Family Ties
a Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - based fan fiction
by: Joycelyn Solo


Author's note: I present to you, what I hope to be, a series of stories set after the end of Season 4. This isn't necessarily a "Season 5" type of deal here, there are lots of other sites for that, but I wanted to try my own hand with the world of Lois & Clark and see how far I could get with the introduction of one of my favorite heros.
Disclaimer: Lois & Clark and associated characters are property of December 3rd Productions who, I believe, had them on loan from from DC Comics. Most any other character we'll run into later are property of DC Comics. I mean no copyright infringement, this story is for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter Two

Dr. Bernard Klein looked up from the series of test tubes he was studying at the sound of his lab door opening.

"Superman? What a pleasant surprise." As he came around the table, he noticed that Superman wasn't quite alone...and that his guest wasn't quite conscious. "Um, who's your friend?"

"I'm not sure." Superman shrugged, shifting the girl in his arms as he did so.

"Why bring a Jane Doe here instead of the hospital?" Dr. Klein asked, even as he indicated a cot in an adjoining room for Superman to lay the girl on.

"I think she may be Kryptonian."

That would explain bypassing a regular hospital. "You think she may be? You can't tell?"

Superman frowned at the scientist. If Kryptonians and humans didn't look so much alike he wouldn't be able to blend in with them. Of course, he couldn't tell Dr. Klein just how well he blended.

At the Man of Steel's frown, Klein nodded absently. "Right. How could you really tell? If it weren't for the tights and cape I wouldn't be able to tell you apart from a normal human just by looking at you." He focused this attention on the girl, analyzing. Young, probably mid-teens. In good health -- aside from being unconscious. Blonde hair. Eye color unknown considering that they were closed.

Picking up a needle and syringe, he attempted to draw a blood sample. "Her skin's as tough as yours if that's any help. Could she be one of the New Kryptonians? Maybe one that stayed behind or came back for a visit?"

"I found her at the crash site of what could have been a spacecraft. She seemed unphased despite the wreckage. She also knew my name. My Kryptonian name."

On his third needle, Klein gave up trying to extract a sample. "My scientific guess --without running any tests -- is that if she looks like a duck, is as invulnerable as a duck, chances are, she's probably a duck."

Superman raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's not like you're giving me a lot to work with here." He frowned and turned his attention back to the girl. Noticing the "S"-shield emblazoned on the left side of her chest, he commented, "If it helps, she shares your taste in fashion."

"Doctor --"

"Oh, that gives me an idea." The scientist interrupted Superman and grabbed a pair of scissors from the counter. "Hopefully she doesn't get too upset with me." Being as careful as he could not to disturb her, he snipped a small piece of material from the hem of her skirt.

With the sample in hand, he walked back into the lab and motioned for Superman to follow. He placed the piece of material under the microscope and adjusted the lens. After a moment he looked up to see that superhero was frowning at him. "What's wro -- oh. You want to know why I just shortened her skirt. I figured if she is like you there was no way I could get a sample from the tighter-fitting material. That aura of yours protects whatever is closest to your skin, so I took the sample from the looser material." He stared pointedly at the Man of Steel. "Do you think I'm some sort of dirty old man?"

Not bothering to comment, Superman turned his attention to the sample and microscope. "What are you hoping to find?"

"What I just did." He grabbed his notepad and jotted something down. "At a cursory inspection, I don't think her clothing is made of Earth fibers. Which means we know that at least her clothes aren't from around here."

"Leaving us with the question of where is she --" Superman trailed off. "She's awake."

At the doctor's questioning glance, Superman explained. "Kryptonians are telepathic."

"Fascinating." Klein commented, following Superman back into the other room to stand beside the cot the girl was sitting on.

Seeing the girl, Dr. Klein added to the mental tally of what they knew about her. Eyes, blue. At the moment, those blue eyes were wide as she looked from him to Superman.

Where am I?

"You're in a laboratory. On Earth." Superman answered, kneeling beside the bed as he answered.

The girl turned her attention back to the scientist.

Who is he?

"This is Dr. Klein. He --" Superman stopped when he realized that neither of her questions had been asked aloud. "Can you talk?"

Yes. But I do not know this language.

"She doesn't speak English." Superman explained to Dr. Klein. "She's asking me questions telepathically."

The doctor nodded his head. "Extraordinary. She...can she understand us?"

Yes.

"Yes." Superman conveyed. "She's probably sensing my thoughts."

Klein nodded, grabbing his notepad from the counter. "Where is she from? How did she get here?"

Argo City. A section of Krypton that survived after the planet's destruction.

"How did you get to Earth?" Superman asked, forgetting to include Dr. Klein in the conversation.

Rather than answer, she leaned toward him and lifted her hands . If you will allow me.

Klein watched in open fascination as the girl held her hands to either side of Superman's head and closed her eyes in concentration. Superman followed suit and the two stayed that way for several minutes until the girl opened her eyes and set her hands back in her lap.

