Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who asked me to continue and for being so patient. I love your feedback and I'm grateful that you've all stuck it out to this point. You have my solemn vow that I will eventually finish this story. Hopefully sooner rather than later, assuming that some of the characters start cooperating with me.
Also, Superman doesn't belong to me. He belongs to Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, DC Comics, and whoever they're letting license him. I'm not making any profit at all so please don't sue me.
Here it is, totally un-beta'd...
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Chapter 5
At the sound of his voice, Marguerite pressed her herself against Veronica's leg in a determined effort to make herself invisible. Roxton stared at the tiny girl who peeked up at him from under a riot of dark curls. He could see heartbreakingly familiar gray eyes warily watching him as he flexed his hands, fighting the urge to drop to his knees and pull her towards him. As much as he wanted to, there was no denying that the girl was a very young Marguerite Krux.
Noticing Roxton's unnerved expression, Veronica gave him a wan smile. She gently detached the clinging child and pushed her forward a bit. "Marguerite, Ned, these are my friends, Roxton and Finn. We talked about them, remember?"
Ned, oblivious to the tension in the room, had climbed up on to a chair and began to help himself to some lunch. He paused, a spoonful of mango hovering over his plate as he looked at Finn. "I met them downstairs," he proudly stated as he smiled at her. "I still think you look like Veronica's sister."
Finn returned the smile and decided that the boy had the right idea. There was no sense it letting the food just sit there. Everyone could eat and talk at the same time. Besides, Challenger had put out some of her favorites and she was starving. With a wink, she put a few slices of meat and some bread on her plate.
After closely watching Finn create a sandwich, Ned assembled one of his own. Beaming, he mimicked her single-hand grip as he held it up to show her. Finn fought the urge to giggle when he promptly lost half of its contents onto his plate. Taking pity on the boy, she quickly reassembled the sandwich and cut it half.
Marguerite said nothing, her gaze flicking between the two men standing before her. In spite of Challenger's encouraging nod, she was clearly uncomfortable with Roxton's continued scrutiny. She tried to creep closer to Veronica again.
The older blonde put a restraining hand on her shoulder, halting the retreat. "Can you say hello to my friends," Veronica requested in an overly-cheery voice.
"Hello," Ned caroled at the table, waving with his sandwich. Unfortunately, his mouth was full of food and he showered himself and the table with crumbs. Finn laughed and nearly choke on her own sandwich.
Marguerite stared at the floor before squaring her shoulders and facing Roxton. She obediently sketched a quick curtsy. "How do you do, Mister Roxton," she said, her voice barely about a whisper.
"Please to meet you," Roxton reflexively answered before realizing who he was talking to. Frowning, he turned to Challenger. "Why am I introducing myself to someone I have lived with for over four years?" he demanded, raising his voice. His initial shock was quickly turning into anger.
"Because she's small. Are the rest of you going to eat or not?" Finn asked, boredom creeping into her voice.
Challenger craned his neck to watch Marguerite. She shrank back against Veronica, anxiously twining her fingers in her hair as she watched the adults. After two days with her, he knew that Marguerite was very eager to please and that any show of displeasure put the girl on edge. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but she still looked distressed.
Roxton ground his teeth, frustrated by the entire situation. Marguerite was a child and no one could tell him how that happened. On top of that, she kept looking at him as if he was a monster. Instead of doing something useful, all he got from the others was discussions about food. Why were they talking about food when there were more important things to discuss? He glared over his shoulder at Finn. "How can you possibly think of food at a time like this?"
Unconcerned, Finn dug through the fruit bowl. "Easy, I'm hungry. Hey, grapes!" Pulling out the bunch, she plucked one, tossed it in the air, and caught it in her mouth.
Ned's grin practically split his face in two. "Neat! I want to try!"
"Open your mouth," she ordered as she tugged another grape free. The boy immediately complied and she lobbed the grape in his direction. It bounced off his forehead and he giggled as he clapped his hands over the damp spot. Finn couldn't help but laugh too. "Okay, let's try again. Open your mouth real big and say 'ahhh'…"
"Really, John, you must calm down," Challenger admonished. He attempted to steer the seething lord towards the table. "Why don't we sit down and discuss the situation."
