma. I've never even seen a picture of her. Uncle Jon has pictures of grandpa Sam, surely she must have some of her?"
"Have you ever tried looking her up yourself?" Lana asked. "You know her name, right?"
"Sure, it was Alya Jones. You think... you think we can find something?"
Lana shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to try."
Ten minutes later they were in Lana's room at her home and booting up her computer. Calling up a search engine, Lana typed in the name of Clark's grandma. Only a very small number of hits appeared, though.
"Here, that's an archived newspaper article. It… oh..." Lana trailed off.
She could feel Clark tense beside her as he scanned the article. It spoke about a terrible accident with multiple vehicles involved and three people dead. One of the victims had been one Alya Jones, single mother. Thankfully there were no pictures.
"I guess we can scratch the idea of mom inheriting her powers from her mom, right?" Clark said, his voice heavy. Lana simply nodded. If Ms. Jones had had super powers, she certainly wouldn't have died in a car crash. It seemed the super powers had indeed begun with Karen Kent.
"Sorry, Clark," she said, feeling bad. "I didn't want to..."
"Don't worry, Lana," he cut her off, his hand on her shoulder. "I knew I wasn't going to find any happy stories here, given what I already knew. I just want to know... anything, really."
He fell back into the chair, rubbing his hands across his face. "It's just so... so unfair! I should be told about my family, right? That's not unreasonable or something, right?"
"No, of course not. But I'm sure your mom has a good reason for..."
"I know," Clark interrupted her again. "I know she isn't doing this just to be mean or anything. She isn't like that! But... I just..."
Lana scooted closer to him, seeing tears shining in his eyes. "I love mom," he said, voice quivering. "I really do. And I love Uncle John and Aunt Martha, too. I have the best family on Earth! But... it's like there is this big black hole in my life and... and maybe what's hidden in there is something really bad, or maybe it's something really boring, but... how I am supposed to know if nobody tells me anything?"
Lana hugged him, wishing there was something she could do. "Have you ever asked your Aunt and Uncle?"
"Dozens of times," Clark sniffed. "The answer is always the same. 'This is something you should ask your mom, Clark!' Which I have tried, but she always says she'll tell me when I'm older."
"Well, at least she says she WILL tell you one day, whenever that will be. That's better than nothing, right?"
It was a thin silver lining, Lana was aware, but she was really trying here. Ever since she had learned the secret of Clark's mom, she had tried to wrap her mind around it all. She had always liked Clark's mom, probably because she was still young enough to act like a kid herself at times, not stiff and boring like most of the adults around town. And Lana had been a huge fan of Superwoman even before she learned that she was really Karen Kent. She doubted that there were many girls in the world who weren't. Most of them, of course, were not aware of the many contradictions.
Lana had read the world-famous interview Superwoman had given Perry White of the Daily Planet shortly after her first appearance. She had read it half a dozen times at least. So she was aware that Superwoman had told the world at large that she was actually an alien from another planet. After finding out that Karen Kent was Superwoman, Lana had one day gathered all her courage and had asked Clark's mom about that.
"Are you really an alien, Ms. Kent?" Lana had asked, finding the idea pretty cool, but weird.
"Why do you... oh, you mean because of the interview, right?" Clark's mom had said. "Don't worry, I said that to throw people off my track. If people believe I'm an alien, they will never even consider that I might have a civilian identity and a family somewhere. Why would an alien live in Smallville, Kansas, right?"
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation and Lana had believed it without reservation. Recently, though, she had begun to doubt. Oh, not that she thought that Karen Kent might be an alien, but her powers - and especially the lack of powers in the rest of her family except Clark - made her consider the notion that she might not actually be a Kent by birth. Maybe she was adopted. Maybe there was a family with super powers out there somewhere.
For Clark's sake, she really wished there was. Also, it would be really, really cool.
"Clark over at the Langs' place again?" Jonathan asked, stepping out onto the porch next to Karen
"Where else?" Karen answered, chuckling. "Those two have been inseparable as far as I can think back. He is in her room right now; they're working on her computer."
