Chapter 2: A New Family
A fire-truck zoomed down the road with the siren wailing, the corn fields were smoldering, and the air was thick with smoke. Jonathan ran down the road to a blue flatbed truck with hay in the back, covered by a burlap tarp. He glanced inside the window and pulled open the drivers side door. Inside a man was leaning limp against the steering wheel.
"Teddy !" Jonathan yelled. Jonathan pulled the man back from the steering wheel and checked to see if he was okay. He looked at the cracked windshield to sees a hole, directly in line with where the head of the truck's driver would have been. Jonathan took a step back, took a deep breath and fought off tears as he realized whatever came through the windshield killed Teddy.
Martha held the child tightly as they stood next to Teddy's blue truck, and watched the fiery cornfields die down. Jonathan struggled to push the child's ship onto the bed of the truck then covered it up with the tarp. Martha watched and hugged the boy close. Jonathan looked at them, and Martha looked back hopefully. Jonathan sighed and continued covering the ship with the tarp.
Jonathan drove Teddy's truck out of the city, with Martha and the young buy next to him. Jonathan looked over to see Martha cuddle the boy close, and smile at him. Suddenly, Martha glanced up at the road ahead to see Lionel Luthor run onto the road and wave his arms frantically.
"Jonathan, watch out !" Martha yelled. Jonathan looked up and slammed on the brakes then the truck skidded to a stop.
"Stop! Please !" Lionel yelled frantically. "Help !" The truck stopped, and Jonathan quickly climbed out of the cab.
"Are you alright?" Jonathan asked.
"My son..." Lionel began.
"What about him?" Jonathan asked. "Is he hurt?
"He... he..." Lionel began. "I... I can't..."
"Mister, Mister calm down !" Jonathan said, then started speaking slowly. "Where is your son?" Lionel then just turned toward the field behind him.
"He-he's in there." Lionel said, pointing to Lex
While Lionel stood in one spot, Jonathan rushed out into the field then Lionel slowly followed. Jonathan eventually came across Lex, clad in his private school uniform. Lex was lying curled up in the ground, unconscious. He was now bald, except for one little tuft of red hair on top of his head. Jonathan knelt down beside Lex and checked his pulse, while Lionel looked on.
"Give me a hand," Jonathan said to Lionel as he jumped to his feet. Lionel continued to stand there, staring at Lex in shock while Jonathan took off his coat.
"Wh-what happened to him?" Lionel asked. "His...hair is..." Jonathan covered Lex with his coat and gathered the boy up in his arms as Lionel remained in shock. Jonathan turned and gave Lionel a look of disbelief before hurrying back to the truck, then eventually Lionel followed.
As the truck sped towards town, Lionel sat next to Martha holding Lex, who was floating in and out of consciousness.
"Can't we go any faster?" Lionel asked, frustrated.
"We're doing the best that we can," Jonathan said.
"What are you carrying back there?" Lionel asked, glancing out the back window. "It's slowing us down."
Jonathan and Martha looked at each other, and ignored the question. The young boy glanced over at Lex and smiled at him then Lex opened his eyes slowly and looked back at the boy. The boy reached over and touched Lex's head, running his fingers down the side of Lex's face in curiosity. Lex gave a tiny smirk, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out. The boy continues to smile and settled back into his seat. Lionel looked at the child in the blanket, puzzled, then looked back at the road.
A little later they arrived at Smallville hospital. Lionel slowly approached a window and looked through it, his face was concerned and fearful. Inside Lex, now completely bald, was sleeping peacefully in a hospital bed. Lionel turned away from the window and walked down the hall, which was filled with injured Smallville residents. He passed Jonathan, who reached out and touched Lionel's arm.
"Hey...how's your--how's your son?" Jonathan asked.
"He's in shock, but he'll survive." Lionel replied. "You saved him, acting so quickly."
"I'm glad I could help out," Lionel said.
"I'm sorry, I don't even know your name." Lionel said.
"Jonathan Kent," Jonathan replied. Lionel then extended his hand, and the two men shook hands.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kent." Lionel said. "If there is ever anything I can do for you..." He began, but Jonathan just shook his head, letting Lionel know that's not necessary.
