Jasper, Nevada. A little town out in the middle of the desert. Surrounded by sand and plataeus at all sides. Well, except for the farm a few miles out.
My name is Clark Kent. I was born… well, not here. Honestly, I'm not sure where I was born. I'm about 23 years old. I grew up in Jasper, here. I was found in a cornfield by my mom and dad.
Johnathan and Martha Kent.
Mom couldn't have kids… she was infertile.
They had pretty much given up any hopes of having kids, until I came along.
And I was one hell of a handfull.
Growing up was… tough.
Mom and Dad were the best parents I could ever ask for, but despite what they would tell me, I always felt like I was far from being the best son.
You see, I was a little troublemaker. Not in the sense of… well, not in the sense that I was a snot nosed little brat who wouldn't listen to his parents. Quite the opposite, I love and respect them so much that I'd do anything they say.
But I've always been different.
You see, I have abilities. Not like a special skill, or some quirk.
I have superpowers. I've always had them, ever since I was a kid.
My powers seemed to come in one at a time.
As far back as I can remember, I've always been strong. Now, I… don't really know how strong I am.
When I was six, I ran ten miles down the road. Mom and Dad found me bawling my eyes out, terrified that I would leave them on accident.
When I was eight, I found out that my skin was harder than it was before. I snuck into Mom and Dad's room, playing with Dad's shotgun when I thought it was unloaded. Ended up shooting myself in the face. This would've been better if I'd had the ability when I was six, but I'm not gonna tell that story for a long fucking time.
Anyway, when I was ten, I blew out my birthday candles. Lana, Pete, and Chloe… that was when they found out about me. Instead of blowing out the candles, I literally blew the cake into the wall. Three days later, I found out that I could also blow sub-zero temperatures if I wanted.
At thirteen, I found myself hearing a couple celebrate the fact that they were pregnant. The thing is… it was over five miles away, on the edge of town. As I got older, I found myself able to hear things into the next country. It was Mom who helped me control this power.
A year later, I accidentally looked in on my parents doing the deed… from my own room. Yeah, that was embarrasing, and very uncomfortable when we all realized what had actually happened. That was an image I didn't need in my head.
When I turned fifteen, we went on a class field trip to a Water Park the next town over. I saw Amy Jane, the most beautiful girl in school, in her bikini… and I nearly exposed myself when I had two red heat beams shoot from my eyes. That one, I had to learn to control quickly.
Yeah… I meant superpowers. Actual, real superpowers.
When I exposed myself to Lana, Pete, and Chloe, I was terrified. I thought they'd think of me as a freak. It was clear I'd scared them. I hid myself in my room for three hours after that. I wouldn't come out for Mom or Dad.
It wasn't till Pete, Lana, and Chloe all came to my door themselves and actually talked to me that I realized that they didn't think I was a freak. Hell, they thought it was cool.
They also covered for my sorry ass a lot in middle school and high school.
In seventh grade, I got into my first fight. I was suspended for five days. Three days after suspension ended, I got into another fight.
I don't take well to bullies, but I think the honest truth is… I was sick of holding back all the time.
I got more powerful everyday. I can crush concrete with ease and warp metal like it's a bendy figure. The shotgun incident only gave me bruises, but now, I'm not sure it'd even dent me.
My strength is the main factor. I can't just turn it off. Everything around me is fragile. Including people. I learned that the hard way… but that's a story I don't plan to talk about. Not for a long time.
I got extreme control of my muscles, to the point that I can use my vocal chords to perfectly mimic any voice I want. It's that control that keeps me from ripping doors off their hinges or crushing people when I give them a hug.
But when I'd get into a fight, knock somebody's skull around… it felt good. I could cut loose. Even for a tiny, miniscule amount, it felt good, cutting loose a little.
But it was one hell of a headache for the others, half the time. Mom and Dad ripped me a new ass on a regular basis, and Lana, Pete, and Chloe weren't always too happy when they'd make an excuse to either get me off the hook or reduce my punishment. I told them not too, to quit trying to help me when I start stupid shit.
But like me, they were always too stubborn to listen, even despite the headaches.
But then… things changed.
Amy Jane, the girl I talked about earlier? Yeah, she was beautiful, but me and her… we didn't get along too well.
It'd be more accurate to say we hated each other.
You see, I was a trouble maker. An asshole. An idiot who almost always threw the first punch, although it was usually for a good reason. I just barely kept my grades at passing level.
Meanwhile, she was an ace in school. She excelled in most of her classes, and was always participating in extracarricular activities. She almost always had time to do whatever she wanted.
Me and her had interacted quite a few times in the past. Usually, we exchanged less than stellar words.
She thought I was an idiotic asshole who couldn't keep his head on straight.
I thought she some judgemental girl who didn't know how to actually talk to people.
We didn't like each other at all.
And then I drove her home.
I was on my way home. I had my license, and Mom and Dad had let me use the spare truck as my own vehicle, assuming neither of them needed to use it.
It was pissing pouring rain. And I was pulling out of the parking lot.
And there she was, walking home. Holding her books to her chest, trying to cover her face and the books with one hand, wearing nothing but a pink little t-shirt and a short skirt.
I pulled over and offered her a ride without hesitation.
She was hesitent, but she accepted. She'd rather have a ride than to walk home in the rain.
We got to talking. When I asked her why she was walking home, she told me that apparently her boyfriend canceled her ride on her. Come to find out that her boyfriend was Whitney Ford, who was supposed to have been dating Lana at the time.
Suffice to say, I got suspended from school the next day.
Me and Amy ended up talking, getting to know each other. By the end of it, we had rather decent opinions of each other. I told her that if something like this ever happened again, or if she needed a ride to and from school, just to give me a call.
A week later, exactly that happened. I got a call, and gave her a ride to and from school. We talked some more.
It was about a month later that we went on our first date.
It was two months after that when we actually got together.
Things were going great. I found myself a new friend, which lead to a new girlfriend. I had someone who could actually keep me from brawling… most of the time.
I found my grades improving a lot more. Maybe it was because I actually wanted to try for her.
Then, her eighteenth birthday came around in senior year.
Her birthday was early in the school year, and by then, we'd been together for well over a good year and a half.
Her parents had trusted her, and they were out on a business trip, so they gave her permission to throw her own birthday party.
I went to her party, and at the end of the night, we… sealed the deal.
We had sex.
It's still the most cherished memory of my life.
But it also… could've been planned better.
Even after we got together, I never told Amy… what I was.
I found out when I was sixteen that I was an alien. I wasn't from Earth.
Mom and Dad showed me the spaceship after I had an episode. I was sick of being different.
Obviously, I told Lana, Pete, and Chloe. But I never told Amy about me, or my powers, even after we'd gotten together.
Her birthday party changed that.
A month later. It's the middle of the weekend. Mom and Dad are out at a farmers festival. I have the house to myself for the weekend.
And then I get a knock at my door.
And when I open it, Amy's standing there. And she's bawling. Her face is red from tears that are still coming, her eyes are puffy and red, and she's holding something in her hand.
I bring her inside, and ask her what's wrong.
And then she hands me something. A pregnancy test.
A used pregnancy test. Testing positive.
I hadn't even thought that it would've been possible. Despite looks, we were two completely different species.
She was carrying my baby.
She was scared.
She thought I'd want to leave her. Not be burdened. Like it was her fault that she was pregnant.
And admittedly, my initial reaction didn't help things.
I freaked the fuck out.
She was having my baby! She was scared? I'm a fucking alien with more power than anyone has a right too, and she doesn't even know! I'd have been lucky if she didn't leave me, because I knew…
I had to tell her the truth.
And I did. I showed her the ship. I showed her my powers. And I still remember the tears in my own eyes, the panic that flooded through me when she just went… sort of… blank.
She didn't say much. She asked a few questions, and then it was as if she just didn't know how to react.
It was the silence that scared me more than anything.
I apologized, begged her not to leave, promised I'd always be there. I got down on my knees and buried my head into her stomach, saying sorry over and over for not telling her.
I guess that snapped her out of it or something.
She said that she couldn't believe she was so lucky.
And promised me that she didn't think different of me. She didn't hate me. She was a little hurt, but she understood why I did it.
We stuck together, through it all.
Obviously, our parents weren't thrilled. I got a grilling from hell from Dad, Mom just backed him up. And Amy's parents… well, I'm thankful she's so stubborn.
They didn't like me. At all.
But neither of us cared.
I supported her as best I could. About five months into her pregnancy, half way through the school year, I dropped out, to everyone's shock.
To no one's surprise, Amy's parents thought I was gonne be a lazy bum, looking for more excuses to try and convince her to leave me.
Mom and Dad were disappointed.
And Amy was hurt and confused.
And then I brought home a three hundred dollar paycheck from working with Grandpa Kent a week later.
And I went straight to Amy, and asked her what she needed.
I used that money to support her, buy anything she needed through this whole thing.
And when the big day came… it seemed as though all of it was worth it. The mood swings, the outbursts from her…
Because she gave birth to our daughter. Krystal Martha Kent.
She was the most beautiful little girl, and her birth seemed to only bring me and Amy closer.
After she was born, me and Amy had a discussion.
Well, more of an argument.
She wanted to drop out, so that she could focus on taking care of Krystal. I wanted her to finish out school, go to college so that she could get a job she wanted.
I wanted her to still persue her dreams. She'd always wanted to be a nurse.
So we worked out something with her parents. Well, it was more of… my dad is very scary when he wants to be.
