Jor-El confronted Kal-El almost immediately. "How could you make her privy to Krypton's knowledge? They can't be trusted."

"I'm not sure there is a 'they' anymore," he replied calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. We're more alike than we are different." He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his lips. It seemed a regular occurrence since getting to know Lois.

"This isn't about some blinding revelation, is it?" He was more shocked and angry than before. "You're in love with that woman."

"That woman has a name, Lois. And maybe I am."

"You are not compatible with her. Don't you see that?"

"Children could be out of the question, but-"

"I'm not talking about genetically. You wouldn't be the first Kryptonian to breed with this race."

"What?"

"The Katawache, whose cave these people entered, are descendants of such a union. Powerless other than the powers received from kryptonite, but that isn't the point. The people of this planet are neither your intellectual or moral equal."

"And how would you know? You've never lived outside this fortress either."

"Your father did. He spent a summer here as a youth. His experiences were not positive. He had to rescue a young woman from being mugged, a protector of the law fell in love with a married woman and sent a hitman after your father just so he could frame the husband for his would-be murder, and the woman he'd fallen in love with died in his arms."

"And Krypton never had such problems. Everyone got along great?"

"You know they didn't."

"Exactly, so stop trying to write off an entire race because my father had a bad experience, and let me live my life."

Either he'd successfully argued his case or Jor-El saw that his mind was made up on the matter. Regardless, Kal-El left to plan a special evening for Lois.

sss

"You've been out again," Lois said as she looked at the table laden with a veritable feast.

He'd gathered dished from all over the world: pasta from Italy, soup from France, tarts from England.

He popped the cork from a bottle of Spanish wine and poured her and him cups.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk," she teased.

He flushed at the suggestion and started to take hers back. She was enjoying this new, less sure side of him. It was cute.

She picked it up and took a seat. "I was only joking. I can hold my liquor better than Russian generals, and that's not just a clever metaphor."

"You have led such an interesting life," he said, sitting down across from her.

One might have thought he was joking. He had traveled across a galaxy before he'd even learned to stand and grown up with amazing powers. What could be more interesting than that? She heard the loneliness that marked that statement though.

"Don't think you have to be stuck in a fortress to feel loneliness. Moving around all the time with a barely-there father can be very lonely as well."

He reached out across the table and touched her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, a reminder that neither of them were alone in this moment. As the dinner progressed, it turned to less serious topics, and she asked, "What's it like to fly?"

Rather than answer her, he stood up and motioned for her to follow him outside.

She looked up at the glorious expanse of sky. That was one thing about living in the city, seeing the breath-taking canvas of thousands of twinkling lights against a velvety black background was a rarity.

The next thing she knew, he had a hand in hers and the other on her waist. The arctic landscape made a strange and cold ballroom, and their only music was the stars, but she didn't mind. It was kind of romantic and unexpected. In fact, dancing with him gave her the sensation of floating on air.

She looked down. They were floating on air! She moved closer and griped him tighter.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said with a soft smile. "I won't let you fall."

And she knew he wouldn't. She relaxed and enjoyed the experience. The stars got bigger and more plentiful the higher they got and the thrill of feeling weightless was as amazing as the thought it would be, and yet, she could only seem to focus on the man that held her up and somehow his touch kept her warm.

He wasn't at all like he'd been when they first met. He had become quite dear to her.

She was rather sad when they had to return to Earth. "You know I just happened to think of something. "How is it that you know English and so much of the world on the outside that you navigated it for our meal tonight."

"I'll show you. Follow me."

And she did. She had the momentary, crazy thought that she would have followed him anywhere.

He took her back to the room of crystals and selected a special one and inserted it into the special slot. This one shows you the present. It's sort of like the satellites that circle the globe, tapping into that technology and making sharper images with sound. It can even track a person by their DNA."

"So you're telling me it's like a magic mirror. You can see anywhere and anybody you want to see?"

"Exactly. Just touch the crystal, and it will read your mind's impulses and show you what you want to see."

She focused her thoughts on her father, and holograms materialized. Her father wasn't alone.

"He's with Lex Luthor," she said, the disgust in her tone and the sharp intake of breath leaving Kal-El no doubt about what she thought of that.

"Who's he?"

"A multi-billionaire who stops at nothing to get his way and does nothing that doesn't benefit himself. He is a villain. I just haven't yet been able to prove it. If he's with my father, it's to no good end."

He was silent for a few moments before saying, "You're free to leave." The words were stilted, forced.

"You mean it?" she asked, unsure she'd heard correctly.

"You have to go to him if you think he's in danger. I was thinking of freeing you anyway. Even with the shield the fortress and clothing provide against the cold, winter is coming, and it's too harsh for someone with your biology. I can lead you to the cave you came through."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried effusively. "Let me just get my things."

She didn't have much that she came with. She put her regular clothes on under the robe and got her purse.

She was surprised when he super-sped her to the cave in a thrilling rush, letting her experience another of his powers.

"Thank you again for letting me go," she said. "I promise that all your secrets are safe with me."

"Wait," he said before she stepped through.

He held out the disc that has brought her there.

"You're giving this to me?" she asked.

"I want you to know you're free to go through it anytime you wish or need, and well, I just want you to have something to remember me by."

"I don't need a key for that." She gave him a friendly punch goodbye that turned into a brief hug before she set off to rescue her father from the grips of Lex Luthor.