"You'll forgive me, George, if I'm not in the mood to sit down and enjoy lunch," Roxton snapped. "What I want to know is, what happened, what do you know about this… this…condition, and what can we do to fix it."
"I'm sure this seems bad…."
"You're bloody well right it seems bad!" he roared, glaring at the scientist. Everyone froze; their startled expressions made him feel all the more beastly.
Veronica, having had dealt with the situation for two days and now at the end of her emotional reserve, began yelling at Roxton. "What is wrong with you! Do you think you're the only person who is upset? Do you think these past two days have been easy on Challenger or me? We're worried too, but we're doing the best we can!"
Challenger winced at the livid expression on her face. "Veronica, this isn't going to solve anything…."
"Go ahead. Tell me, Veronica. I'd be very interested to hear what's been done so far. Surely working in the garden will help us fix this problem," Roxton shot back as he stepped closer. "We all know that gardening usually solves things. If I was worried about my friends being turned into children, I wouldn't be searching thorough journals or talking to the Zanga. I would spend my morning working in the garden."
Veronica open and close her mouth in shock, unaccustomed to this type of sarcasm from Roxton. She stepped forward and closed the gap between them. "You have no idea how hard this has been. You try taking care of two five year olds who have no idea who you are!"
Oh, this is going to be bad, Finn though as she slunk down in her seat. A quick glance at Roxton confirmed that the situation was going to get far worse before it got any better.
She couldn't help but feel bad for the kids. It's not their fault this is happened and they shouldn't have to listen to this.
"Okay, you know what? You two fight if you want to but we're not gonna hang around," Finn loudly warned the other adults. She nodded her head at the boy sitting across from her. "Let's go Ned." Moving quickly, she gathered up some food and piled it in a bowl. She handed the bowl to Ned as she grabbed a pitcher of fruit juice.
Roxton and Veronica remained engrossed in their fight. Rolling her eyes, Finn walked over and began steering Marguerite towards the elevator. Ned followed on their heels as he carefully carried lunch. "We'll be back when things calm down," she called out to Challenger.
Finn absently adjusted the pitcher of juice, making sure not to spill any as the elevator jostled the little group. Even the creaking of the rope as it lowered them couldn't drowned out the yelling match taking place upstairs. She sighed as Roxton and Veronica's raised voices echoed in the confined space of the elevator shaft. At least I can't figure out what they're saying, she glumly thought. A sharp tug on the leg of her shorts startled her. She fumbled with the pitcher of juice, barely keeping it from spilling all over Marguerite's head. Glancing down, she saw Marguerite quickly release her clothes. "Yeah?"
"We're sorry," the little girl whispered, her eyes downcast.
"You're sorry? For what?" Finn asked, totally confused.
"For causing trouble. I'm very, very sorry." Marguerite tangled her hair around her fingers, effectively drawing it across her face like a curtain. "Please don't be angry." She was so quiet Finn could barely make out what she said.
A quick look at Ned told her that he was as distressed as Marguerite. "Oh guys, don't be upset," Finn pleaded. "Nobody's mad at you. You're not in trouble."
"Are you sure? That man upstairs was yelling about us," Ned pointed out, ever so helpfully. "He sounded mad. Really, really mad."
Finn snorted dismissively. "Roxton yells a lot. When he's happy, when he's mad, when he's worried. He's just loud. Except when he's hunting. Then he's really, really quiet."
"Promise?" Ned asked as he shifted the lunch bowl in his arms.
"Promise," Finn confidently repeated. "We were coming back from a hunting trip and he was kind of grumpy anyway. Plus, you guys surprised him. It's no big deal." The elevator touched the ground with a gentle bump. "Things will be fine. Now let's go find a place to eat."