"Please," Lionel began, "call me." Lionel reached into his jacket and took out a business card which he handed to Jonathan.
"I mean that, Mr. Kent." Lionel said. Jonathan looked down at the card with a look of
thoughtfulness on his face. Jonathan then looked up to see Martha and the boy standing in the hallway then walked over towards them.
"Martha, can I speak with you for a moment?" Jonathan asked. Martha nodded and set the child down.
"What do you want to talk about?" Martha asked.
"You know what I want to talk about," Jonathan said, trying to keep his voice low. He looked back at Lionel then walked around the corner with Martha. Lionel took a few steps closer and watched as the young boy walked into Lex's room.
"What are we going to do with this boy?" Jonathan asked. "We can't keep him."
"Why not?" Martha asked. "I doubt Clark's parents are going to come looking for him."
"Clark?" Jonathan asked.
"Yeah, I thought my family name would make a good first name." Martha replied.
"Well that doesn't matter, he has to have parents Martha." Jonathan said. "Even if they're not from around here."
'Why not just ask around, it shouldn't be too hard to find his parents in Hicksville?' Lionel thought. 'Unless they were killed in the meteor shower.' He looked into the room at the two boys and saw a large piece of medical equipment start to fall over. Lionel jumped then saw the boy catch the machine with one hand behind his back. 'What the hell?' Lionel wondered. 'That must way at least a hundred pounds.'
"Jonathan, did you see what we were carrying in the back of the truck?" Martha asked, and Jonathan held his finger in front of his mouth. "A space ship Jonathan," Martha said lower. "That boy is from some place far, far away and he needs someone like us to care for him before people find out and start doing things to him."
"Ok, I'll ask Ethan when we get home if he has heard anything about a missing child," Jonathan began, "and if not, we can keep him."
"Thank you Jonathan," Martha said. "Thank you so much."
'An alien, and with powers like that at such a young age?' Lionel thought. 'Just imagine how much potential, and how profitable this could be.' Lionel then walked around the corner as he heard Martha and Jonathan finish talking. "Ah, Mr. Kent." Lionel began. "Would I be able to trouble you for one more little favor?"
"What do you need, Mr. Luthor?" Jonathan asked.
"Please, Lionel." Lionel said. "I've just received word from my brother that his son didn't return home. You see, he came in with Lex and myself, and when I couldn't find my son, I asked my nephew to return to the helicopter back to Metropolis."
"Do you know where he could be?" Jonathan asked.
"Well, I remember he had a slight fascination with the oddest looking thing we saw beside the road on the way in, I'd say it was about a meter wide, probably three meters long and made of some type of steel." Lionel explained. "It looked strong enough to protect him from a lot of the debris, although I'm hoping he stayed with the Rosses, whom I had a meeting with today. He's about three years old, short black hair, very friendly, but not too talkative."
"Mr. Luthor, I believe we've already found your nephew." Jonathan said.
"You have?" Lionel asked. "Where is he?"
"I believe he's in the room with your son," Jonathan replied. "Martha and I found him before we found you and your son."
"I guess that's two I owe you now, Mr. Kent." Lionel said. "I'll take him back to his father later today, also I'm going to send something to pick up that large object, I'm curious to see what it really is."
"More than likely nothing of interest," Jonathan said.
"Maybe, it's a spaceship," Lionel said with a laugh. Jonathan had a little laugh, then Lionel walked into the hospital room and gave the boy a hug of relief.
"Martha, I have something to tell you." Jonathan began.
Lionel waited outside with the boy for several minutes til a limo pulled up in front of the hospital. He opened the back door but the boy just stared at him. "Get in," Lionel said then followed the boy inside.
"Where to Mr. Luthor?" The driver asked.
"Metropolis," Lionel replied and the limousine began moving. He then picked up and started reading a nearby newspaper while the boy just stared at him, confused. "Listen, uh..." Lionel began then looked back at the paper. The top headline read: LuthorCorp expands with the takeover of Klark Teknik. "Klark." Lionel said with a nod. "You're a very special boy, and I'm going to give you a good home in Metropolis. You'll stay with me, my wife and my son Lex. You remember Lex?" He asked and the boy smiled. "Well, Klark, welcome to the family."