Title: Time Traveller.
Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Smallville. All four of my very own DVD box sets! XD.
Spoilers: Yes! This is Kyra's first actual "travelling forward in time" experience. Yay!
Setting: You know the go – post "Rosetta", pre "Visitor".
A/N: Yes, there is going to be a slight spoiler for Season 5 in this episode. If you have not seen season 5, nor know what happens in it – and love Jonathon Kent dearly – and wish to keep it that way, I would like to take this moment to kindly redirect you back to the Smallville main page and on your merry way. However if you know of all the trifles of season 5, or you just can't bear to walk away on my little masterpiece please…continue! But don't say I didn't warn you. Also, if you are going to continue reading, I would advise you have a box of Kleenex for what is to come next.------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5 – Martha See's.
Kyra sat practically glued to the seat of her bright yellow beetle, she was staring out of the windscreen up at the Kent household wondering what the heck she was going to say to him, to Clark.
Oh, hi…remember me, the strange girl you met this morning at school? Yeah well, I just dropped by to tell you that the other day when I went comatose I had dream…and well, you were in it. And then, last night I had another dream about you and well…we were in a baby's nursery and I think it was yours. Oh, and by the way, I know you have super powers. I saw it in this kind of premonition I had today when I touched you…so yeah, spill. Oh yeah, because that was oh-so smooth. And then she might just be going nuts and the dreams might mean nothing at all therefore exposing to this guy that she was plainly mental and at the most freaking him out to a point where he called the cops on her.
Kyra sighed and looked into the rear-view mirror, she was definitely in need of a really good cup of coffee, a tonne of foundation and some anti-dark-circles-under-your-eyes-from-not-getting-enough-sleep cream.
"Come-on, Kyra…get it together. Just ask him for crying out loud. What's the worst that could happen? Oh yeah, Clark Kent thinking I'm a total freak…but…?" She said to herself in the rear-view mirror glaring at herself. Truth be told the worst that could happen was everyone finding out about her secret and then a bunch of freaky-as scientists would probably kidnap her and subject her to horrible tests everyday for the rest of her life. She put the key back in the ignition, hoping that with time this whole 'dreaming of some boy she didn't even know' thing would pass and she could move on with her life. They weren't even good dreams she could have fun with just really confusing ones that made no sense what so ever.
She froze as a sudden rapping came at her drivers' side window. She turned and almost fainted on the spot when she saw mystery boy standing beside her car and knocking on her window. She groaned inwardly, knowing that she had to talk to him now. Making an instant decision she decided not to say anything about the dreams and her knowledge of his…certain specialities, she smiled weakly at him and opened the door swinging her legs out of the car but keeping her seated position for the moment. Clark had backed up a few steps and was now gazing at her awkwardly, most likely wondering what she was doing here. She decided to kick off the conversation and see where it headed.
"Hey, um, Clark…right?" She said, adding false brightness to voice and standing up to face him fully.
"Yeah. Are you…ah, lost?" Clark said, noting the map of Smallville and its surrounding areas on her passenger seat.
"No, actually I was looking for you…I, um, I needed to ask you something about today…at school. Did you by any chance…feel anything – or see anything – when we shook hands." Oh, damn! Where had that come from? She groaned inwardly and also took a split second to note how lame that sounded anyway. She waited for his answer, oh well, no backing down now, by the look on his face he was clearly beginning to think she was crazy.
"Like what?" Clark asked after a momentary pause.
"Oh, I don't know…a zap of electricity, visions of any kind…?" She asked weakly, she was now going completely off track from what she wanted to say. It was like she couldn't control what she actually wanted to say from what her body wanted her to say…like in the dreams. She noted the look on Clark's face and knew she was on the fast track to a straightjacket and padded cell.
"Well, no visions that's for sure…" Clark said uncertainly, before asking the one question she didn't want to hear most, "Are you sure you're feeling alright, you've been through a lot lately?"
Kyra's hand lifted of its own accord and waved the comment off she stared at her own hand for a split-second before looking up at a very confused Clark. "Well, since I'm hardly in control of what I do or say anymore I should probably get this over-with before I start sounding even more nuts. What does this mean?" She held up a piece of A4 size paper for him to see, she noticed his face pale slightly – a good sign she hoped – before she jingled it and shoved it into his hand.
"This is going to sound strange Clark but bear with me…that clock that forced me to comatose isn't…normal. It did something to me, something not normal. And ever since then I've been having dreams and this," she jabbed her finger at the piece of paper, "Seems a pretty important thing…I see it all the time…and hear comes the part to why I'm telling you." She took a deep breath before continuing, "You are too. An important piece to the puzzle of this I mean, and I thought that maybe you and the symbol are…connected somehow and if you are, tell me what it means."
Clark stared at Kyra for a second, it couldn't be, how could she know about Kryptonian language. He glanced down at the paper again and sure enough it was still there, plain as day, a figure eight drawn into a diamond shape. He knew what it mean't of course, to belong to the house of El.
