Smallville: An Alternate Future Chapter 7, a smallville fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis. Underlined signifies telepathic conversation.

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Because most of the robbery was caught on the surveillance tapes and because she had someone else's child with her, Aen was allowed to leave the bank after only a brief interview with the police.

She hurried outside and past the police barricade, anxious that the Kents should know that Zoey was safe. Martha was already with her husband and son, and she cried out in relief when she saw Aen coming toward them, Zoey safe in her arms.

Aen was unable to hand Zoey off to Martha before she was pulled into Martha's embrace with the girl.

"Thank God you're both safe," Martha cried as she hugged them to her.

Aen allowed herself to return the embrace with the arm that wasn't holding Zoey. It had been so long since she had felt a motherly embrace that tears welled in her eyes. Seeing Jisin waiting impatiently behind Martha, Aen forced herself to blink the tears back and pull herself together. She carefully transferred Zoey to Martha and turned to hug Jisin.

"Thank goodness no one was hurt," Jisin said aloud. To only Aen she thought, We're going to have to take care of this, aren't we?

Yes, but just the two of us, Aen answered. I don't want any of this to get back to the Council before it has to. Our mission here isn't done, but if they found out about this they might pull us out early and Earth would be left to deal with the consequences.

Aen was shocked and overwhelmingly pleased when Clark hugged her next. When she pulled back and met his eyes, she was glad to realize he had been concerned for not only Zoey, but her as well. It meant a lot more to her than it should. Catching the knowing, sad look on Jisin's face, Aen backed away from him slowly.

"I overheard someone saying that there were reports of shots being fired," Clark said. "Are you sure no one was hurt?"

Aen shrugged, "One of them shot at me, but he must have had blanks in his gun, because they hurt a little when they hit, but nothing penetrated."

"Oh, God," Martha cried softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Seizing the opening, Aen said carefully, "I'm sure I'll be fine, but I am a little tired."

"Come on," Jisin urged, easily following Aen's train of thought. "I'll get you home and you can rest."

"Thank you again for helping my daughter," Jonathan added as Aen and Jisin began to move away.

"You're welcome," Aen answered softly.

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When they climbed in the truck, Aen handed Jisin a lump of metal.

"What's this?" Jisin asked.

"The bullets and shells," Aen answered. "I compressed and pocketed them just before the police came in. Zoey kept her head buried in my neck, so she didn't notice."

Jisin nodded as she started the truck and backed out, carefully making her way through the heavy traffic on Main Street caused mostly by rubber-neckers. "Good thinking. So, what is the plan?"

"Catch up with the robbers, since I assume you paid attention to which way they went, tie them up for law enforcement and replace the bullets in the gun of the one who shot me with blanks."

Once Jisin was clear of the traffic and Aen was sure no one was paying them any particular attention, Aen nodded. Jisin turned the opposite direction they would have taken to go to the Smith farm and sped up. Completely out of sight on the open road, Jisin pulled off onto the shoulder and parked the truck.

"Just leave it here?" she asked.

Aen nodded, climbing out of the vehicle. "We don't have time to move it. The police should figure out before too long which way they headed."

Jisin pulled two pairs of gloves from beneath her seat before closing the door. She tossed one pair to Aen and put the other on. She glanced at her cousin and grimaced.

"How are we going to hide our identities?" Jisin asked. "We don't have time to get our uniforms, and they'd ask questions if we did anyway."

Aen tapped the side of her head lightly with a now-gloved fingertip.

Jisin flinched and asked gently, "Are you sure? It'll take a lot out of you, the others will notice."

"We don't have a choice," Aen answered. "I can avoid the others until tomorrow's meeting if you help me."

Jisin nodded reluctantly.

"Well, then,' Aen said, trying to lighten the mood. "Up, up and away!"

Jisin couldn't help but laugh and quickly joined Aen in the sky, moving at top speed to get to the bank robbers before anyone else did. When they spotted the speeding vehicle, Aen entered Jisin's mind with her orders.

Get ahead of the car and stop it as quickly as possible. I'll knock them out and change what I need to in their heads.

Be careful, Jisin thought back.

Jisin pulled ahead of the car and went down to it's level, holding onto the front bumper and exerting an equal amount of strength toward the back of the car so it slowed quickly and then stopped. Before the men inside had the time to react, Aen did her thing and they slumped forward, out cold.

"What did you change?" Jisin asked curiously as she began pulling the men from their car.

Aen, resting heavily against the vehicle with one hand at her temple, answered, "The leader knew the one who shot me had a temper, so I made it so he put the blanks in the gun in case something happened. The one who fired the gun will still be able to be prosecuted for attempted murder. And of course, I simply blanked out what stopped the car. That little mystery can just remain unsolved."

Jisin nodded. "Are you going to stay here while I go get blanks to fit the gun and something to tie them up with?"

"Yes," Aen answered. "And make sure to get the blanks at an ammo store far enough away that the Smallville Police won't go to them and ask questions."

Jisin nodded again and took off at top speed. She was back two minutes later and, still with gloves on so her fingerprints wouldn't have the police looking for another accomplice, she made the necessary exchange of ammo for blanks. When they were sure everything they came to do was done, Aen and Jisin headed back to their truck, Jisin staying close to Aen in case her cousin needed her support.

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Clark had to wait ten minutes after his family got home to be able to leave, Zoey unwilling to stop hugging him for several minutes. He could imagine that Aen being shot at with blanks wasn't much different to the seven-year-old than real bullets would have been. Except for the happier ending, of course. His own heart had nearly stopped when he had thought the two of them had been killed.

