New Girl in Town
By SSG Michael B. Jackson
Disclaimer: I don't own a damned thing to do with Smallville, to include any of the DC Comics characters portrayed. Hell, most of them have been around since before my parents were born, so how could I? Anyway, there's no money in this for me; I only want to have a little fun and maybe entertain a few other people as well, so enjoy and please don't sue me. I'm a poor soldier with four kids, so you wouldn't get much anyway!
As the sheriff came alongside the vehicle, stopping just short of the driver's door, Clark reluctantly rolled the side window down and just waited. Shining the light inside, taking in both Clark and Talia and the… questionable position they were in, she said dryly, "Mr. Kent. Well, I'd intended to ask what you were doing parked out here alongside the highway at this time of night, but I think I've got a pretty clear picture now. Why don't you two lovebirds just step out of the vehicle and come on back here to my car. I think you'll find it nice and cozy there in the back."
"Sheriff," Clark said quickly, "This isn't what it looks like."
The sheriff sighed tiredly and said, "It never is with you, is it Kent? Well, regardless, you need to get out of that truck like I just told you and-"
"Sheriff, this girl's just been in some kind of accident," Clark said, thinking furiously. Obviously, he couldn't tell the sheriff everything, but he had to come up with something that contained just enough of the truth to be convincing. Seeing the sheriff's expression shift from irritation to wary concern, he rushed ahead. "I, uh, found her down at the caves, unconscious, and I was going to take her to the hospital, but she woke up and got a little hysterical and- and I had to pull over to try and calm her down." He paused then, both to gauge the sheriff's reaction and to pull his own thoughts together, and then finished with, "That's just about the time you rolled up, Sheriff."
The sheriff was quiet for a moment, mulling over Clark's story as she shined her light around the cab, obviously giving Talia a closer examination. Finally, having come to a decision, she said, "Alright, Mr. Kent, I'll buy that for now. That being the case, I suppose we'd better get this girl to the hospital." She paused for a moment, considering, and then said, "I'll take lead and you follow. And, Mr. Kent?"
"Yes, Sheriff?" he said, knowing that he probably wasn't going to like whatever she was about to say.
"Don't go wandering off once we get there. I'm going to have just a few questions for you. Got it?"
Clark sighed and said, "I got it, Sheriff."
"Good," she said with a tight smile, turning to walk briskly back to her cruiser.
As soon as they pulled out, the sheriff's overheads flashing in front of them, Clark turned to Talia and said, "Well, slight change of plans, I guess."
Talia sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess so. Any bright ideas?"
Clark shook his head slowly, and said, "Not really. I think we're just going to have to wing this the best we can. But one thing's for sure; we need to get our story straight now and then stick to it."
"Huh!" Talia said with a slight smile. "Sounds like this isn't the first time you've had to bullshit the cops, Clark."
"Well, sure," he said just a bit too quickly. "I'm a varsity football player; pulling the wool over the local sheriff's eyes is a weekend survival skill."
Nodding appreciatively, Talia said, "Riiiight. But I think we've got some serious brainstorming to do between here and the hospital. Things are gonna get real hard to explain just as soon as the doctors start poking and prodding; the first bent needle is gonna raise some eyebrows." Then, flushing slightly, she looked down and said, "Here I am going on about 'we' and 'us' like I just expect you to help me. Guess that's kind of presumptuous, huh?"
Beyond the guilt in her tone and the brave face she was putting on, Clark could hear the underlying desperation. Obviously, this was a girl who was used to solving her own problems, but it was equally obvious that she was in over her head this time. And, Clark thought, super powers or no, in the end she was just a kid. No matter how competent she was, she needed someone's help, and he was the only one in a position to provide it.
With a reassuring grin, he said, "I don't think it's presumptuous to expect a hand when you need it, Talia. Or at least it shouldn't be. And of course I'll help you any way I can."
He saw her visibly relax then, and she said, "Thank you. And for what it's worth, I won't ever forget this."
"Well," Clark said, a little embarrassed by her gratitude, "I wouldn't thank me just yet. We've still got to figure something out and then pull it off."
