When Yax-Ur has slunk off in defeat, Lois asks for a glass of water and how to turn her breathing mask off and on to drink it. Lara declares the latter unsafe but shows her how to hook up a drinking bulb to the mask and how to use it. Jor gets an inventive gleam into his eyes and excuses himself to tinker with the mask mechanisms.

Lara uses the time to get as many stories as possible out of her son, about the years she missed. Kal speaks about an unassuming childhood mostly, before Lois jumps in with a string of heroic deeds she used to locate him.

Lara smiles and nods and her heart freezes while she waits for a sign that her son's sense of protectiveness is as uncompromising as the military caste's. Zod and his soldiers would lay down their lives, unthinkingly, to protect Krypton, but they would just as unthinkingly eradicate entire populations of outsiders, too, if it served the same purpose.

To her immense relief, however, Kal seems to avoid all conflict, eager to help but never fight.

He seems uncomfortable with praise, too, as he changes the topic at the first possible moment and asks about his homeworld.

Lara has barely started with a basic description of Krypton-as-it-was when Jor returns. Her husband proudly hands Lois a modified breathing mask that will keep in a breathable atmosphere, but at the same time allow access to slow moving solid objects, like, for example, food and drink.

While Jor takes over the task of satisfying their son's curiosity – the leader of the science caste in his natural element – Lara finds herself drawn aside by the human woman.

"It's all past tense when your planet is mentioned," Lois states quietly. "General Zod was bluffing, wasn't he? He pretended to be all geared up to destroy Earth if not obeyed, but this ship isn't part of some great fleet lurking between the stars, is it? You're refugees, not envoys or even advance scouts."

"General Zod never bluffs," Lara hastens to clarify. "Yes, we are refugees, but this ship is very much capable of destroying a planet or rendering it unlivable for humans, whichever Zod prefers. And he would do just that if he considered Earth a threat."

Lois' eyes narrow, defiant rather than impressed, and Lara realizes that she has vilified her fellow Kryptonian unduly.

"He's not an omnicidal maniac," she adds quickly. "He just takes threats to his people extremely seriously."

"Great," the younger woman mutters, "another Hardy. Just one with his hands on earth-shattering weaponry."

Despite the flippant words, Lara thinks she has made her point.

SZSZSZSZSZSZS

Lara could lose herself in her son's company forever, but after a few hours Kal becomes restless. He is more than grateful to have met his birth parents, their son finally gets out, but he has parents on Earth, too, and they must be worried by now. Kal really wants the four of them to meet, too.

General Zod is surprisingly open to the request. Retrieving the pod – or rather, the Codex, Lara expects – is the main draw of the excursion for the general, but he doesn't set a strict time limit for the trip, either. He even goes along with greeting the natives, looming tall, dark and fierce in the background for the most part, but not uncivil when spoken to.

Zod does decline both a seat and the offer of food and drink, however, and takes his leave soon after. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief to see the back of him, especially the Kents, even though they seemed fully prepared to defend their son from the alien general.

The formers are generally intriguing, Lara finds, farmers but not entirely uneducated beyond their trade. Jor soon finds a shared fascination with Mr. Kent – Jonathan – for the technical details of a vehicle called 'motorcycle.' Lara entreats Mrs. Kent – Martha – for childhood anecdotes about their son and takes advantage of Jor's improved breathing masks to sample the offered victuals.

Coffee is an odd-tasting hot drink containing a stimulant, if one that has no impact on Kryptonian physiology. Pie is a curiosity. Lara asks for the ingredients and how they interact in preparation – she has always been drawn towards the life sciences, and what is cooking if not applied biochemistry?

Contrary to what Jor might say, however – and here she has to elbow her husband when he starts saying so aloud! – Lara is trying to identify the flavors, not the shape of the constituent molecules. Not everyone feels the need to go for technical details all the time the way Jor does.

The Kents share a look and a knowing smile of their own at the matrimonial byplay, and lose the rest of their guardedness towards the Kryptonians. Which might have been exactly what her husband intended when he opened his mouth with a certain look in his eyes, Lara concedes. He doesn't always remember to, but Jor can be quite the charmer when he makes the effort.

Conversation resumes and the two elder males dive back into their technical discussion, while Kal uses the opportunity to sneak from the house. Lara raises an eyebrow at Martha.

"He must have spotted something outside," the human woman says with a small sigh. "Maybe your general has found himself some trouble."

It's Lara's turn to sigh. "Yes, he does that on occasion."


A/N: Superman canon goes back and forth on whether Jonathan Kent (and/or his wife) survives into Clark's adulthood or not. Man of Steel had a thing for contrived stupidity killing off any father figures in Kal/Clark's life, and since I already spared Jor-El, it's only fair to do the same for Mr. Kent.

So, assume that in this universe the twister scene goes as follows: a teenaged Clark runs after his father when he sees a car flying towards the latter, grabs the man and throws him to safety (or as safe as you'll get under an overpass ;). Then, after freeing the dog himself, Clark looks back, sees his father down and injured since in his agitation* the young Kryptonian has applied a bit more force than human flesh and bones can withstand, panics and runs, thus kicking off his wandering years. There's probably a stone at the local cemetery, in memoriam of the young man last seen swallowed by a twister, after saving both his father and the family dog ….

*half fear for his family, half frustration, as no adolescent male likes to always hold back.