Farm man, born and bred, and a big man at 6'2"? I don't care about my powers, he could still scare the ever loving fuck out of me if he were here.
He was very pursuasive.
Anyway, Amy lived with us till she went to college. She did two years straight, and then went to medical school.
Every night during those times, I'd hop on the phone, talk to Amy a little. On the weekends, I made very good use of my powers, picking her up and bringing her home to spend time with her family.
After finishing medical school at 21, she started a job at the hospital. An old family friend, June Darby, was able to get her the job after the recomendation.
June was a nurse, but she was a very respected nurse. She had a lot of pull.
A year after she got her job there, me and her finally saved enough money to go and buy a house in town. It was a little place, but it was enough. Two bedroom, one bathroom.
That same year, Grandpa died. Before he died, he told me what I need to do in order to keep the company going.
I go around the neighborhood, and with the right pay, further out, and do construction jobs. I brought on Pete so that it didn't look weird, doing building jobs alone. Pete happily jumped at the chance. He and Chloe got together in senior year, and a few years later after they got their own house, they got married.
Our funds together keep the place afloat, and we usually have enough cash after bills and groceries that we can go out and buy something for Krystal, who started kindergarten in school about two months ago.
Our family is a normal. Well, as normal as it can be.
We never told Krystal about me. We didn't want to put a burden like that on her. We wanted her to grow up normal. As normal as possible.
But then… we stopped by K.O. Burger for an outing. Krystal loved the place, and June's son, Jack, works there. And where Jack his, little Tally isn't far behind.
We stopped there as a little outing after school for Krystal, who wanted cheeseburgers for a snack.
It was a normal day till left for home. We were taking the highway so we could get home and get some actual dinner.
Then we got hit in the ass.
And I found out that I wasn't the only alien on Earth anymore.
With sigh of content, Clark finished off his cheeseburger, glancing over at his daughter sitting next to him as he licked the ketchup off his fingers.
Krystal Kent was eating her burger, hovering her mouth over a napkin as ketchup dripped out the opposite side.
Meanwhile, across from him, his girlfriend of six years, Amy Jane, was eating carefully eating her own burger, glancing at Clark with a raised eyebrow before looking at her daughter. "Are you enjoying your burger, sweetie?"
Eagerly, Krystal nodded, grinning despite the mouthfull of food. "Lots! Thanks, Mommy!"
Both Amy and Clark chuckled at the site. "Alright, Krys, don't talk with food in your mouth." Clark lightly admonished with a smile.
Krystal nodded, and quickly chewed her food and swallowed, before looking at her dad. "Sorry Daddy."
Clark shrugged. "Hey, no harm done. It's just rude to talk with a full mouth." He said, looking down at Krystal.
Amy nodded in agreement, smiling gently at her daughter. "It's okay to speak once you finish chewing and swallow your food."
Krystal nodded as she took another bite, chewing and swallowing before speaking again. "Like that?" She asked, hoping she did good.
Clark smiled, and Amy giggled lightly at the cute look on her daughters face. "Yes, Krystal. Just like that."
Krystal beamed at the praise, happy that she'd done what she'd been told correctly, before continuing to eat her food.
Clark looked down fondly at his daughter, before sharing a glance with his girlfriend. The couple looked at each other, both of them smiling, even though Amy was eating her food. Clark waited patiently for his family to finish their food, more than happy and content to watch them eat.
The sound of a the bell ringing whenever the resturaunt door opened caught Clark's attention, and he turned on instinct to look at the new arrival.
He grinned slightly, as he recognized the teenage girl walking through the doors, looking around the resturaunt. After all, he'd used to babysit her and Jack for June on more than one occasion.
Though Talida wasn't June's child, she hung out at the Darby household enough that she could be considered her mother. And there were times when both teens were children that they'd need someone to babysit them.
And it was usually Clark, accompanied by Amy after a certain point, babysitting the children at the Darby house.
"Hey, Tally!" He greeted, catching the attention of the girl, who smiled broadly upon seeing the man sitting at the table.
"Clark!" She said, smiling widely as she approached the family sitting at the table, happily giving the man a hug. "It's good to see you!"
"You too, kiddo." Clark said as he happily returned the hug with one arm.
Talida turned her gaze to Amy, moving over to give her a hug as well. "Amy!"
Amy happily sat her food down so that she could give the teen girl a hug. "Hey, girl!" She said, returning the hug. "It's good to see you!"
"You too!" Talida said with a grin, before her gaze turned towards the child sitting next to the window by her father, gleefully smiling even as she ate her food. "And how are you, Kryssie?" She asked.
Krystal quickly swallowed her food, looking at Talida with glee. "Good! I learned not to speak with my mouth full!"
Talida giggled, enjoying the excitement the child garnered from something so simple. "That's great, sweetie!"
"So, how you doing, Tally?" Clark asked as he looked up at the teen from his position in the booth.
Tally rubbed her arm, her demeanor turning a little sad, before she brought a gleeful smile onto her face once more. "I'm doing great!"
Both Amy and Clark noticed her demeanor, and they glanced at each other, concern on their faces.
"You sure?" Amy asked, looking back at the teen girl.
Talida nodded, still keeping the smile on her face. "Yep!"
It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it, and neither of them were going to force her to.
"Alright." Clark said with a sigh, before smiling up at the teenage girl. "I take it your here for Jack?"
Talida nodded. "Yeah. I was hoping he could hang out when he gets off work." She scanned over the family. "What about all of you?"
Clark chuckled. "Well, the munchkin here wanted to have burgers for a snack after school." He spoke, ruffling his daughter's dark hair.
"Daad…" Krystal complained as she put down her burger, trying to fix her hair from her dad's hand.
Amy giggled at the scene. "We thought we'd oblige. We have the money, and burgers sounded good anyway." She explained, glancing towards the teen.
Talida nodded. "Yeah. I think I'll go get a burger, actually." She said, glancing towards the front counter. "I could use some food right now."
Clark chuckled, and pulled out his wallet. "Well, here, go get yourself something." He said as he handed her a twenty dollar bill.
Talida's eyes widened as she took it. "Clark, I-"
"You can take it, and you will." Clark said with a smile. "Because I sure as shit ain't taking it back."
Talida glanced at the bill, and then she smiled. "Okay."
"Finished!" Krystal suddenly spoke up, catching all of their attention. She sat, her cheeseburgers finished, ketchup all around her mouth as she grinned. "I ate it all!"
Amy laughed. "That you did, Krys. Good job!" She congratulated as she finished off her own burger.
Clark smiled, picking up a napkin and handing it to his daughter. "Here, kiddo, clean off your face."
Krystal took the napkin, but rather than wipe away the ketchup, she stuck her tongue out, wiggling it around as she licked up all of the stray ketchup around her mouth, before looking at her father. "Did I get it all?"
Clark chuckled. "You did." He said with a nod. "Not the way I was expecting, but who am I to complain?"
"Well," Amy spoke up, standing to her feet as she grabbed her purse. "I think it's time to go if we're all finished."
Clark nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Kiddo here has school, and we both have work in the morning." He glanced over at Talida with a smile. "Sorry to just take off on you."
Talida shook her head. "It's fine. It was good talking to you, Clark."
Clark nodded as he stood up out of the booth, before turning to look at his daughter, bending over to pick her up. "It was good talking to you too, Tally."
Amy pulled Talida into a hug, smiling. "It was good to see you, Talida."
"You too, Amy." Talida said, gladly returning the hug.
When the two, seperated, Amy turned to look at Clark and Krystal. "Alright, let's go."
Clark nodded in agreement, glancing at Talida. "See you later, Tally."
"Bye, Clark." Talida said with a wave as she watched the family leave the resturaunt.
Clark drove down the highway, completely relaxed. Due to his powers, he could see if anything was coming long before there was any real risk, and react accordingly. He was able to relax, even though he was actually watching like a hawk.
"So, any particular patients come in today?" Clark asked, proceeding with his usual round of small talk as he gave a quick, second long glance to his girlfriend.
Amy smiled. Even after a full year, Clark still asked her the same question every day, and she never had a problem with it.
"Well, there was old Henry. He ended up in the E.R. today." She explained, looking at Clark. "The old man ended up shooting himself in the leg. The bullet went through his knee, came right out his foot."
"Goddamn." Clark said with a whistle. "How the hell did he manage that?"
Amy giggled. "He wouldn't say. All he'd say is that it was an accident." She looked over at Clark. "It wasn't funny in the moment, but looking back on it, I think the poor guy was embarrassed."
Clark snorted. "Wouldn't shock me. He's a gun nut from hell, and yet he managed to shoot himself?" He said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
Amy shook her own head. "Well, at least it wasn't too bad. We were able to patch him up pretty well. The only reason they sent him to the emergency room was because of how bad he was bleeding."
"Blood made it look worse than it was?" Clark guessed, to which he saw Amy nodding from the corner of his eye. "That's what I thought."
"So, how's the progress on that barn for Roy?" Amy asked, referring to the barn currently being built by Clark and Pete a few miles out from town.
Clark smiled. "We have the frame pretty much done. We just need to put the trusses up, and then we can start the metal paneling." He informed her, glancing over at her. "After that, I got another job lined up, though it's a bit farther away."
"Oh?" Amy asked with a tilt of her head. "How far?"
"About a two hour trip." Clark admitted. "Though, the offer is for about five hundred a paycheck." He revealed.
Amy's eyes widened. "Wow. That is a decent amount."