"Yeah," Talia said distractedly, her mind already racing, "That we do." Then, after a slight pause, she continued with, "Y'know, I think I can probably tap dance my way around the doctors. By the time we get to the hospital, these burns should be healed up enough so that they don't think I need serious treatment. And as long as they stick to x-rays or CAT scans, or whatever, everything will be fine. Just as long as I can keep them from trying to stick a needle in me or something."
Clark nodded slowly, and said, "That sounds good, but there's a bigger problem."
"The sheriff," Talia said flatly.
Clark nodded again and said, "The sheriff. Not only is she going to have a whole lot of questions that are going to be hard to answer, but she's going to want to ID you too. And from what you told me-"
"There's no ID to find," Talia finished for him and then added, "Not in your timeline, anyway."
"Right," Clark said, "And, even if we get past all that somehow, you're still a minor. The sheriff can't just kick you loose; if she can't locate your legal guardians, I'm pretty sure she'll have to feed you into the foster care system."
Talia rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, doesn't that sound like fun. And I'm sure there's just no shortage of nice couples out there who'll be thrilled to take in a super-powered teenager from a parallel universe."
"Actually," Clark said in an odd tone, "Assuming we can make it happen, I might just know of a couple like that."
Giving him a sideways glance, Talia said, "Uh-huh. Well, in that case, I guess the big speed bump here is still the sheriff. I can try to spin some bullshit yarn for her, but anything I tell her is gonna be a verbal minefield. One wrong step and the whole thing will blow up in our faces."
"Well," Clark said thoughtfully, "The more elaborate you make a lie, the harder it is to hold it together. I'd tell her as little as possible, and make as much of that the truth as I could. That's the only way this is going to work."
"As little as possible…" Talia repeated, eyes unfocused in thought. Then, smiling, she said, "Y'know, Clark, I think you just gave me an idea…"
As they pulled up to the ER, Talia was just finishing a rather revolting task which had made Clark glad to keep his eyes on the road earlier. Taking care to keep herself covered as much as possible, she'd meticulously scratched and scraped as much of the seared, dead skin from herself as possible, exposing the slightly livid new skin underneath. Clark had done his level best not to let his gaze stray anywhere near Talia during this process, but now that she was done he turned to examine the results.
"Not bad," he said in a neutral tone. "When I found you, you looked like you'd just been dunked in a deep-fryer. Now you only look like you got a little too much sun. I can't see the doctors freaking out over that."
She nodded and said, "Well, let's hope. Just as long as they don't want to stick me."
Clark frowned just slightly and said, "You seem awfully worried about needles; that's about the third time you've said something. What's the deal?"
"What's the deal?" she said incredulously. "The deal is, unless Smallville Med stocks diamond-tipped, Teflon-coated titanium needles, they're probably not gonna be able to break my skin. Garden variety steel needles just won't cut it."
"Okay," Clark said mildly, "That makes sense, I guess, in light of everything else you've told me."
Before Talia could reply to this, they saw the sheriff exit her vehicle, striding purposefully in their direction.
"It looks like it's show time," Clark said in a low voice. "You ready?"
Reaching for the door handle, Talia said in the steadiest voice she could manage, "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."
Once Talia had been escorted inside and was safely ensconced in a treatment cubicle with one of the ER doctors, the sheriff wasted no time in pulling Clark aside. "So, Mr. Kent," she drawled, "Care to tell me what happened out there?"
"Uh, sure, Sheriff," he said evenly. "What do you want to know?"
"Oh, you know the drill, Mr. Kent," she said with just a hint of sarcasm. "Just start at the beginning. If I have any questions, I'll let you know."
"Right," Clark said with a sigh and then, "Well, I was down there in the caves-"
"Why?" the sheriff interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Clark said, taken a bit off guard.
"Why were you down there in the caves, Mr. Kent? You just make a habit of late night spelunking, is that it?"
Frowning slightly, Clark said, "It's just sort of a place I go to think sometimes, Sheriff. It's kind of peaceful down there, and for some reason looking over the cave paintings helps me clear my mind. I've cleared going down there through Lex if you're wondering, Sheriff; you can call him if you want."