"Or perhaps the one on the other side…" He heard Kyra say. He flipped the sheet and was confronted with a symbol he didn't recognise. It resembled the first symbol only to the point of a diamond, but on the inside a 'S' replaced the traditional eight figure.
"No…" Clark lied, flipping the sheet over again. "I've never seen them before. Why…what…?" Clark barely managed to ask, he could never find ways to put his questions into words. "I thought you were comatose before we met."
"Oh, I was. But like I said, the clock, it gave me strange…abilities." Kyra said, hoping that if she shared this secret with him he'd come clean with her once and for all.
Clark however lifted his hard sharply and gave her a freaked-out look, "Like what?" He asked abruptly.
"Well, um, like…the ability to see the past…or at least that's what I presume it was. I'm not sure if I put the dots together right but from what I gathered your not who you seem are you, Clark?" Kyra said completely throwing caution to the wind now and hoping against hope she was right.
Clark opened his mouth, about to reject her accusation and feign ignorance when he was blissfully saved by the voice of his mother.
"Clark! Clark, where have you been? Your father-." Martha Kent called coming down the house steps and walking towards her son who turned around to reveal Kyra standing just behind him. Martha of course, changed tack mid-sentence, "Needs your help fixing the fence line up behind the barn." She finished up neatly; she'd certainly learnt how to be a pretty good liar in all those years since Clark had come into her life.
"Uh, yeah mom, sorry…I was just…finishing up giving Kyra here the round tour of Smallville, not much to see really, hey?" He said turning to look at Kyra and giving her a pleading look, it wasn't even until right now that Kyra realised Clark still had his school-bag on him, like he hadn't been home since school ended a good three hours ago.
"No, its nice…for a small town. But big cities with tonnes of neon lights and hundreds of bodies out on the streets is more my style." Kyra said easily, out of the three of them she obviously the lying queen, having gone through the rebellious teenager stage in the big city. She smiled warmly at Clark's mom and held out her hand, "I'm Kyra, by the way, Kyra Sanders." (A/N: I just realised this is the first time I've actually given out her full name. That was not my intention I assure you.)
Martha smiled warmly back at the girl, Kyra, and extended her hand to take Kyra's, "Martha Kent." She said simply before taking Kyra's hand completely and the two of them fell limply to the ground.
Kyra screamed, or at least tried to – sound was obviously a luxury stripped of you when you were falling down long squishy brightly coloured, yet somehow more silvery then anything, tunnels faster then you can say – or rather scream – 'what the hell!'. But her voice was returned to her as she fell out the other side of the long squishy tunnel and was dumped firmly upon a hard dirt ground. Her eyes were closed tightly now; they had been open for the first few seconds on her joy ride on the squishy tunnel express. Just long enough for her to register she was in the tunnel and falling at top speeds, at which time she closed her eyes and refused to open them even though she was now back on soil again and not being thrown around anymore.
"What was that?" Kyra forced her eyes open as a voice shrilled in her ear. Turning over on the ground she found herself looking over at a rather freaked-out looking Martha Kent. Her hair was tousled and tangled, her eyes wide and lipstick slightly smeared – wait a minute, housewives still wore lipstick…at home? – Kyra shook her head, knowing that she probably looked the same, if not worse off then Martha did.
"Um, your house?" Kyra said staring up at the Kent household. Ok, so they'd been sucked through a squishy tunnel like thing and spat out the other end just to end up…exactly where they had started? Realising her answer made no sense Kyra tried to find an explanation for what they had just gone through. But could find nothing except the lame excuse of; "Um…aliens?" She didn't even realise it was of her own doing.
Martha sighed, "Oh, thank god!" She murmured getting to her feet and hurrying towards her house. Kyra however was quite a bit slower, beginning to notice the things around her, or lack there of. Her car had mysteriously vanished, as had Clark and quite a lot of other things had changed not so much dramatically…just…they had changed. Such as the white picket fence, it was higher then before and an off white colour now. She knew it had changed because she had just spent ten minutes staring at it. The flowers were either wilting or dead; the sunflowers were not up to their former glory of just sixty seconds ago. Kyra sped up worried as to what was happening, she caught up to Martha at the door as she attempted to grab the door handle.
Both women gasped as Martha's hand slid straight through the knob as if either she was not corporeal or the door wasn't. Either way Martha had to get inside, she overcame her initial shock, wanting to find Clark and Jonathon and find out what had happened. Clark would know, Clark always knew. Kyra let out a slight scream as Martha gathered herself together and walked straight through the door.
Ok, that was obviously not normal and only made Kyra grow more suspicious of the fact that the tunnel had done more than suck them up, toss them around a bit and dump them exactly where they had started. She gathered herself together, somehow knowing deep down that she had stick close to Martha in this universe lest they be stuck here forever. Kyra placed a hand against the door and after taking a deep breath proceeded to step straight through it and into the Kent's entrance hall. She stopped quickly as she pulled up just behind Mrs. Kent, Kyra didn't know what she was waiting for but she took the moment to take a look around.