"They are getting to that age where Clark hanging out in her room all the time might start to get a little awkward, you know? He hasn't even gotten the talk yet."
Karen frowned, looking at him. "Didn't you tell me you gave him the talk last year? When he 'accidentally' looked through the wall into the girls' shower in school?"
Jonathan chuckled, shaking his head. "I gave him the talk that my dad gave me about girls, yes, but that's not what I meant. I meant the other talk."
Karen nodded, understanding. "Oh, that talk!" She turned away from him, looking out across the farm.
"He is asking more and more questions," Jonathan said.
"I know," she sighed.
"Don't you think it's time he got some answers?"
Karen turned to look at him, her teeth worrying on her bottom lip.
"I had planned to tell him already by this point, but then he went and told Lana about me being Superwoman, despite knowing very well that he was not supposed to. I... it made me doubt."
"Lana is a sweet girl," Jonathan told her. "She is keeping your secret."
"I know, I really like her," Karen replied. "But you know we lucked out with her. If he had told someone else, someone who might have told others without even thinking about it..."
"I understand," Jonathan said. "But that was a while ago. Clark is growing up faster every day and he is mature for his age."
"I know and It's probably way past time to tell him," she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. "But..." she trailed off.
Jonathan stepped next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "What?" he asked, already suspecting the answer, but urging her to speak the words out loud. He had long ago learned that Karen was not someone you could just tell the right answer to. She needed to figure it out for herself.
"Why is this so hard?" she asked in a small voice, leaning against him.
"Telling him? It was always going to be hard, we knew that going in."
"No, not... well, that too, but I meant in general. All of this! Why is this so hard?"
Jonathan nodded, understanding. "Being a parent, you mean? Well, nobody ever said it would be easy. And it shouldn't be, because it's the most important job in the world and needs to be done right."
"Am I doing it right?" she asked, sounding so very young.
"Karen," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to look at him. "You have done an amazing job with Clark. He's such a great kid. Never doubt that you are a great mother!"
"But that's just the thing, isn't it?" she said, looking away from him again. "I am not his mother, not really. And when I tell him that…" her voice died and he could see the tears glistening on her face.
"It was never supposed to be like this," she suddenly growled, jumping down from the porch. "I was 13, damn it! Just 13 years old! I was just a kid myself!"
Jonathan followed her down from the porch, watching her as she angrily paced back and forth. He didn't move to intercept her, though, figuring that this was something she needed to get off her chest.
"I knew something was up, I had seen how worried dad and Uncle Jor had been, but I never suspected…" she stopped pacing in front of the barn, where Jonathan had left the old, worn-out tires he had taken off the tractor a few days ago. He had planned to take them for recycling next week. Kara grabbed one of the huge tires and tore it to shreds with her bare hands.
"And then the ground starts shaking and they tear me out of bed and tell me, hey, Kara, guess what! Krypton is dying! Time to get into your rocket ship and leave for an alien world! How was I supposed to react to that?"
She picked up another tire and tore it into confetti as well. "And by the way, we only got the one rocket and that means it's just going to be you and your baby cousin. So from here on out you can't be a kid anymore, you need to take care of him!"
The remaining two tires quickly followed and with nothing further to destroy, Karen just sunk down to her knees amidst a sea of shredded rubber, tears still glistening on her face.
"Couldn't they have just built a bigger rocket?" she asked. "Just big enough for maybe just one more person? Just one more? So it wouldn't all be up to me?"
Jonathan squatted down beside her. "Why didn't they build a bigger rocket?" He knew why, of course. Karen had explained it all to them years ago, but it seemed she needed to hear herself explain it one more time.
"They couldn't," Karen sniffed, angrily wiping at her tears. "The hyper drive's energy requirements grow exponentially the bigger the ship is. Building multiple smaller ships was the only way to do it with the power sources they had access to."
"And the other ships weren't ready, because it happened too fast," Jonathan added.