The sheriff shook her head slowly, a sardonic half-grin on her face, and said, "Oh, I don't think that'll be necessary, Mr. Kent. I'm sure that if I did, your friend Mr. Luthor would back up anything you might tell me. Anything at all."
Ignoring the sheriff's implication, Clark said, "At any rate, I was walking around down there, heading for the central chamber, and I heard what sounded like a moan. That weirded me out a little, but I don't believe in ghosts, so I started looking around. I didn't have to look very far, though; as soon as I walked into the central chamber, she was right there in front of me on the floor. She was stark naked and she had all these half-healed burns on her and, well, it was obvious that something had happened to her. She was kind of semi-conscious, but she wasn't saying anything coherent, so I just sort of checked her out the best I could and then carried her out to the truck. I wrapped her up in the space-blanket to try and keep her warm, and then took off. While we were driving, she woke up and got really excited, so I pulled over to try and calm her down, just like I told you out there. And that's when you pulled up behind us, Sheriff."
The sheriff was silent for a moment, nodding slowly, and then said, "Okay, Mr. Kent, I'll buy all that for now." Then, after a short pause, she said, "So do you have any idea who this girl is or how she got down there? Did she tell you anything on the way here?"
Clark shook his head and said, "About the only thing I got from her was her name, Sheriff; Talia. And I can't even imagine how she got where I found her, much less what happened to her."
With a long sigh, the sheriff said, "Somehow that doesn't really surprise me, Mr. Kent. You seem to have a penchant for being right at the center of anything strange that happens in this town, yet you never seem to have any explanations. Why is that?"
"I don't know, Sheriff," Clark said innocently. "Sometimes I ask myself the same question."
"I'll just bet," she said skeptically and then, "Alright, I think my curiosity is satisfied for right now. I'll probably need to talk to you about this again later, but it's not like I don't know where you live. You're free to go, Mr. Kent."
"Thanks, Sheriff," Clark said quickly, "But, if it's alright, I think I'd like to stay at least until we know she's okay. I feel kind of responsible for her, all things considered."
Frowning just slightly, the sheriff said, "Well, Mr. Kent, far be it for me to tell you whether or not you can hang out at a public hospital. But, especially considering the hour, you might want to give your folks a courtesy call. They might have a different take on things."
Nodding vigorously, Clark said, "Oh, definitely, Sheriff. I don't want them worrying about me or anything. But I doubt if they'll have a problem with me staying here for a while. In fact, when I tell them what's going on, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to come down here themselves."
When the sheriff offered no comment to this, Clark turned away slowly, retrieving his cell phone from a jacket pocket. Then, walking toward the entrance, he hit the speed-dial and waited. A couple of rings later, there was a click and a familiar feminine voice said, "Hello?"
"Mom," Clark said just a little gratefully, and, before the storm of questions could begin, "I know it's late, and I know you're wondering where I am. It's too long a story to tell over the phone, but I'm down here at Smallville Med, and I need a really big favor…"
A half hour later, a very bewildered Jonathan and Martha Kent walked through the ER doors, right into the middle of a conversation between one of the doctors, the sheriff, and their son.
"So let me get this straight," the sheriff said skeptically to the doctor. "You're telling me that, other than some week-old burns, this girl is just fine. Physically, that is."
The doctor nodded and said, "That's what it looks like so far, Sheriff. Of course, we've only done a preliminary exam; there are a lot more tests we can and probably should do."
The sheriff nodded impatiently and said, "I got that part, Doctor. But right now I'm more concerned with her mental state. You're saying that she's amnesiac?"
"It seems that way," the doctor said flatly. "Other than her name, she hasn't been able to recall anything about herself or her past."
"Huh!" The sheriff said. "She can't remember anything else, but she remembers her name. Isn't that a little odd, Doctor?"
The doctor sighed, and said, "Not as odd as you'd think, Sheriff. Amnesia doesn't work in real life like it does on a soap opera; it's hardly ever an all or nothing thing. It can range from a few lost memories to an almost complete brain-dump or anything in between. Each individual case is different."