The room, and the rooms running off it, were completely covered in black drapes, wreaths, flowers, and pictures of a man who had aged so much in such a short amount of time. Kyra stepped forward, passing Mrs. Kent as she stared at a dresser table on the wall opposite to the staircase, it was draped in black cloth with endless photos of a man covering and a large wreath sat behind them. She reached out a hand, lightly brushing the picture of Clark Kent with his father. Kyra knew what this was, having suffered through her parents, it was a wake.
Kyra spun around as she heard something crumple to the ground; Martha was sitting on the ground, tears pouring down her face as she stared up at the pictures around her. She was so obviously heart-broken and yet unable to comprehend all this at the same time.
"No," She whispered to herself. "He's healthy, completely healthy, how could this happen? He can't be…not my…not…no…Jonathon!" She cried, getting back to her feet just as Kyra got to her. She raced into the living room, with Kyra following her closely. It was an act of desperation, the look on her face one of complete disbelief. Martha wanted to scream, but she couldn't, she wouldn't. Jonathon wasn't…dead; he had one of the healthiest hearts the doctors had ever seen for a man his age.
"Jonathon!" She screamed again, bursting into the kitchen and looking around her for her husband only to be confronted by more black drapes and pictures. "No, no…no!" Martha ran through the back door and straight for the barn, Kyra also pushed herself through the door but stopped as she watched Martha disappear into the barn.
She, Kyra, had seen this before, had lived through this before. But to just have it sprung on you like this…she felt the threatening tears finally spill out over her eyes and curve down her cheeks. She still didn't understand how they had gotten here or what had happened inside that tunnel but somehow she understood now that this was what was to become of Martha's future. And somehow, they were in it, seeing it, all because they had touched hands. It seemed the trigger for all of this. And made it all the more worse was the fact that they were witnessing the inevitable.
Kyra whipped around again as she heard the door creak open behind her, and found herself staring straight into the face of a sombre looking Clark Kent. He wasn't crying, or grieving at all but his face held a look of grim determination and his eyes were the only things that could not lie for him. The look of deep sadness in them would have been enough to break anyone's heart. Kyra looked down at the ground, wiping the tear streaks from her cheeks, only to look up at any empty space.
She looked around surprised, only to find Clark standing behind her, watching a series of cars, and finally a black funeral car approaching his home. Kyra knew instinctively who it must be; because the look in his eyes mirrored her own the day that a similar funeral car had rolled along the driveway towards her house. New tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched several of the cars park out of the funeral car, which both her eyes and Clark's followed closely. She wanted to touch his shoulder, give him a shoulder to lean on, but she knew he'd never take it, just like she'd never taken anyone's when her parents had been taken from her. Martha appeared by her side, and she looked at her in surprise, she was crying silently now, her eyes dead and blank, like she had just lost the only thing worth living for. Clark came to her other side placing an arm around his mother, as she turned her head into his chest and cried into it. He placed his other arm around, enveloping her into a full hug and kissed the top of her head.
Kyra was still close enough to hear him whisper; "It's alright mom, dad's in a good place now. And he's watching us…always and forever." Kyra broke into sobs at this and turned her head away from it all, closing her eyes tightly. She opened them again as she heard an hysterical sobbing and desperate cries of; "No! Please…not Jonathon…it's to early! To early!"
Martha, the Martha that had happily greeted her not an hour before was standing in front of the barn, watching a few men, including Lex Luthor, Pete Ross and Clark move a large coffin out of the back and set it on their shoulders. Not one of the people gathered to watch the coffin took any notice of her, that was when Kyra noticed that they were not only not solid but also invisible, like ghosts they watched the proceedings from another plain of existence.
Kyra sprinted down the steps, reaching Martha within a few seconds; the woman threw herself onto the girl she did not know, sobbing to her, muttering about how it was not possible, how Jonathon could not be gone, because he and Clark were all she had. Both of them were crying now, Martha hysterically, and Kyra at the resurrected memories of her parents, and at the fact that someone else had to go through what she had to.
Kyra felt herself being pulled to the ground as Martha crumpled again, still crying, but all the fight gone. She had resigned herself to the fact that Jonathon was the one in the casket, but wanted to believe it was all just some huge mistake. Kyra took a deep breath and let Martha cry to herself on her shoulder as they sat in the dirt.
And as they cried the casket was carried into the house and laid out for everyone to pay his or her last respects to Jonathon Kent.
TBC…
A/N: -Dabs eyes with tissues- And so ends Jonathon Kent, first and foremost father to Clark Kent, the world's only farm-boy/alien super-hero. RIP. –Sobs into tissues- Anywho, yes, let me remind you that at this point reviews would uber fantastic and so much appreciated. If you are confused about this latest chapter don't be shy to drop a line, I am only too happy to try and explain. Again, thanks for reading; I still have quite a few numbers of chapters to come so bear with me. I have sequel very much along the way also. Yay! Hehe.
Classic Smallville.
Superman Returns…And He's Brought Cookies!