Clark nodded. "That's exactly why I took it." He admitted, glancing over towards Amy. "I know we never needed it before, but I'm saving up for something."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "A new gift for Krystal?"
Clark chuckled. "Not quite." He said with a shake of his head. "It's a surprise."
Amy smiled as she looked over at Clark. "Oh? Then it better be worth it."
Clark smiled over at Amy, and it was one of the most joyful grins she'd ever seen. "Oh, trust me. You and me will be more happy than anyone when I can finally afford it."
"Then I can't wait." Amy said with a smile.
The two sat in silence, no more words being exchanged beyond that. The only sounds audible at the moment were the sounds of Krystal's game as she played in the back seat.
As he drove, Clark's eyes happened to glance towards his rear view mirror for a second, only to snap back at what he saw.
Jack Darby and Talida Prime, riding a blue and pink motorcycle towards them at high speeds.
"Jesus!" Clark shouted on instinct as the teens drove by, while Amy yelped in surprise next to him and Krystal gasping in the back seat, as the two passed with less than an inch between them and their van, the van shaking from the speed of the bike. "What the hell is wrong with those two?!"
"I didn't know either of them even had a license!" Amy remarked, surprised as she watched the two speed down the highway. "I didn't think either of them would do something like this."
"Jack, but he doesn't have a vehicle, to my knowledge." Clark explained, glaring down the highway. "What the flying fuck do they think they're doing, riding down the road like that?!"
Then, Clark's hearing picked up something. The sound of engines roaring. Two of them, getting closer and closer to the van.
Clark took a quick glance in his mirror.
And all he saw was a purple muscle car for a split second, before he was rearended.
Hard.
"HOLD ON!" Clark shouted out as the van went flying into the nearby canal.
There was a sense of weightlessness for a few moments, as the van flew through the air.
And then they made impact.
Everyone in the van was jerked around as the van flipped, the sound of scraping, bending metal and crashing noises echoing through all of their ears. It was deafening, the way the entire van seemed to crumble around them.
And then they finally smashed into something.
And everything went quiet.
Clark breathing heavily, his fear filled nerves calming down slightly as his hands gripped the wheel in fear.
He'd never been good with heights.
With a shuddered breath, he turned and looking in the back seat.
"Krystal?" He spoke, looking at her in concern. "You alright sweetheart?"
"I'm scared, Daddy…" Krystal whispered, her eyes flooding tears as she looked at her father. "Mommy's hurt."
"What?" Clark's gaze immediately snapped towards the passenger seat.
Amy sat, unconscious, a bleeding gash on her head. There was a splotch of blood on the dash, where Clark assumed she'd hit her head during the impact.
Clark cursed.
And it didn't help that it felt like they were upside down.
"CLARK!"
That was Talida's voice.
Next thing Clark knew, his door was being wrenched open, and he was looking into the frightened and conerned faced of Talida and Jack, the latter of whom had forced the door open.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked, concern all over his features.
Clark nodded. "I'm fine!" He shouted as he ripped his seatbelt off of him, causing him to crash to the ground. "Out of the way!" He ordered as he rearanged himself so that he was upright, and then he crawled out of the driver side.
Admittedly, it was a little surprising to the teens to watch him climb out of the van without much problem. Outside of some ruffled clothes, he looked absolutely fine. Not even a bruise.
Clark jumped to his feet and moved to the back door behind him.
He could still hear his daughter crying, in impeded by the fact that she was in the car. His hearing made that so.
But another thing caught his attention.
The sounds of clashing metal rang out through the area, causing Clark's gaze to snap towards the source.
And he never thought he'd see anything like what he spotted.
There were three robots. Two large purple robots, menacing in appearance, a large red visor on what would be their faces. They were fighting another robot. A blue and pink robot, with a shape resembling a woman.
It had Clark completely shellshocked.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" He shouted in surprise and disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The sound of his daughter's whimpering brought him back to the present, and he turned to door.
At the moment, he didn't care who knew his secret. His family was in danger.
Both Jack and Talida watched in disbelief as Clark dug his hand into the door, the metal bending around his hand as if it were clay, before he gave a hard tug.
The door was flung clear across the canal, but Clark ignored it as he climbed into the van once more, facing the upside down form of his daughter. "Are you hurt, Krystal?"
Krystal tried to blink out the tears as she looked at her father. "I-I don't think so. I'm scared."
Clark gave a reassuring smile. "It's alright, Kiddo. You'll be fine." Clark reach a hand up against Krystal's stomach, keeping her up in the eat as he ripped the seatbelt clear off of her with his other hand.
With the seatbelt gone, Clark gently lowered his daughter to the ground, realigning her so that she was upright.
He pulled her close to his chest as he moved to exit the van once more, and he walked directly up to Jack.
"Here, take her so I can get Amy." He ordered. Jack nodded, gladly taking the terrified little girl. After the display of strength he just saw, he was in no hurry to agitate the man.
Clark moved around to the passenger side of the van, ripping the front door off without a second thought.
He made quick work of the seatbelt, as he did with Krystal. Holding her unconscious body bridal style, he moved out of the van once more.
The gash on her head wasn't too deep, and though she was bleeding, Clark estimated that she'd be fine once he had a bandage wrapped around it.
He took a quick glance towards the robot smackdown happening at the center of the canal, and he was surprised to find another robot had joined the fight. A large, yellow and black robot.
He wasn't interested in sticking around. Not with his family at risk.
"Let's go you two." Clark ordered he moved away from the van, eyeing an unused sewage pipe as he marched across the canal, where he spotted little Raf Esquivel standing on the other side in shock. "RAF!"
The local handiman's loud voice shocked the boy out of his stupor, and turned, looking at Clark in surprise. "Mr. Kent?"
"Come on, we have to go." Clark said, moving to stand by the pipe. "All of you, in, now."
"Talida Corrie Prime, what the hell is going on?!" Jack exclaimed, spinning on his best friend as they quickly moved into the pipe.
"I can't tell you, Jack!" Talida confessed, only to jump at Clark's voice behind them.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked with a growl. "Can't this wait till later?!"
"She knew about the robots!" Jack revealed, to Clark's surprise. "She said the motorcycle was called Arcee! The yellow one is Bumblebee!"
Clark's gaze snapped towards Talida, not at all happy with the news. "What the fuck did we get dragged into, Talida?"
"I… I'm sorry, Clark. I can't tell you- BEHIND YOU!"
Her sudden shout had Clark jerking around.
Behind him, there was a large hand reaching into the pipe, inches away from grabbing Clark.
Clark grit his teeth, not happy at all. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
Everyone watched in disbelief as Clark's eyes began glowing red, and then two thick red beams of what could only be described as pure heat blasted from his eyes.
The hand quickly tried to remove itself from the searing heat, but the temperatures of Clark's heat vision pretty much fried the entire arm.
The watched towards the opening of the tunnel, through the now molten metal, as the now armless purple robot flailed around in pain, before hit hard by the yellow one, who Clark was assuming was Bumblebee.
Clark didn't care to watch anymore, turning his attention back to the teens in front of him.
"Mr. Kent… how did you-"
"I'll explain later." Clark interrupted Raf. "But unless you want to have another close call like that, we have to go."
Nodding at his words, they all began moving through the tunnel once more.
Clark's gaze caught Krystal's gaze. She was looking at her father with a terrified gaze.
And Clark realized that Krystal would learn the truth a lot sooner than he ever would've hoped.
After what felt like forever, the group finally exited the tunnel, coming out on the other side of the highway.
Once they exited, Clark took a glance around. "Is everyone alright?"
A chorus of yes's and uh huh's echoes through the group.
Clark nodded, relief flooding through him, before he glanced down at his wife.
He wasn't going to run home at superspeed, not until he'd disinfected and bandaged the wound on her head.
Gently, Clark lowered to his feet, placing Amy gently on the desert ground below them.
"I'll be right back." Clark said, gazing up at the group of teens. "You can let her down, Jack."
"Where are you-"
Whatever Jack was going to ask was cut off, as with a burst of wind, Clark suddenly disappeared in a blur, to the shock of all those present. That same shock only grew when he returned not even a second later, a first aid kit in his hands.
"Talida." Clark didn't even look at the teen girl when he spoke, instead focusing on his injured girlfriend as he crouched down and examined the wound. "Start talking."
"I can't tell you, Clark." Talida said quietly, averting her gaze from the man. "Not yet."
"Really?" Clark asked with a raised eyebrow. "And why is that?"
"Because it would put your life at risk."
Clark snorted. "Did you see what I just did, Talida? I think we'll be fine."
"How did you do that, anyway, Mr. Kent?" Raf asked, curiously. "No that we're safe, will you tell us?"
"Depends." Clark said, finally turning to look at Talida. Talida visibly flinched under his gaze, absolutely nervous to have the gaze of the man she saw as a secondary father figure baring down on her. "I want an actual explanation as to why our van got launched into the fucking canal." He spoke sternly. "Otherwise, I'll tell you too later, because Talida here sure as shit doesn't deserve any explanation if she can't give me one."
"Clark, please…"
"No, he's got a point, Talida!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes narrowed. "I'm your best friend! We've known each other since we were in diapers! And you didn't even tell me!"
"Because it would've put your life at risk!" Talida retorted, looking at John with a shake of her head. "I couldn't live with myself if I put my loved ones in danger."
"And yet, it wasn't your loved one that got hurt, was it?!" Clark snapped, glaring at the teen girl, who averted her gaze. "You can talk, or your no longer welcome around my family, Talida."
All of their eyes widened at Clark's harsh words.