Superman wavered and the girl held a hand out to steady him.

Dr. Klein was concerned. "Superman? Are you alright?"

"He will be," the girl answered, startling him. "He is sorting through the knowledge I shared with him."

Klein nodded his head, then shook it in confusion. "I thought you didn't speak English?"

The girl tilted her head toward Superman. "I also experienced some of his knowledge."

"Oh." he nodded again, not really understanding all that had taken place between the two.

"You're my cousin." Superman said finally, sitting on the bed beside her girl, stunned by all the information he suddenly had in his head. "Kara. Your father was my uncle."

Klein looked from Superman to the girl and back again. "Cousin?"

Seeing that her cousin was still a bit dazed from the sharing, Kara answered the man in the white robe. "Before Krypton was destroyed my father constructed a shield around the city that protected it when the core exploded. The shield worked for nearly thirty years. Some of the survivors began families, like my parents. Argo City thrived for nearly thirty years after Krypton's destruction. But, the protective shield began to fail and..."

Sensing the pain his cousin's words brought her, Superman continued the explanation. "Zor-El, like my father, built a ship to send Kara to safety when he knew the shield could not be repaired."

Kara appreciated her cousin's assistance. It was too soon for her to deal with the loss of her world, her family. For now she had to focus on finding her place on this new world.

But part of her wanted to hold onto the past. "Where is my ship?"

"It's outside the city. What's left of it." Superman answered gently. That ship was the one of the few remnants she had of her word -- her father spent the last year building it to save her.

The loss of the ship her father built was disheartening, but at least she still had their memories..."What about my globe?" she asked, not sensing it nearby.

"Globe?" Dr. Klein's brow was furrowed as he attempted to record as much information from the two Kryptonians as possible.

"It's like the memory globe my parents sent me." Superman explained to the scientist before returning his attention to Kara. "I didn't see it, but I wasn't really look for it, either."

She stood, her stance determined. "I must find it." Please. It's all I have left.

Superman flinched at the pain in her thoughts. He understood what the globe must mean to her. When he'd discovered the contents of his, it gave him a link to a life he never knew. For Kara it was the only link she had to her past. "I'll go back to the crash site and find it for you."

"I should go with you. The globe will respond to me."

Superman looked to Dr. Klein for a medical opinion. Kara had been through a tremendous ordeal in the last few hours -- even for a Kryptonian -- and he didn't want to push her too hard.

"Don't look at me." Klein shrugged. "As far as I can tell, she's got the same constitution as you, Superman. She's probably in better health than I am."

* * *

"This is extraordinary." Cradled in her cousin's arms, Kara looked down at the city as it passed beneath them. "And you say that in a few years I will be able to do this?"

Superman smiled at the amazed look on her face. "I was eighteen when I took my first flight."

She was quiet for a moment, as though weighing her next question. "What should I call you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Dr. Klein and others call you Superman. But your name is Clark Kent. Should I call you that or Kal-El?"

"How did you..?"

"When we shared thoughts before. It is also how I learned your language so quickly." At his look, she explained, "I did not seek out your knowledge on purpose, Kal-El. Your mind is very open...the thoughts came to me."

He nodded his head in understanding.

She smiled at his acceptance. "Why do you have so many names?"

"That's a long story, Kara. Probably one of the many things we should talk about after we find your globe. For now, call me Clark. It's what my family calls me."

Satisfied with that, she returned her attention to the scenery as they left the city and approached the treeline where her ship entered.

"Great Krypton," she breathed, seeing the path of destruction and the wreckage. "I survived this?"

"Another for the list of things to discuss. On Earth, we're...different. Stronger. Faster. More resilient."

"And we can fly."

"Yeah," Superman smiled again at her. "And we can fly."

He touched down in the middle of the wreckage. "This is where..." he trailed off as something caught his eye.

"What is it?" Kara could sense his confusion and worry, even though he kept it heavily concealed from his outward appearance.

"Someone else has been here."

"How do you know?"

He pointed to a spot several feet away. "I can see footprints in the debris."

"From here?" She asked, then surprised herself when she focused on the spot he indicated. She could see it as clearly as if it were directly in front of her. "Extraordinary."

Superman scanned the area. "I count three sets of footprints. Heavy boots, actually, probably military." His frown deepened at that thought. "And no sign of your memory globe."

"I don't sense it nearby." At her cousin's bewildered expression, she asked, "You do not share a connection to your globe?"

"Guess you've got some things to explain to me, too." He shook his head. "Would you know if it had been destroyed in the crash?"

Kara closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it. "I can still feel it...only not here. Why would someone take it? I am the only one who can activate it."

"Whoever has the globe doesn't know that. At least it's probably safe until we find it." He scanned the area one last time. "For now, I want to take you someplace where you can rest and we can talk."

Allowing him to take her again into his arms, Kara watched as the remnants of her past disappeared from sight and they flew toward her future.

~~~~~~~~~~