Ch 14

"So, where's dad?"

"He went to town to get some groceries. He should be back anytime now," Martha replied. They turned and looked out of the window, when they heard the vehicle pull into the driveway.

Jonathan felt like he had been living in a daze. It was like he was living on autopilot ever since Clark had left. He had gone on taking care of the farm, but he was just going through the motions. Everything reminded him of his son and the fact that he was not there. His heart wasn't in the farm work that he did to try and get his mind off of his problems. His heart was out there in the world somewhere with his son.

Jonathan was still in a daze when he pulled up to the house and he didn't notice the motorcycle sitting in the driveway. He got out of the truck with both arms full of groceries. Jonathan walked in saying, "Martha, you didn't say what kind of flour to get so….." he stopped mid sentence when he looked up and saw Clark standing there.

"Hi, dad." Clark said with a nervous smile on his face.

Jonathan couldn't believe his eyes, he forgot about the groceries in his hand as he headed towards Clark.

Clark blurred over to his father to keep the groceries from falling to the floor. Jonathan grabbed Clark in a huge bear hug. "Dad, you're squishing the groceries." Jonathan gave a smile while Martha came and rescued the groceries. Jonathan continued to embrace his son, very glad that he was safe."

"I missed you, dad, " Clark said softly.

"I know son," Jonathan replied. "Me too. Me too."

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Clark said sadly. "It was the only way that I could think of to keep Jor-el out of our lives. I didn't want him to make me leave." Clark looked up with pain evident in his eyes.

"Why didn't you talk to us before you did something like that? You didn't know what would happen when you put that key into the ship. You could have really hurt yourself," Jonathan replied, concerned.

"I knew you would try to talk me out of it and I thought I could handle it;" Clark said sadly. "I guess I was wrong."

Jonathan put his hand on Clark's shoulder reassuringly, "Son, you should have talked to us about this ahead of time. But, this is not entirely all your fault. I should not have pushed you away like that. That is when you needed me the most and I turned my back on you. I'm sorry, son." He then pulled Clark towards him and gave him a much needed hug.

After a few seconds father and son parted. "There's something else that I haven't told you. " Clark said slightly nervous. "Dad you probably should sit down." Jonathan sat down unsure of what was about to happen.

"I wasn't just hearing voices before I left. Jor-el also burned me." Clark said.

"What? Honey, are you okay?" Martha said as she jumped up to look over Clark and make sure that he was alright.

"I'm fine now, Mom. The scar is gone. It went away when I took off the ring," Clark answered.

"Son, how did you get the ring off?", Jonathan asked, curious since it was so hard to get it off the first time.

"Well, actually you're the reason that I took it off." Clark looked at Jonathan and he seemed pleasantly surprised but also really confused.

"How?" Jonathan queried.

"Well, I met a new friend in New York although I didn't know that at the time. We got into a fight and I …. I " Clark could hardly bring himself to say what he had almost done. "I almost ended it." Clark hung his head ashamed.

"But you didn't, right?" Jonathan prompted, hopeful that his son hadn't done anything that couldn't be taken back.

"I was about to. But, then I thought of you and how you always taught me that above all else to do no harm. After that I was able to overcome it and remove the ring,"

"I am glad that you are alright, son, and that your back home," Jonathan said genuinely.

"What happened to your friend? Did he see you do anything?" Martha asked, concerned.

"He's fine," Clark said trying to avoid the second question.

"And," Martha prompted.

"He saw something … but its okay," Clark added quickly.

"And just how is this okay?", Jonathan replied getting worried.

"Because my friend is Peter Parker," Clark said as if that explained everything.

"And why should that make me feel any better?" Jonathan asked.

"Wait a minute. You said Peter Parker?" Martha said slowly as if the name was beginning to click in her head.

"Hmmm Mmm," Clark replied.

"What, have you heard of him or something?" Jonathan asked slightly confused.

"Yeah, I think so. Isn't he the one who takes pictures of Spiderman?" Martha asked.

"Okay, who is Spiderman?" Jonathan asked feeling completely out of the loop.

"Oh, he is a guy who can climbs walls and shoot web, right Clark?" Martha replied.

"That's right, mom. But, he doesn't just take pictures of Spiderman. He is Spiderman," Clark stated.

"Okay, so a guy who can climb walls and shoot web saw you use your powers?" Jonathan said.

"That right, dad." Clark said.

"But, he doesn't know anything else, right?" Jonathan was trying to comfort himself in the fact that this stranger didn't know everything.

"Well, yeah he does. I told him," Clark said adding quickly "Before you panic. I told him because he told me who he was. He was also the person that convinced me that I needed to come home."

"Okay, but I still don't feel good about this," Jonathan said unconvinced.

"Don't worry dad. He won't say anything. He knows what it is like to be different." Clark replied.

Later that night…

Martha and Jonathan both lay in bed pretending to sleep. Jonathan couldn't wait any longer. He quietly got up so that he wouldn't disturb Martha. He tiptoed down the hall and peered into the dark bedroom. He saw the familiar form resting peacefully in his bed. Jonathan stood there for a moment and just watched him sleep. He then closed the door back and tiptoed back to bed.

"Well.." Martha said.

"I thought you were asleep. I didn't mean to wake you." Jonathan replied quietly.

"You didn't wake me up. I was wanting to do the same thing you did," Martha said warmly.

"He is sleeping soundly and so should we," he replied.

"I can now," Martha replied.

THE END