"Even putting two people in the one rocket had been risky," Kara went on, her eyes unfocused as she stared at events long past. "It only worked because Clark... Kal was so small. The life support systems were barely strong enough to sustain the two of us. Adding an adult would have killed us all."
Jonathan hugged her again and she gratefully sunk into his embrace. "Your parents loved you, Karen. I am sure they would have come with you if there had been any way, but the most important thing in the universe for them was to make sure that you were safe, no matter what. I would have done exactly the same. And you would do the same for Clark."
He felt her nod against his shoulder. "Of course I would. I wouldn't even have to think about it. But... Rao, this is going to sound so unfair to them, but dying for someone is easy. It's fast, it happens in the blink of an eye. I feel like they... they just pushed the much harder job on me and never even asked if I was ready for it!"
Jonathan understood. "No one is ever really ready for that, Karen. I know it was so much harder for you than for anyone else, all things considered, but it's the same for any parent. You are right, it's a much harder job to live for someone else. Day by day, week by week, year by year. You worry every day, you have to be there every day, it's hard."
"I never even thought about being a mother before," Karen muttered. "Not sure I even wanted to be one. Pretending to be his mom seemed the best way to ensure that no one tried to separate Clark and me, but..."
"But now you are not pretending anymore, are you? You haven't for quite some time."
Karen nodded again. "He is my son, Jonathan! I love him so much! And I am so scared that... when I tell him the truth… do you think he…?"
"You listen to me, Karen Colleen Kent," Jonathan said, making her look him in the eye again. "Clark deserves to know where he comes from, he deserves to know the names of his birth parents, but none of that will change that he is YOUR SON! You raised that boy, you were there for him every day for the last 11 years. There might well be some angry words when he learns the truth, but he is your son by any definition that matters and that will never, ever change, you understand?"
"How can you be so sure?" she asked in a small, vulnerable voice.
"Because we are family, all of us. Maybe not by blood, maybe the documents are all forged, but that does not matter. Because just as sure as Clark is your son, you are my daughter! And I know you feel bad when you slip up and call Martha mom or call me dad, we fully understand that and it's okay. But you are our daughter. The day you fell from the sky was the happiest day of our lives and we would not exchange it for anything. Even if we can never, ever publicly acknowledge it, we are proud to be the parents of the greatest woman this world has ever known. Just as we are proud to be the grandparents of the boy that will never, ever cease to be your son, no matter what!"
Jonathan realized that this was something that he had needed to get off his chest, too, for quite a while now. He and Martha had always been aware that Karen had a bit of a self-esteem issue when it came to their family. They knew that some small part of her felt that the Kents had only taken her in because of Clark, no matter how often they told her otherwise. They knew that she struggled with reconciling her feelings for her family here on Earth with the loving memories of her parents back on Krypton.
Maybe now she would finally understand that she was loved. That she deserved to be loved, both by her parents, both sets of them, and by her son.
Karen looked up at him for a long moment, then she cuddled against his chest and hugged him hard enough to make his ribs protest. "I will tell Cark soon, I promise! Thank you... dad!"
End Chapter 8
Author's Note: I've intentionally left out the exact years where these events happen, as I don't want to be get too tied down. I referenced Jonathan's older brother dying in Vietnam, but that's about it. Lana and Clark are doing research on the Internet here and Kara and Diana are using mobile phones in earlier chapters, but given that Kara is introducing advanced tech to the world behind the scenes, those things might well have come along earlier in this world than in our own. So we'll keep it vague.
Clark will be told the truth soon, I promise. I just really enjoy writing the dynamic of the Kent family and their secrets, though, so you will have to indulge me a bit longer. The scene between Kara and Jonathan is partially inspired by my favorite scene from the entire Smallville series between Jonathan and Clark where Clark finds out that his real father sent him to Earth as a conqueror. John Schneider really killed it in that scene as Jonathan Kent when he told Clark that it didn't matter and that he was his son, no matter what. I hope I managed to capture some of that emotion here, too.