"But…" Krystal's voice spoke up, more than a little hurt at the demand. "Tally's nice…"
"I don't care, Krystal." Clark told his daughter. "I will not have your mom, and especially not you, put in danger because Talida here won't let us know what risks there are from simply being around her."
Talida looked torn at the demand. She loved the Kents. She really did. Clark was a like a second father to her, and Amy had practically been her best friend ever since they'd met. She was like a mother and a sister combined. And Krystal was the little sister she'd never had.
She couldn't bare to lose the only thing close to a normal family she had.
"I… my dad isn't human." Talida finally revealed, averting her gaze as all of them finally turned their attention to her, though Clark finished patching up the wound. "He's the leader of a faction of giant alien robots."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "You're dad is a robot?"
Talida nodded, taking a seat on the desert ground under them. "A Cybertronian. They're a race of living robots who have the ability to alter their form to a vehicle based one. They can also scan new forms, which is how they blend in here."
"So, we could've seen one and never known it?" Jack asked, a little unnerved at the prospect.
Talida shook her head. "Unlikely. Their are two factions. The Autobots, and the Decepticons. They don't usually hang out in Jasper, to be honest. The Decepticons, anyway. The only reason the Autobots will hang out here is because the base is a few miles outside of Jasper."
"Let me guess, Autobots are good, Decepticons are bad?" Clark guessed, turning to glance at Talida for a quick second. When she nodded, he turned back to Amy. "I thought so."
"My dad's name is Optimus Prime. He's the leader of the Autobots." Talida revealed, tucking her face into her knees. "He is trying to win the war."
"War?" Raf asked, concerned. "What do you mean by that, Talida?"
"The Cybertronians are in the middle of a civil war. The Decepticons want to conquer, rule, and the Autobots believe in freedom."
Clark nodded as he listened to her explanation. "And you've been stuck in the middle of all of this since you were born?" He asked, expression softening as what the girl was really saying hit him like a train.
Talida nodded, a sad look on her face. "I wanted to tell you, and Jack, all of my friends, so many times… but I didn't want to put you at risk." She admitted, bringing her face from her knees to look at the man.
Clark looked at the girl in front of him. Whatever anger he had evaporated as he realize just how bad the poor girl had it.
He let out a sigh. "Alright, kiddo, that's enough. I'd say that's about all we need to hear for now." He said, glancing towards the girl with a small smile. "I got to tell my own story after all."
Talida smiled, looking at Clark with a grateful gaze. "Am I… still allowed around you?"
Clark chuckled. "You kidding? Sounds to me like we're the only source of normalcy you have." He said with a grin as he finished bandaging Amy's wound.
"So, how did you do those things back there anyway, Clark?" Jack asked, turning his gaze towards Clark.
Clark let out a small sigh. "You could say I'm a little similar to Talida, in a way." He admitted with a small smile. "You see, I'm not from around here."
"What, like Jasper?" Raf asked, confused by his words.
"More like… not from Earth."
His words surprised many of them, and they all looked at them in shock.
"You're an alien, too?" Talida asked, surprised by the news.
Clark let out a laugh. "Yeah. Mom and Dad found me in a cornfield, a few miles out from the town." He explained. "Don't go expecting an explanation about what I am, or where I'm from. I don't know myself."
"How do you not know?" Jack asked curiously.
"Jack, I was a baby when I came here. I have no memories of any other planets, or anything of the sort." Clark informed the boy as he finally turned to look at them all. "The only reason we know I'm an alien is because of the spaceship I arrived in, and this."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small, black object, with a symbol on the front of it, resembling an S.
"What is it?" Krystal asked, curiously reaching towards the object as Clark let her look at it.
"I don't know." He admitted, letting her take it and look at it. "Dad took it to a metalologist when I was about fifteen. He told me that whatever it was made of didn't exist on the Periodic Table."
All of them looked at the object in disbelief. "Can I see it, Krys?" Raf asked, approaching the child.
"Here you go." Krystal handed the object to Raf, who looked at it curiously as Talida looked at Clark.
"How can you… do those things?" She asked. "Like, the strength, speed… the laser beams?"
Clark shrugged. "Not too sure, to tell you the truth. When I say I don't know much about my species, my homeworld, I mean it. I know fuckall about how my body works." He admitted, his eyes glancing towards Krystal. "Hell, Krys here was a completely unexpected surprise, but she was more than welcome one."
"Does that mean I'll get superpowers?!" Krystal asked gleefully, excited by the prospect.
Clark shook his head. "By god, I hope not." He said, causing Krystal to frown slightly. "Krystal, if anyone were to find out what I was, god only knows what would happen to you, your mom, your Nana…" His gaze turned to everyone there. "I mean it when I say that absolutely no one can know what I told you."
"Nobody?" Krystal asked, a little disheartened. "But it's cool."
"But there are people who'd be scared, Kryssie." Jack explained, crouching down next to the child. "They might come and try to take your dad away. They might take you away."
"What?!" Krystal asked, fear in her voice completely shattering the wonder. "But I don't want to go!" SHe shouted, running and hugging her father in fear.
"Krystal, I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Clark said gently, running his hand through Krystal's hair. "But… you have to keep it a secret."
"Okay…" Krystal said, hugging her father tightly. "I won't tell anybody."
Clark smiled, hugging his daughter back. "I know, kiddo."
"I'm gonna warn you in advance." Talida spoke up, catching their attention. "After me and the others explain everything that happened… My dad will probably want to talk to you tomorrow."
Clark shrugged. "Eh, it'd be pretty weird if nothing came out of this shit." He admitted, smiling over at Talida. "You need a ride home?"
"Um…" Talida was unsure of how to really answer that. "Robots that transform into cars?"
Clark chuckled. "Um…" He said, mimicking Talida's sentence. "I can move faster than a jet?"
At that, all of their eyes widened. "How fast are you?"
Clark shrugged. "Not sure. Never had a reason to really test myself." He admitted, smiling slightly as he recalled a memory. "Though, I was running back and forth while Amy was in college, so that way she could spend time with us on the weekends."
"How far was that?" Jack asked curiously.
"Seven hours by car."
Their eyes shot wide at the news.
Clark laughed at the looks on their face. "Anyway, I'm gonna get these two home." He said scooping up Amy once more as he looked at the teens. "You all plan on walking, or you gonna call somebody?"
"Um…" Jack's voice caught his attention. "I could use a trip back to K.O. Burger. I need to grab my bike."
"I can take you home instead, swing by and grab the bike on the way." Clark offered. "Just give me a second to get these two home."
They watched as Clark disappeared for a second, before he returned, Amy no longer in his arms. "You need a ride home, Raf?" He offered as he picked up Krystal.
The boy nodded. "I would appreciate it. I don't really want to have to walk with traffic the way it is." He admitted.
Clark chuckled. "I get that." He turned to look at Talida. "You sure you don't need a ride?"
Before she could speak, Talida's phone started ringing. Taking it out, her eyes widened when she spotted the person calling. "Actually, that's my ride calling me now."
"One of those big friends of yours?" Clark asked with a chuckle.
Talida nodded. "Yeah, Arcee."
"Alright. Well, then I guess I'll go ahead and get everyone home." He said with a smile. "Take care, Talida."
Talida smiled. "Bye Clark." She said with a wave of her hand. With a nod, Clark dissappeared, and a few seconds later, so did Raf and Jack.
It was still a site to see, in Talida's opinion. A normal human moving at speeds comparable to Red Energon.
Shaking her head with a smile, she answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, where'd you go?"
"I went with the others, made sure they got out safely." Talida explained to her friend. "We… may be in trouble with Dad."
"Why, what happened?"
"Amy, Clark's wife… you've heard me talk about her, right?"
"Of course. She used to babysit you with her sparkmate, right?"
Talida nodded, though she knew Arcee could see it. "Yeah. I think the Decepticons ran the Kents off the road. Amy has a large gash on her head from the crash."
"Great… well, you can come on back. Bulk showed up, and the Cons retreated."
Talida nodded. "Okay… I'm on my way back over."
As she hung up her phone and climbed back into the service pipe, she couldn't help but think about everything that had happened today.
Things sure have changed.
"And the Cons would've been scrap metal if I wasn't distracted by the human." Arcee grumbled to Optimus as she finished recounting the story of the days earlier events.
"Human?" Optimus repeated, surprised by her words.
"Yeah." Talida said with a nod, looking at her father. "Jack."
"You're friend at school?" Optimus asked for clarification, to which Talida nodded.
"Yeah. He's been my best friend since… well, always." Talida said with a nod.
Arcee smirked. "Didn't seem like it to me. You two were bickering the entire time." She retorted, to Talida's chagrin.
"We weren't bickering!" The techno-organic defended with a glare.
"Oh no." Arcee retorted sarcastically. "You just had one of the screaming matched you have with Ratchet all the time."
Ratchet snorted. "Talida and I argue about real issues." He corrected. "With Jack, I doubt the matters are nearly as important."
"Everything matters, Ratchet." Talida retorted. "Especially in this war."
"Medecine and battles matter." Ratchet responded without missing a beat. "Not the little matters like the scrap between you and Jack."
Talida glared at the Autobot Medic. "Watch your scrap hole, Ratchet! Or one of your precious inventions may 'mysteriously' end up destroyed!" She threatened. "I've done it once before! Don't think I won't do it again!"
Ratchet growled at the threat. "Why you little-"
"Enough" Optimus snapped sternly. "Both of you."