She led the children over to a shady spot near the back of the tree. "Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm hungry," she confessed as she sat down. Folding her legs under her, she motioned for the children to sit. Ned handed over the bowl and flopped down as Marguerite gingerly lowered herself to the ground. Both of them watched as Finn set the food bowl and pitcher in front of them. She sat back, sighing with satisfaction as the two children cautiously watched her. Finn watched them and was a little unnerved by their unblinking stares. "Well, aren't you going to eat?" She motioned at the bowl.
Ned looked down at the bowl, then at Finn. "With what?" he asked, confusion written on his face.
"With your fingers, what else?" She demonstrated by picking up a piece of mango and popping it into her mouth.
Marguerite gave Ned a dubious look, but the boy simply shrugged and reached for the remaining grapes. With a small sigh, she primly folded her hands in her lap.
Finn paused as she watched the interaction. "Aren't you hungry?" The small girl nodded as she sadly looked at the bowl. "Well then, why aren't you eating?"
Marguerite straightened her back and took a deep breath. "Only urchins eat with their fingers. It is impolite and improper for a young lady to do so," she recited, her words clipped and precise.
"Oh," Finn responded, unconsciously wiped her hand on her shorts. She thought about Marguerite's problem before coming up with a solution. "You've noticed that this isn't like the place you were before, right?" She waited for the girl to nod before continuing. "Well, in this place, it's okay for you to eat with your fingers. And since I'm an adult, you have to listen to me, right? So I'm telling you to eat as much as you want with your fingers."
Marguerite cast a fleeting look at Finn then leaned forward towards the bowl. A small pale hand reached for a piece of thinly sliced meat. Her fingers brushed it, then she quickly pulled her hand back before finally picking up the meat. Holding the meat with her thumb and index finger, she shook it for a second before turning it over and examining it from another angle.
"Marguerite, eat with your fingers," Finn ordered in a mock-stern voice.
The girl snapped her head up, an alarmed look on her face. She clenched her fingers, squashing the piece of meat. Finn could see the panic in her eyes and flashed the girl a friendly smile. "Whoa, relax. You're not in any trouble. Everything's cool. Just eat your lunch." Inspiration suddenly hit, the perfect way to get her new charges to forget the fight upstairs and allow them to relax a bit. "Hey, do you guys like stories?"
Both children eagerly nodded. "Okay, here's one I bet you've never heard before. Once upon a time, there was a planet called Krypton. Krypton was a beautiful, peaceful planet full of artists and scientists. The only problem was that the planet was about to explode and only one man knew about it."
"How come nobody else knew?" Ned asked as he picked through the bowl.
Moving quickly, she snatched up the last grape cluster from the bowl before he noticed it. "Because the planet's computer said nothing was wrong," she explained as she efficiently stripped the grapes from their stems.
"What's a computer?" He tilted his head to the side, a puzzled expression on his face.
"It's a machine that helps people do science and math and stuff. It can…." Finn paused for a moment, studying the children sitting across from her. "Never mind, it's not important. Anyway, nobody would believe Jor'El that their planet was doomed, so the scientist did the only thing he could think of. He put his baby in a rocket and sent him away to save him. As the rocket flew away, the planet blew up."
Ned's eyes were huge. "Wow," he breathed. "What happened to the people?"
"They all died," Finn said solemnly. "The only person left from Krypton was the baby in the rocket." She noticed that he had stopped eating as he listened to her. "Don't play with it, just eat it."
Without missing a beat, he stuffed part of a roll in his mouth. He chewed briefly before swallowing. "That's sad," he said, trying to match her somber tone.
"Wait, the story gets better. I promise."
"What happened to the baby?" Marguerite timidly asked. She tore a off a small strip of meat and daintily nibbled on it.
Finn smiled, relieved that the girl was getting involved. "The baby's ship crossed the cold, dark depths of space and crashed in a field in Kansas. A nice couple saw the ship crash and went into the field. They were very surprised to find a beautiful baby boy. The husband, Mr. Kent, was a little afraid since they saw the ship come out of the sky. But his wife, Mrs. Kent, was very happy. The Kents didn't have any kids and Mrs. Kent had wanted a baby really bad. So Mrs. Kent talked Mr. Kent into taking the baby and keeping him. She named him Clark Kent…"
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A.N: So, what do you think?