Turning a jaundiced eye in Clark's direction, the sheriff said, "I don't suppose you can shed any light on this, Mr. Kent?"
Shaking his head, Clark said, "I'm afraid not, Sheriff." And then, glancing over her shoulder towards his parents, he said, "But it looks like my folks are here, so if you'll excuse me, I'm pretty sure they want to be brought up to speed on things."
The sheriff said nothing, only raising an eyebrow, which Clark chose to interpret as a dismissal. Stepping around her and the doctor, he took both his parents by the elbow and, momentarily ignoring their puzzled looks, led them back through the doors into the cool night air outside.
As soon as the doors swung shut behind them, Jonathan turned to his son and said, "Alright, Clark. Obviously you didn't want to share this with the sheriff, but it's just you and us now, so spill it. What's going on?"
Clark gave a long sigh and then said, "Well, it all started with a funny feeling I had earlier tonight…"
"… and we cooked up the whole amnesia idea on the way to the hospital. All things considered, it seemed like the only way to go."
Both Jonathan and Martha just stood blinking for a moment, trying to digest the outlandish story their son had just told them, and then Martha said, "So you're saying that, while you were down there in those caves, some strange girl who claims to be from another dimension or something just popped out of nowhere and now you're lying to the sheriff to try to protect her? Clark, I-"
"Mom," Clark said imploringly, "She was hurt and she's completely alone. What was I supposed to do, turn my back on her? Or tell the sheriff what she told me? She'd end up at Bellreve for sure, and then probably in some government laboratory once they figured out she's got powers. She's just a kid, and she needs somebody's help."
With a loud sigh, Jonathan said, "Clark, I understand what you're saying, but how do you know that anything this girl's told you is true? Maybe she needs to go to Bellreve. Or, worse yet, maybe it's all an act, and she's here to pick up where Kara left off. Have you thought of that?"
"Of course I've thought of that, Dad," Clark said. "But it just doesn't add up. She's tough, but not tough enough to be a Kryptonian; not from what I saw, anyway. And there's just no way she'd know all that slang and pop-culture stuff if she hadn't grown up on some version of Earth; Kara sure didn't."
Sighing once more, Jonathan said, "Alright, Clark, even assuming she's what she says she is, what do you want to do now? Obviously you wouldn't still be here if you didn't have something in mind."
"Dad," Clark said cautiously, "As it stands, Talia's got no relatives here, no friends other than me, no money, no clothes, no identity even, and… no place to stay if she can avoid Bellreve. She needs all the help she can get right now."
Clark's words left little doubt as to what he was after, and it was Martha who found her voice first. Shaking her head slowly, she said, "Oh, Clark, you can't mean what I think you mean. Son, you hardly even know this girl, and you want to-"
"Give her a place to stay, temporarily at least, where she won't have to worry every waking moment about giving away who and what she is. That's what I'm asking, Mom."
"That's all good and well for her, Son," Jonathan said slowly. "But what about you? Do you want to be the one worried twenty-four-seven about giving away your secret?"
Avoiding his parents' gaze, Clark said quietly, "I don't think that's much of a worry now, actually." Then, seeing both their eyes widen in shock, Clark continued in a rush. "I didn't admit anything to her, but she knows I'm not normal. She hit me like a cannonball coming out of that wall, and since neither one of us splattered… well, it was pretty obvious to both of us what was up. I tried to BS her afterwards, but I know she didn't buy it."
When both his parents remained speechless, just staring at him wordlessly, Clark ran a hand through his hair and said, "Look, Mom; Dad. Why don't you at least come in and meet her? I'm sure we can talk the sheriff into that much, and then… well, after that, at least whatever decision you make won't be made blind. But… the two of you decided years ago to adopt a little boy from the stars, accepting whatever risks came with that. I'm pretty sure you've got it in your hearts to help out a teenaged girl who's just as far from home and just as alone."
Clark saw both his parents' expressions soften, and Jonathan said, "Well I'm not making any promises, Clark, but I guess it can't hurt to meet the girl. Let's go."
Smiling with relief, Clark turned to lead the way back inside.