Bumblebee chose this moment to speak up. "I didn't get chance to really see how many there were, but I saw Talida with Jack standing next to a wrecked car, and a boy on the other side of the canal."
"Wreck?" Optimus' eyes widened upon hearing that. "What happened?" He asked sternly.
"I think the Decepticons ran the Kents off the road when they were chasing us and Arcee." Talida revealed, guilt somewhat welling on her face.
"The Kents?" Bulkhead perked up. "Your old babysitters?"
Talida nodded. "Yeah. Amy got hurt in the crash. She had a large gash on her head."
Both Arcee and Bumblebee looked a little guilty that the Decepticons were able to hurt anyone.
"But… I did learn something new." Talida spoke up, catching their attention. "Cybertronians aren't the only alien species on Earth."
At that, they all snapped at attention, even Ratchet.
"What?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.
"We're not?!" Bee beeped out in shock.
"Explain, Talida. Now." Optimus ordered. If there was another alien species on Earth, he needed to know if they were a threat.
"Actually, I don't think we were the first ones." She admitted. "I found out that my old babysitter, Clark, is an alien. And a powerful one at that." She explained to her father and the team.
"What species?" Arcee asked. "He looked so human."
"I have no idea." Talida responded. "And he doesn't either. He's been on Earth since he was a baby."
"How do you know that he isn't a normal human?" Bulkhead asked, confused.
"I watched him rip a car door off it's hinges and send it flying across the canal." Talida revealed. "And not just that. Remember the Decepticon who lost his arm, Bee?"
"Yeah. When I pulled him away from the pipe, it looked like his arm had been melted off." Bee beeped.
Talida nodded. "That's because it was." She revealed. "Clark turned around, his eyes turned red… and then these red laser things shot from his eyes."
All of the bots were shellshocked at this revelation. "And he's been here since he was a sparkling?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.
"I though Fowler said we were the only alien species on Earth." Arcee remarked as she glanced at Optimus.
"He did." Optimus said with a nod. "Which means either he was lying, or he is not aware of Mr. Kent's presence."
"He's not aware." Talida said seriously. "The government never knew that an alien crash landed on Earth before us, and we need to keep it that way."
"Talida, we must inform Fowler of this development." Optimus disagreed. "He needs to be made aware of an alien living amongst humans."
"It's not our secret to tell, Dad!" Talida shouted back, surprising everyone. "We have no right to uproot his life like that!"
"But if their is a man with this much power on the planet, shouldn't the human government be made aware?" Ratchet asked, glancing towards the teen girl.
Talida spun on Ratchet with a glare. "Clark kept the Con from grabbing us, and he didn't think any differently after he heard me out."
"Heard you out?" Arcee questioned, and Talida flinched when she realized what she'd unintentonally let slip. "What to you mean by that, Talida?"
Hesitently, Talida turned to face Arcee and Optimus. She knew she was going to be in trouble. "Clark demanded to know the truth. He told me I'd never be allowed around him or his family again if they didn't know the risk I brought with me."
"You told him about us, didn't you?" Optimus asked sternly, stepping forward. "Talida, you know the protocol."
"THE KENTS ARE THE CLOSEST THING TO A NORMAL FAMILY I HAVE OUTSIDE OF THE PRIMUS FORSAKEN WAR!" Talida suddenly shouted, surprising everyone. "I'M NOT GIVING THAT UP BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID PROTOCOL!"
They all looked at the teenager, surprised by her outburst.
And it hit Optimus just how hard Talida's life was.
Simply because she was his daughter.
"Talida… I'm sorry." Optimus apologized, stepping towards her and crouching down, while Talida turned her back to him. "I suppose I didn't think how hard it would be…"
"Dad… I know what the protocol is. But I can't lose them. They're family just as much as you all are."
"Well, the man saved Sprout." Bulkhead remarked, stepping forward. "I'd say the least we can do is keep his secret."
"Besides," Bumblebee began. "We're gonna meet him tomorrow anyway. Why shouldn't we at least wait to inform Fowler before we meet the man?"
Optimus nodded at the words as he stood up. "For the time being, Clark Kent's status as an extraterrestrial of this world will remain a secret." He informed. "We have brought his family into this anyway, and had that not happened, I doubt we ever would've known about the man's abilities in the first place."
Talida smiled up at her father. "Thanks Dad."
Optimus smiled down at his daughter. "You are welcome, Sweetspark."
Optimus turned to look at the Autobots. "Tomorrow, three of you will go out and retrieve the humans. We must ensure their safety." He turned to look at Arcee. "Arcee, you and Talida shall retrieve Jack."
Arcee nodded. "I guess it can't be avoided now."
Optimus then turned to Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, you will retrieve the boy."
"Raf." Talida piped up, revealing the teens name.
"And you, Bulkhead, will retrieve the Kent family." Optimus said, turning to the wrecker, who nodded.
"You got it, Optimus."
"You are to bring them directly to base. We must explain everything. If the Decepticons have seen them, they are in grave danger."
"Daddy?"
Krystal's voice caught Clark's attention, and he turned to find his daughter, in her pajamas, standing at in the doorway to his bedroom.
"Hey, Krys." Clark greeted gently, a smiling softly at his daughter. "Everything okay?"
Krystal didn't say anything for a moment, averting her gaze out of what Clark assumed was nervousness. "I'm scared."
Clark's brow furrowed in concern. "Why?"
"What if the mean robots come and find us?" Krystal asked, terror present in her voice.
Clark was on his feat in an instant, his first instinct being to soothe his daughters fears. "That won't happen Krystal."
"But Tally said-"
"Talida said they don't hang out much in Jasper, Krys." Clark said as he scooped his daughter up into his arms. "And even if they did, Daddy would teach them a lesson they'd never forget."
Krystal looked more uplifted. "Would you burn them? Like you did the one trying to grab us?"
Clark smiled reassuringly. "Yes. I'd burn them until they didn't want to ever come around the state again." He said.
Krystal looked reassured at that, and she smiled as she wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "I love you, Daddy."
Clark smiled as he gladly returned the hug. "I love you too, Krys."
"Can I see your eyes glow?" Krystal suddenly asked, leaning back as she looked at her father with an excited grin.
Clark raised an eyebrow. "What, you mean like when I use my heat vision?"
"Uh huh!" Krystal nodded eagerly. "I wanna see them glow!"
Clark chuckled. "Alright, Kiddo."
Clark focused on his heat vision, and he could feel his eyes glowing hotter as he barely triggered one of his most deadly powers.
Krystal watched in wonder as her father's eyes began glowing faintly, a bright red glow illuminating his eyes. His iris's seemed to turn orange to differentiate sections of his eyes.
"Cool…" Krystal said, almost instictively reaching towards Clark's glowing eyes.
"Hey!" Clark suddenly shouted, jerking his head back as he gave his daughter a stern look. "I have to problem showing you, but my eyes are still extremely hot, Krystal."
Krystal jerked her hand away at her father's words. "Oh."
Clark chuckled as he ceased his powers. "Feel better."
Krystal didn't respond for a moment, before she smiled at her dad. "Can we play some video games?"
Clark laughed at his daughter's request as he looked at his watch. "Alright, but only for a couple of hours." He relented. "I'll late you stay up since you aren't going to school tomorrow."
"Yay!" Krystal shouted as Clark sat her down on her feet, and she was immediately rushing to the living room.
Clark chuckled, watching her run. He took one last concerned glance at his unconcious girlfriend, before he walked after Krystal.
"I bet I can beat you at Mortal Kombat!"
"Oh, game on, kiddo!"
The next morning, Clark awoke to the sound of humming and the smell of bacon.
Clark usually woke up pretty early. When the sun was in the sky, Clark found himself completely unable to sleep. So he usually was up in no time.
He attributed it to his life growing up on a farm, but a part of him wondered if it was the sun. Even when he'd pull an all nighter, he'd rarely ever found himself without energy once the sun came up. It was as if the sunlight gave him constant energy.
Clark sat up, looking around as he scanned his surroundings.
Their bedroom was completely illiminated, even with the lights out. The sun's rays shone through the blinds.
Clark turned over to look towards his girlfriend…
…only to find himself surprised when he saw an empty space on the bed.
"Amy?" Clark called out.
"In here!" The humming stopped as Amy's voice echoed in from the kitchen.
Clark stood up off the bed, grabbing his blue button up and putting it on to cover his bare chest.
As he walked into the kitchen, he was greeted by the lovely smell of bacon, and the site of his girlfriend at the stove, happily humming away as she cooked breakfast.
Clark could see a plate of bacon sitting on the counter off the the site, and if Clark was correct, she was currently making pork chops.
The site of his girlfriend standing on her feet made Clark smile, and she was currently wearing a thin white tank top, and a pair of shorts hung from her waist as she hummed her tune, oblivious to her boyfriend behind her.
Without saying a word, Clark walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her stomach, lowering his head so that his chin was resting on her shoulder.
Amy affectionately nuzzled against Clark's head, her hand coming up to rub Clark's neck as she smiled. "Morning handsome." She greeted.
Clark smiled as he kissed her cheek. "I'm glad to see you up." He whispered into her ear. "You had me worried."
"What happened?" Amy asked, concern welling in her voice. "I saw Krystal in bed when I got up. All I remember is the crash."
Clark looked at his girlfriend in concern. "Well, it's one hell of a story, I'll tell you that." He admitted with a nod. His gaze wondered to her head, where he spotted the now open wound.
It looked better, and it had scabbed over.