Never wanting his sister to doubt that he'd be there to comfort her when she needed it, Clark put off going after the bank robbers as long as he thought was safe. When Zoey was finally okay with him leaving, he went outside and took to the air.

He'd been able to fly since shortly after graduating high school, and it was now his preferred method of following people. He had to be careful of course, flying high enough that no one on the ground would be able to recognize him and low enough that he didn't appear on radar. But it was safer than speeding along the ground. There were much fewer obstacles to worry about in the air.

Clark was only twenty-six miles outside of town when he spotted the robbers' car. It was at the side of the road, the robbers tied up beside it. Noting that they were all unconscious, Clark landed lightly beside them and frowned. Who had done this?

It obviously wasn't law enforcement. Clark walked around the car, examining it with his x-ray vision. There were marks on the road under the car that indicated it had been stopped suddenly with great force, but the brakes didn't show any signs of excessive force. He stopped cold when he noticed two hand-shaped impressions on the underside of the front bumper. Someone of immense strength had stopped the car and taken care of the robbers without anyone being the wiser. How was that possible?

Was there a new meteor freak in town that had the strength to rival his own? Since what the robbers had taken was still in the car in the bags they had carried out of the bank, Clark could only assume the new power in town was on the side of good. Clark only hesitated a moment before bending the metal back to it's correct shape and wiping the bumper down with his sleeve. If there were someone out there as strong as him who didn't use their powers for personal gain, he would do what he could to protect them.

Seconds later, Clark heard sirens headed in his direction. With one last look to make sure the robbers were securely disabled for the police, Clark pushed off the ground and headed for home.

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A tall, very powerfully built man answered the door seconds after Martha knocked. He smiled politely down at her, but the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Are you Mr. Smith?" Martha asked, smiling warmly. When he nodded, she continued, "I'm Martha Kent, from the next farm over. Aen is friends with my son and daughter, Clark and Zoey."

"Of course," a female voice behind the mountain of a man answered. Mr. Smith moved aside and a young blonde woman no taller than Martha moved forward to warmly clasp Martha's hand in her own. "I'm Sar, this is my husband, Zin. Won't you come in, Mrs. Kent?"

"Thank you, but no," Martha answered. "I'm on my way into town. I came by to again thank Aen for keeping Zoey safe during the bank robbery yesterday and to invite you all to a picnic."

"Bank robbery?" Zin echoed, his face darkening.

Martha frowned, but Sar cut in before she could ask why he didn't know his own housemate had been in a bank hold-up.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kent, that would be lovely. I'll have Aen call you for the details."

"That's fine," Martha responded. "So we'll see you then."

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"Where are they?" Zin asked when Martha had left.

Sar put a calming hand on his arm. Aen might be the official leader of their group, but that didn't stop Zin from constantly worrying about her. He was so overprotective of the redhead that Sar was sometimes sure Aen would one day get fed up and order him to leave her alone. But it hadn't happened yet. Sar could only conclude that Aen had more patience than the rest of them combined.

"They got back from the meeting with the Council about an hour ago. They got permission to look into Luthor's holdings and background, so they're in the study doing that."

Zin took a step in that direction before turning to look at her again, "Why did you accept the human's invitation?"

Sar shook her head at her husband in a disgruntled fashion. "Aen has told us that Martha is a very nice woman. And this is Smallville, Kansas. It looks odd if you're too private in this part of the country. Neighbors do things together all the time. Personally, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to do something to welcome us to the area."

"There is no point getting attached to the people around here," he reminded her.

"We all know that, Zin. But we can't become xenophobic, either, or we'll never find a home."

Zin grunted, and together they headed for the study to confront Aen and Jisin. The other two women were at a desk, Aen reading the computer screen over Jisin's shoulder as the darker-haired of the two hacked into Luthor's private files. Having been to worlds where the computers were thousands of times more advanced than those of Earth, any one of them would have made a world-class hacker, but Jisin was the best with technology and Aen, as a good leader, played up each person's strengths.

"Something you two want to tell us?" Zin asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Aen straightened, and after laying a hand briefly on Jisin's shoulder in a gesture that clearly said 'keep working', she turned toward them. Lifting her chin, Aen stared Zin down until some of the tension had gone from his broad shoulders.

"You obviously found out about the bank," she remarked. "Circumstances made it impossible for us to come get you before dealing with the robbers. I didn't think you needed to know about it, and the Council certainly doesn't."

Zin stepped closer to the redhead and Sar held her breath. Would Aen take the action as a challenge? Sar closed her eyes in lost hope when Zin spoke.

"The Kent woman wanted to thank you for keeping her daughter safe." He paused to draw a breath, "Does that mean she doesn't realize that you actually did save the child? You know we're not supposed to interfere in the humans' lives."

Aen's green eyes glinted dangerously, and Sar took an unconscious step backward. There was rage in that look. Even though Zin was taller by at least a foot, Aen was suddenly looking down her nose at him.

"Are you telling me I should have let that innocent little girl die?" Aen asked softly. "If it wasn't for me, she never would have been in that bank in the first place. She came back in after her mother had already left in order to speak to me. If you have a problem with the way I'm handling things, maybe you should ask the Council for a new group leader."

Aen took a step forward and Zin took one back, his hands raised slightly in surrender.

"I'm sorry, Aen. I wasn't thinking. Of course you should have saved her, even if her presence there had nothing to do with you." Zin sighed and ran a hand through his brown locks. "I just don't want the Council to have any reason to remove any of us from the team."

"And as long as they don't find out," Aen assured, "they won't have one."