After a few terse words with the sheriff, the Kent family quietly opened the door and entered the room Talia had been moved to. They'd cleaned her up somewhat, Clark saw, and given her a hospital gown to wear at least. She already looked much better than when he'd found her; at the time, he hadn't even been able to discern her hair color, as a great deal of it had been singed and blackened. She'd removed most of that in the truck, and what was left had been washed, leaving about an inch's worth of pale blonde hair all over her head, which, he noticed as she turned to look at them, accentuated her emerald-green eyes quite nicely.
Keeping in mind that the sheriff was right outside the door, Clark said in a low tone, "Talia, these are my parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent."
Looking up at them from where she lay on the hospital bed, she said politely, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent. It's good to meet you." And then, after a short pause, "Your son, Clark, has really gone out of his way to help me. I hope he's not in any trouble for that, is he?"
Shaking his head, Jonathan said, "No, of course not. We've always taught him that people should help each other whenever they can."
Nodding slowly, Talia said, "That makes sense, Mr. Kent. If everybody just helped out where they could, the world would be a much better place."
Her eyebrows raising slightly, Martha said, "That's a pretty mature statement for such a young lady."
Talia swallowed once and, glancing toward the door, said quietly, "Mrs. Kent, I don't know how much Clark has told you about me, but… well, I guess you could say I've been around a lot more than most fourteen-year-olds. He's told you that I'm not… normal, right?"
When they both nodded silently, she continued in a subdued tone with, "My parents are both supers, and I've had powers since I was eight years old, so I pretty much grew up with all of this. Both of them basically retired back in the eighties; 'hung up the tights', so to speak. But that never stopped them from going back into action whenever they were really needed, and that's the example I've always had." She paused for a moment, remembering, and then said, "I was nine years old when the World Trade Centers fell, and I begged Mom and Dad to take me with them when they suited back up for the rescue effort. They didn't want to, but I finally convinced them, and then I spent the next thirty-six hours crawling through the rubble with them, looking for survivors. I can only imagine how that must've looked, this gawky little girl going into places that all those big, burly firemen couldn't. But I knew, even then, that I was stronger and tougher than any three of them and that if any of them got hurt trying to do something that I could've done instead, it was as good as my fault." She paused for a moment, thinking, and then said, "Having super powers can be a lot of fun, but if you're any kind of human being, it's a lot of responsibility too. It's kind of like carrying around a loaded gun that you can never put down; you either learn how to use it or you try never to take it out of the holster. Either way, you always know it's there." Then, flushing slightly, she said, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kent. I didn't mean to go off on a rant like that. I guess I just- got a little nostalgic for a minute."
Smiling sympathetically, Martha said, "It's alright, Talia. We understand."
Jonathan cleared his throat pointedly, and said, "Well, the sheriff's probably getting kind of antsy out there, so…"
Martha nodded and, looking to Talia, said, "He's right dear; we should go ahead and go. But I'm sure we'll be seeing you around."
Talia's lips turned up in a slight smile and she said, "I'd like that. Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Clark."
With that, they left the room and, breezing past the sheriff with a few muttered words of thanks, headed back outside. As soon as the door had swung closed behind them, Clark turned to his parents and said, "Well?"
Both were silent for several moments, contemplating, and then Jonathan sighed and said, "She seems like a decent enough girl, Clark, but-" He pursed his lips and, frowning, continued. "I just don't know. Something like this… This isn't like taking Shelby in, Clark. There's a big difference between taking in a stray animal and taking in a stray kid."
"I know that, Dad," Clark said seriously. "But how can we not at least offer? After what she said in there, do you doubt for one minute that if our positions were reversed, she'd do everything she could to help us out?"
Still looking less than happy, Jonathan said, "Normally I'd say that talk's cheap, Clark, but in this case I don't doubt she was sincere. Still…"
"We should do it, Jonathan," Martha said quietly, choosing that moment to break her silence.
Doing a bit of a double take, Jonathan looked to his wife and said, "Excuse me?"
"We should do it," she said once more. "Or at least try to talk the sheriff into it. All things considered, I think we can manage that. I'm sure there'll be some paperwork to go along with this too, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it."