"You took off your bandages." Clark remarked. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Quite the contrary." Amy said, looking at Clark with a smile. "You did a great job. But I wanted to see the wound for myself." She admitted as she turned back to making breakfast. "You did a good job cleaning and bandaging it, but the wound wasn't actually that bad."
Clark's eyes widened. "Not that bad? Amy, you were bleeding like crazy!
Amy nodded. "It was a head wound, that happens." She explained, smiling at Clark. "It wasn't actually as deep as it seemed."
Clark looked at Amy for a few moments, concern on his face, before he relented. "Well, you're the nurse, not me."
"So, what happened yesterday?" Amy asked. "You're not at work, Krystal's not at school, and the van isn't in the garage."
Clark nodded. "Honestly, the van slipped my mind." He admitted. "You almost done with breakfast? You're gonna want to sit down before I explain things."
Amy looked at Clark for a moment, before she turned off the stove. "I'd just finished anyway."
Clark looked at Amy for a moment, before he slipped his hand into into hers, tugging her along towards the living room, to the couch.
Clark took a seat on the couch, and Amy took a seat next to him, looking at him in concern.
"What's wrong, honey? You're tense."
"I'm not the only alien on Earth." Clark revealed, right out the gate.
Amy's eyes widened. "What?"
Clark nodded. "When we got ran off the road last night, the car… apparently is wasn't actually a car."
Amy looked at Clark in confusion. "Huh?"
"From what I gathered from Tally… there are living robots among us. Cybertronians, she called them." Clark explained. "Apparently, they can transform into any vehicle of their choice."
Amy was silent as Clark spoke.
"Apparently the Cybertronians are in the middle of a civil war. Tally's father is the leader of one of the factions… Autobots, she said. The one who hit us was called a Decepticon."
"And Talida knew?" Amy asked, more than a little hurt by the revelation. "Why didn't she tell us?"
"She was scared the Decepticons would hurt us." Clark admitted. "Honestly, she still didn't want to tell us, but I didn't give her much of a choice."
Amy narrowed her eyes at Clark's words. "What did you do Clark?"
Clark averted his gaze. "I told her that unless she told the truth, She wasn't allowed around us ever again."
Amy's eyes widened. "Clark!"
"I know! I'm sorry!" Clark exclaimed. "I wasn't thinking straight at the time! You were sitting next to me, bleeding, and we just saw the a bunch of giant robots!"
"Clark, that girl thinks the world of you!" Amy admonished, glaring at her boyfriend. "That was a cruel thing to do."
"I know." Clark said with a nod. "But… I was angry. She knew what they were, and she wouldn't give me an explanation." He looked at Amy, the regret in his eyes. "But… she told me the truth. And… I had to do the same."
Amy's eyes widened. She knew exactly what she meant. "She knows?"
"Not just her." Clark admitted. "Jack and Raf know." He looked away. "And… so does Krystal."
Amy looked at her boyfriend in disbelief. "I thought we weren't going to tell her! Not until she was older!"
"I didn't have a choice, Amy!" Clark snapped. "One of those things were reaching in, trying to grab us, and I had to fry the thing's arm!" He exclaimed, looking at Amy. "What was I supposed to do?!"
Amy looked at Clark for a moment, before she looked away. "You did the right thing. I'm sorry."
Clark sighed, wrapping his arm around Amy and pulling her against him. "It's okay. I'm sorry for snapping."
The two sat in silence for a moment, Amy leaning into Clark as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Are… are we in danger?"
Clark looked down at Amy. "No. I don't think we are. But Talida did say to expect a visit today."
Amy looked up at Clark, concern and confusion on her face. "A visit?"
"Since we've seen those things, apparently her dad is gonna want to speak with us." Clark admitted, to his wife's dismay.
"I'm not sure if I want to meet those things. They sound terrifying." She admitted, tucking herself into Clark.
Clark smiled down at her. "The Decepticon things might be… but if one of those Autobots raised Talida, they can't be all bad." He said, hugging her close to him in reassurance.
Amy nodded, smiling slightly at the comforting warmth of Clark's words and presence. "I guess not."
Clark smiled down at Amy. "Now, let's get some breakfast." He said with a smile as he stood up, pulling Amy with him. "I want some of those epic pork chops you make."
Amy smiled at Clark as she followed him to the kitchen. "Well then, dig in!"
It was later that afternoon when a knock sounded at the door.
Clark paused the game he had been playing with Krystal as he stood up. "Coming!" Setting the controller down, he moved towards the door, wondering if it was who he thought it was.
When he opened the door, he wasn't expecting the site on the other side.
A young man, around Clark's age, was standing on the other side. He had black hair, and he wore a grey shirt under a green jacket, with a pair of dog tags around his neck. He wore a pair of camo pants, and some black combat boots.
The dog tags didn't have a name on them. Rather, a symbol of a face was indented into them.
"Can I help you, sir?" Clark asked the man at his door.
The man looked at Clark, and he looked more than a little on edge. "Well, uh, I'm supposed to pick you all up?"
Clark's eyes widened. "You one of those Autobots Tally told me about? I thought you all were robots?"
The man chuckled. "We are. But we can generate a holoform in order to blend in, interact more directly with humans." He explained. "Kind of a requirment for Autobots, to be honest."
Clark nodded. "Alright." Taking a glance past the man, he spotted a large, green SUV sitting at the curb. "You the SUV?"
"Uh… yeah." The man nodded. "I'm Bulkhead." He said, offering his holoform's hand.
Clark smiled, shaking the man's hand in return. "Clark Kent." He introduced. "You okay? Even for a robot, you seem a little nervous."
"Outside of Talida and one other guy, I've never interacted with many humans before." Bulkhead admitted. "Especially not one of… your caliber."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "My caliber?"
"Talida told us what you can do."
Clark's eyes widened. He'd told Talida not to tell anybody!
Then again… it was her family. And it's not like he didn't do the same thing with Amy.
Clark chuckled. "Bud, I'm not gonna fry your ass." He said. "I prefer to actually know the person before I judge them."
Bulkhead nodded. "Alright… well, Optimus wants me to bring you back to base, ASAP." He informed. "So… I don't mean to rush…"
"It's fine." Clark said, raising a hand. "Let me just tell my girlfriend and daughter, and we'll be out in a bit."
Bulkhead nodded. "Alright."
With a smile, Clark closed the door as he turned towards the living room. Walking in where Krystal was waiting patiently to play her game, Clark looked at his daughter. "Krystal, go get dressed."
"Are we going somewhere?" She asked curiously.
Clark nodded. "One of Talida's buddies are here. Apparently, her dad wants to talk to us."
Krystal's eyes widened in surprise, before she nodded. "Okay."
Standing up from her seat, Krystal immediately bolted to her room while Clark turned off the PS5 that they had.
Moving towards his bedroom, he spotted Amy within, sitting at the computer, though she wasn't actually using it.
"Amy?" Clark's voice caught her attention, and she turned to look up at him. "Um… we got a visitor."
Amy's eyes widened. "Is it…?"
Clark nodded. "Yeah."
Amy let out a nervous sigh as she nodded. "Alright."
Clark smiled as he walked up to Amy as she stood up. "Amy, I just talked to him." He revealed. "He's doesn't seem that bad. Hell, he's just as nervous as you are, right now."
Amy glanced up at Clark. "Him?"
"He sounded like a guy." Clark said. "Said his name was Bulkhead."
Amy's cheeks puffed up some as she blew some air between her lips. "Alright…"
Seeing she was still nervous, Clark brought a reassuring hand to her cheek as she smiled. "Come on, you know that if anything happens, I can get you and Krys out of there."
Amy smiled up at her boyfriend. "You always know what to say." She said as she kissed him.
"I don't know about that." Clark said once they separated. "But I try."
Their conversation over, the couple proceeded to get ready.
Clark changed into one of his more recognizable outfits. A blue flannel, with the words "Kent Konstruction" stitched above the front pocket, and a red t-shirt underneath that hugged his frame. He wore a pair of blue jeans, a black belt running through the belt loops, and a pair of brown steel toed cowboy boots under tucked under his pants.
Amy changed into a rather casual outfit. A thin black jacket over a lime green t-shirt, and a pair of dark blue jeans, compared to Clark's at least, with a pair of white sneakers on her feet.
When the two left their bedroom, the spotted Krystal waiting patiently in the living room.
Krystal had changed into a small black long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of matching black pants under a blue skirt, and a pair of pink sneakers. She also had a little blue bow in her hair, a gift from Amy that the child loved to wear.
"Alright, come on, kiddo." Amy said as she picked her daughter up off the couch.
Krystal looked rather excited to meet one of the nice robots that Talida had talked about as Amy moved through the door, Clark following behind her and locking the door behind him.
When she spotted the large, green SUV at the curb, she let out a gasp. She was admittedly still a little nervous.
Clark's hand on her back caught her attention, and she turned to look up at her boyfriend, who was smiling down at her.
"It'll be fine." Clark assured as he leaned over and kissed her temple. "Come on." He urged gently as he lead Amy and Krystal towards the SUV.
Admittedly, they all jumped slightly when three of the four doors on the SUV opened up.
"Jesus!" Clark said.
"Oh my god!" Amy gasped, backing away slightly.
"Sorry." The same deep voice Clark had talked too earlier emanated from the vehicle. "I thought that would be welcoming…"
Clark chuckled slightly. "You're good. Just wasn't expecting it, that's all." He turned to look towards Amy. "You okay, Amy?"
With a shuddered breath, Amy nodded. "Y-Yeah."
"Sorry I scared you." Bulkhead apologized. "I imagine that this isn't the most normal thing to experience."
In spite of her nervousness, Amy couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you kidding? My boyfriend here is an alien with superpowers. My life was never completely normal."
Bulkhead chuckled. "I guess not."
Amy buckled Krystal up in the back seat, before moving to climb in the passenger seat as Clark hopped into the driver's seat. It was instinct at this point, whenever the family went out anywhere together, Clark was usually designated driver.
"So, how long of a trip will this be?" Clark asked as the interior of Bulkhead's vehicle mode seemed to come to life.
"Well, I'd give it about twenty minutes, taking into account the speed limits." Bulkhead answered, the symbol on his steering wheel seeming to glow in tandem with his speech.
As they took off from the curb, Krystal took that moment to speak up.
"What's your name?" She asked, not really knowing where to look at.
"I'm Bulkhead." The voice answered. "What's yours?"
"I'm Krystal!" She introduced excitedly, practically bouncing in her seat. "I'm five!"
Bulkhead let out a chuckle that seemed to rumble through the interior. "You're a lot like Talida was at your age." He remarked. "She was always so full of energy. Can't tell you how often we'd chase her around the base because she wanted to rope us into hide and seek."
"Oh, you should see this one at tag." Clark remarked, jerking his thumb towards his daughter in the back seat. "She's like Speedy Gonzalez, running around like a bat out of hell."
"She's swift and quick for someone her age." Amy agreed. "Though, she doesn't always plan her escape routes."
"Oh, I know that feeling." Bulkhead remarked with a chuckle. "Talida always tried the same tactics to get away from us when she was younger. It got pretty easily to plan out where she was gonna go."
"I'll never forget when Krystal tried to get away from me in a game of tag by crawling under your dad's truck when she was three." Amy remarked, smiling towards Clark.
Clark laughed. "Dad hadn't been there, she probably would've gotten away from you." He retorted.
"I remember when Daddy took me and Mommy to the fair!" Krystal spoke up from the back seat. "He volunteered to get on the mechanical bull to see if he could win a race car!"
"Oh yeah, that was funny." Amy laughed, looking towards Bulkhead's radio as if it were his face. "Clark here thought he'd have no problem staying on with his powers. Instead, the grip ripped off from his strength and the way the bull was jerking around."
"Fucking dented the race car door when the thing flung me off." Clark remembered with a chuckle. "Didn't the host of that little contest get in trouble because the car was so close to the bull in the first place?"
"Fired on the spot."
"That kind of reminds me of an incident when we first came to Earth." Bulkhead remarked with a chuckle. "You'll probably be able to tell when you see my robot form, but I'm not exactly the most graceful."
Clark couldn't help the grin on his face. "What did you do?"
"So we land on Earth, right? It's about a year before Talida was born. It's me, Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Ratchet." Bulkhead explained. "I see a bunch of large metal structures, connected by these tiny cables."
"Oh no." Amy giggled.
"You didn't." Clark said with a grin and a shake of his head.
"I did." Bulkhead remarked with a chuckle. "I walk right up to the power lines, and right as I'm about up to them, I trip up on a little hump in the ground."
"Oh hell." Clark chuckled.
"I slam right into the power lines, and I got one heck of a shock alright. Arcee still teases me about it every once in a while." Bulkhead remarked with a chuckle. "Says it's the best I ever danced."
Amy giggled, her prior nervousness completely forgotten as she imagined a giant robot doing a spaz dance because he walked into some powerlines. "I take it you learned you lesson?"
"Oh yeah." Bulkhead remarked. "You get a check up with Ratchet because you did something less than smart, and you get a dent on the head from his wrench." He explained with a chuckle. "Not even Optimus has avoided that thing."
"Reminds me of this one." Clark remarked, pointing towards Amy. "Because of my powers, she's not afraid to take anything she can find to my skull if I piss her off."
"Hey, you deserved the frying pan after what you said to Pam, Clark!" Amy retorted, glowering at her boyfriend.
Clark laughed. "I was talking more about the sledgehammer than the frying pan."
"Hey, you promised never to speak of that again! That was pregnant mood swings!"
"Still, you hit me with a sledgehammer!"
"I said I was sorry!"
Clark was laughing hard as he recalled the paticular incident.
Bulkhead chuckled as well at the image. "So… did she like pick it up, or did she try to throw it, or-"
"BULKHEAD!" Amy shouted, glaring at his radio.
"Sorry! I was curious!" Bulkhead said with a laugh.
"Hey, Bulkhead?" Krystal's voice spoke up from the back. "What do you do for fun?"
"Well," Bulkhead began. "I'll go to or watch some monster truck rallies on TV. Maybe a creature feature here and there. In some spare time, I might play some lob ball."
"Lob ball?" Krystal asked curiously.
"It's like what you humans call basketball, but you don't have to dribble the thing." Bulkhead clarified. "Heck, you try dribbling a lob ball, Ratchet will almost definitely come after you with a wrench from all the dents in the floor."
As the group drove towards their destination, their conversations gladly continued as they all found something to talk about.
At school, Jack walked down the stairs to the entrance, where Talida was waiting for him.
Despite the brief explanation from Talida yesterday, Jack wasn't completely comfortable talking about the subject at all. In fact, he'd rather forget about it entirely.
He was still trying to process everything, if he was honest. Not just the fact that Talida was friends with a bunch of alien robots, but Clark's own revelation.
The fact that someone he'd looked up to for so long was an extremely powerful alien the entire time was rather mind boggling.
Glancing over along the sidewalk, both teens spotted Raf, waving at them, trying to catch their attention. They both had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to talk about. And considering they all need to clear things up, and get everything off their chest, they were more than happy to approach.
"Raf, hey…" Jack greeted. "Look, let's just keep everything between us and forget it ever happened, ok?" Jack definitely didn't want to have his normal life uprooted.
"You guyes weren't meant to know anything about what you saw, yesterday." Talida admitted. "My dad went ballistic when he found out what happened yesterday. Definitely wasn't helped when he found out about Amy."
"Jack, Talida!" Raf suddenly shouted excitedly, pointing towards a familiar black and yellow muscle car.
"Not again." Jack groaned as Bumblebee came to a stop and opened it's door, a beeping sound echoing out. "It wants us to get in?"
"Actually, He only wants Raf to get in." Talida corrected.
"How do you know that?" Jack asked, confused.
"He said so." Raf said simply.
"What?" Jack balked.
"Besides, you and I are getting a ride with Arcee." Talida proclaimed, gesturing to the blue and pink bike from yesterday.
The same one that had threatened to hunt him down.
"I don't really think that-"
"How's it going?" Raf asked as he climbed into Bumblebee. Jack's attention snapped towards the younger boy.
"What?! WAIT, STOP!" Jack exclaimed as Bumblebee drove off. Jack took another glance towards Talida, who was gesturing to Arcee with a small smile.
With a shake of his head, Jack turned away from her, and the bike, and walked in the opposite direction.
"Jack, wait!" Talida call as she followed him.
Meanwhile, A teenager was sitting on the stair rail, drawing what she assumed was a normal, if really cool, bike.
"Coolest. Bike. Ever." Miko said with a wide grin on her face as she drew the bike in front of her. Suddenly, her phone began ringing. Pausing her drawing to take it up, she pulled out her phone to check the caller I.D. "Host parents? Ignore."
Putting her phone away, she went to draw the bike again, only to look in surprise.
The bike was gone from it's parking spot.
Just barely catching a glimpse of the bike she had been drawing disappear around the corner, Miko hopped to her feet and sprinted after it, determined to finish her drawing.
Meanwhile, Talida was following Jack, who'd walked into an alleyway behind the school.
"Jack, please, just stop and listen for a sec!" Talida begged, trying to get her friend to listen to reason.
"You know, alleyways can be dangerous, right?" The voice of Arcee made both of them jump slightly in surprise, but Jack didn't stop.
"Not around here." Talida remarked as she shook her head, before turning her gaze back towards Jack. "Jack, stop!" She called out to him as Arcee transformed.
"Look, Jack is it?" Arcee spoke, finally causing Jack to turn around. "I just want to talk to you." She reassured him.
Jack couldn't help the roll of his eyes. "No, I get it." he responded bitterly.
"Jack, please." Talida begged. "There's a lot you don't understand."
"No, I get it, I do!" Jack reinforced. "The first rule of robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club." He reiterated Arcee's threat from earlier. "You made that point very clear."
"Kid, that was just-"
"No, I get it!" Jack interrupted. "What you need to understand, though, is that I don't what a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around, trying to get me killed!"
"Jack, do you think I had a choice?!" Talida exclaimed. "This isn't glamorous life for me, I was born into this scrap!" She blurted out. "All I want is to finally be able to join them in a Decepticon encounter for once-"
"That's you, Talida!" Jack interrupted her. "I'm prefectly fine having a normal life! I'm not desperate to risk my life on a daily basis!"
"Look, Jack." Arcee interupted before it escalated any further. "Optimus Prime has requested your presence because you are one of the few, one of the only, who have ever seen us." She explained. "You may be in danger just because of this experience."
Jack looked at Arcee for a moment, before his eyes glanced toward's Talida's own pleading gaze.
And then another voice sounded out.
"Dude, what are you waiting for?!" All of the occupants of the alley turned to the new arrival, where they spotted Miko peeking into the alley, an excited grin on her face. "Go with!"
Arcee and Talida both slumped. "Scrap."