A bewildered expression on his face, Jonathan said, "Martha, don't you think that's kind of a snap decision? We haven't even discussed-"
"Discussed what, Jonathan?" She said in an odd tone. "Finances? Well, I'm sure that's going to be an issue. Living arrangements? We'll work something out, I'm sure. Clark's secret? Well, from what he's already told us, that particular cat's most likely already out of the bag, and it would probably behoove us to try to keep it under our own roof if possible." She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts, and then said, "There are a million details we can discuss, Jonathan, but it all boils down to one thing. My heart tells me that helping that girl in there is the right thing to do, whether it's convenient for us or not. And is that the kind of example we want to set for our son? That it's okay to lend a hand, but only if it's not too much trouble?"
Jonathan heaved a deep sigh, knowing that not only was he beaten, but that Martha had a genuine point. Finally he said, "Alright, fine. I only hope you're right about this, Martha, because I have the feeling that there could be hell to pay if you're not."
A thoughtful look on her face, Martha said, "Only time will tell, I guess." And then, glancing through the glass doors to where the sheriff stood, she said, "Shall we?"
With another heavy sigh, Jonathan pushed open the door and said, "No time like the present, I guess."
As it turned out, convincing the sheriff to see things their way wasn't so hard after all. In fact, by the tone she took, it was obvious that she'd anticipated that particular turn of events, and that it actually suited her. Taking the cynical view, Clark figured that she probably just wanted to keep as much of her weirdness in one basket as possible. Still, he supposed, even the sheriff had to admit that Jonathan and Martha Kent were probably two of the most likely candidates for foster parenthood in the immediate area. And wouldn't it just raise her eyebrows if she knew what unique qualifications they possessed for dealing with this particular case… At any rate, after an additional hour's business with the social worker who had to be called in, everything was set, temporarily at least. They were assured that there would be more to follow later, especially when of it the girl's identity were ever discovered, but for now they were done.
Convincing the hospital not to hold her overnight for observation and further tests was a bit more difficult, but was helped along greatly by the fact that the patient in question was up and around and loudly insisting to any who'd listen that, other than not being able to remember a blessed thing, she felt fine. Since x-rays and CAT scans had already been done, and showed nothing abnormal, it was hard for the doctors to mount a truly convincing argument for her to remain.
Of course the issue of blood work came up early, but Talia adamantly insisted that she was deathly afraid of needles, that she became almost hysterical at the sight of them, and, given the overall situation, the doctors decided to settle for urine and saliva samples rather than upset her unnecessarily. And when all of these tests failed to turn up anything out of the ordinary, combined with the fact that there was no medical insurance to cover Talia's stay, it became a lot easier to secure her release.
Finally, at somewhere near three A.M., they all left the hospital together, Talia wearing a borrowed set of surgical scrubs, both happy and grateful to have somewhere to call home. Clark was more than a little bit excited as well, wondering where exactly things would go from here and what he and Talia might be able to learn from one another; he'd had more than a few 'little sisters' over the years, but never one who had so much in common with him.
For their part, while exhausted and a bit apprehensive about the future, both Jonathan and Martha found themselves strangely satisfied. Even though they knew they were taking a huge risk as well as shouldering a large responsibility, they both knew they'd done the right thing, and that provided a certain peace of mind all it's own. Also, they could see how excited their son was and how grateful their new charge felt, and that helped matters immensely.
Unfortunately, they were all so wrapped up in their own thoughts and feelings as they left the hospital that none of them noticed a black-suited figure watching surreptitiously from across the street. As they entered the vehicles they'd come in and headed off for the Kent farm, the dark-clad man pulled a slim cell phone from the pocket of his black overcoat and hit the speed dial. After a few seconds, he said, "It's me. The target's left the hospital with the Kent family. How do you want me to proceed?"
Okay, end of chapter two. This one was mostly transitional, so there wasn't any action to speak of. Next chapter should liven things up a bit, I think. Now that I've got Talia plugged into things, I'll have a little more freedom to move, so to speak, so the pace should pick up. Again, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but bear with and I guess we'll both find out! Please review and hope you enjoy.