Miko's shriek of joy practically rung in Jack and Talida's ears as they all squeezed onto Arcee. "Why are we bringing her?!" Jack asked, annoyance flooding him from Miko's cries.
"Rules." Both Talida and Arcee responded as Arcee followed Bumblebee.
Jack couldn't help the well of panic welling in him when they drove past the stop sign at a T-Section.
"Hey, wait, WHOA!" Jack shouted out as they drove straight towards a plateau.
Suddenly, the face of the plateau seemed to split apart, as a mechanical whir sounded out, before they drove into the plateau.
The tunnel they found themselves in seemed to wind on, before finally, they found themselves in the middle of some sort of command center.
Jack couldn't help the look of shock on his face as he spotted the large red and white robot standing at what looked like a large computer.
"Cool…" Raf said, amazement in his features as he exited Bumblebee.
"Whoa…" Both Miko and Jack gasped as they, along with Talida, climbed off of Arcee.
"Welcome to my humble abode, ladies and gentlemen." Talida smirked as Arcee and Bumblebee transformed into their robot modes.
"This is where you live?" Jack asked in surprise as he looked at his best friend.
"Yep." Talida nodded eagerly.
"I thought there were two children?" Ratchet recalled earlier conversations.
Arcee shrugged. "Haven't you heard, humans multiply." She stated rather dryly.
Suddenly, the sound of a horn rang out from the tunnel they'd just came down, and a big green SUV followed the noise, before slowing to a stop.
And inside, was the Kent family.
"So, this is where the magic happens?" Clark remarked as he and Amy climbed out of Bulkhead, before he moved to the back door, and pulled out Krystal.
"Hi, Clark!" Talida waved as the family exited the wrecker.
"Hey, Tally." Clark greeted with a smile.
Once all members of the family had safely exited Bulkhead's alt form, he took that moment to transform.
Clark couldn't help but whistle as he looked at Bulkhead's large form. "Suddenly, that story with the powerlines make more sense." He remarked with a chuckle.
Bulkhead chuckled as well. "Hey, I told you."
"I'm Raf." Raf introduced himself as he looked at all of the bots that were assembled at the moment.
"I'm Miko!" Miko piped up, running towards the now transformed Bulkhead. "Who are you?"
"Uh, Bulkhead." Bulkhead answered a little nervously.
"Cool! You're a truck, right? That's what that was? Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh?" Miko began shooting questions off rapid fire, only making Bulkhead more nervous as he was unable to answer.
"Sorry, I should've warned you about the questions, Bulkhead." Talida responded sheepishly.
"I don't think questions about weight were expected, Tally." Amy remarked as she glanced towards Miko with disappointed frown. "Or appropriate."
"It's fine, Sprout, Amy." Bulkhead said with a shrug as he looked at Talida.
"Are you ever gonna stop calling me that?" Talida asked with a smile, which Bulkhead returned.
"Not even when you're old and grey, and we're rusting away." He responded.
"Talida said that you were living robots?" Raf asked, curious.
Clark narrowed his eyes, and used a power he didn't often use: his X-Ray vision.
He was admittedly surprised by what he saw as he scanned the Autobots.
Circuts, wires, and cables ran through them, as well as a blue liquid flowing through their veins that Clark assumed was their equivalent of blood. And though they were mechanical in nature, they did seem to have veins. In their heads were metal circuits that resembled a human brain.
And in their chests, were glowing blue lights, connected with wires throughout their body, that seemed to hum and pulse.
"It makes sense." Clark spoke up in regards to Raf's question. "There interior circuitry is extremely complex, and resembles a human nervous system. I don't think anything on Earth could recreate something like this."
"How do you know what our interior circuitry looks like?" Ratchet questioned, looking at the man in confusion. "Have you encountered our kind before?"
"X-Ray vision." Clark answered promptly, without a thought of the implications. "Outside of lead, I can literally see through just about anything."
His words sent quite the amount of shock and surprise through most of the people and bots there.
"You have literal X-Ray vison?" Miko asked somewhat nervously, suddenly feeling exposed as she instinctually covered herself.
Clark rolled his eyes. "Please, Miko, why in the hell would I want to do something like that?" He asked, looking at the teen girl. "I'm taken, anyway."
"What all can you do?" Arcee asked. "Lida said you shot heat beams from your eyes, fried the arm off that Vehicon."
"Heat Vision." Clark clarified. "Let's see, I have super strength, super speed, my skin seems to be impenetrable to anything on the planet, I can shoot beams of pure heat from my eyes, which can be as strong, weak, or wide as I want it to be, my hearing can pick up noises from across the planet, and I can literally blow with the force of a hurricane, or I can literally blow freezing cold air from my lungs."
As he spoke, listing off his abilities, everyone there had increasing looks of shock on their face as Clark spoke, listing off more and more of his abilities. The only ones who weren't too shocked were Amy and Krystal.
By the time he finished, they all had their jaws practically on the floor as both optic and eye stared at him in shock.
"Holy crap…" Jack muttered, looking at the man in front of him with newfound respect.
"How do you not just do what you want?" Talida couldn't help but question. "All that power…"
Clark shrugged. "It wouldn't be right." He answered simply. "These powers don't give me the right to do whatever I want."
"An admirable sentiment." A new voice echoed through the command center, causing everyone to turn to the source, where Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, stood, looking down at Clark. "Not many would view thing in such a way."
Clark smiled. "I had good parents growing up." His eyes moved towards his girlfriend. "And a good person to keep me straight."
"Who are you?" Raf asked in wonder at the massive bot, who towered over even Bulkhead in sheer size.
"My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He introduced himself. "And Talida's father."
"You're big…" Krystal said as she looked up at the Autobot leader in awe.
"Why are you all here?" Jack couldn't help but question.
"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." Optimus answered, only creating another question for Jack.
"Ok… why are they here?"
"A fair question, Jack." Optimus admitted as he knelt down in front of his daughter and the other humans, plus Clark. "In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."
"Why were you figting a war?" Raf questioned curiously.
"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of Energon, the lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries." Optimus told them. "In the beginning, I fought alongside one I considered a brother, but in war, ideals can become corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way."
"So, what does this Megatron have to do with any of us?" Amy questioned.
"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time." Optimus admitted. "But if his return is immenent, as I fear, then it could be catastrophic."
"Hey, Talida." Clark called, catching the teen's attention. "While it's on my mind, what are you exactly?"
"Excuse me?" Talida said, a little caught off guard by the question.
"You said Optimus here is your dad, but you don't look any different from a normal human." Clark explained.
Talida nodded in understanding. "Oh. I'm a techno-organic. My dad is a Cybertronian, but my mom was a normal human." She explained. "It's rare, but it can happen. But… it can have it's consequences…" Talida trailed off as she spoke, a sad tone coming into her voice.
"I don't like the sound of that." Amy couldn't help but remark.
"My mom died of an illness due to having me…" Talida explained. "It's rare for a techno organic to be born… but it's even rarer for them to grow up with both parents."
Everyone gave Talida looks of sympathy, as they realized she never had a mother. Except maybe June, and Amy, in a way.
"Are you the only techno-organic?" Raf questioned.
Talida shook her head. "No. There's one more that we know of. Megatron's daughter, Malita."
"The leader of the Decepticons has a techno-organic daughter?" Jack asked in horror. The implications there did not bode well.
"Remember that month that Talida was missing from school, two years ago?" Arcee piped up, catching everyone's attention. "It's because Talida had been kidnapped and tortured by Malita."
Everyone had varying looks of horror on their face at the information.
"Tortured?" Clark asked in disbelief, horror completely flooding him as he realized just how bad Talida had it.
"I was kidnapped for two weeks." Talida started. "It took me an extra two weeks to get my stength back and for my injuries to heal. It's how I got these scars." As she spoke, showed everyone the burn mark on her wrist, and the scratch mark along her shoulder blade.
Clark couldn't help the rage that burned through him, and the guilt. One of his closest friends, the girl he used to baby sit, and considered family, had been kidnapped and tortured, and Clark never knew. All his power, and he wasn't able to do anything.
Reasonably, it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help the guilt that ran through him.
"I wanna kill her." Miko growled.
"I almost did that day." Arcee admitted, earning a nod of agreement from Optimus.
"I still have nightmares about it sometimes." Talida confessed. "But the thing that comforts me is that they're just dreams. Horrible dreams that can't come true. So I don't have anything to worry about." She finished with a sad smile.
Jack looked at Talida sadly. "Why didn't you t ell me?" He asked gently.
"The wounds take the longest to heal. A year ater, I was okay… after a long period of depression." Talida grumbled.
"That's why Jack found you in an alley with razor blades…" Amy said, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. "I was the one who stitched your wrists, since you had a panic attack when we mentioned a hospital."
"Hey, it's in the past, and sometimes we have to let go." Talida told Amy. "I can't tell you how much your presence meant to me. All of you." She said, her eyes running from Jack to the Kents.
Clark smiled. "You're family, kiddo." He said. "We'd be damned if we weren't there for you." He reinforced his point, Amy nodding in agreement. Even little Krystal was smiling at Talida.
Talida suddenly perked up. "Hey, how about a tour?" She proposed.
"I'm in!" The other three teens exclaimed.
"Yay, a tour!" Krystal cried out excitedly as Amy picked her up.
Amy smiled at Talida. "We don't have anything better to do at the moment, do we?" She asked, glancing at Clark, who chuckled.
"I guess not."
"Come on, let's go." Talida giggled as she lead the humans plus Clark off on a tour.
