The next morning when Lois woke up, Clark was gone. She moved quietly so as to not wake up Hannah and went downstairs. He found Clark at the porch. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Clark looked at her. "That Jonathan must have somehow shielded them both?" His wife nodded, yes, Jonathan had been the most obvious of the twins to have powers.

"You saw how confused they are. They need to know the truth."

"What is the truth gonna do to Jordan? It's hard enough on him having a brother that everything comes easy to, but having one that has powers like Superman?"

"We don't know what he can or can't do yet." Lois finally said. They had been going through this for a while, for years in fact, about telling the kids of Clark's identity, but his response had always been the same, no matter how old they were, he couldn't tell them. But Lois was tired of it. "Yes, it will be hard for him, but he will have his family there to help him figure things out like he does right now."

"I can't lose him, Lois." Clark told her. She knew he was talking about how he and Jordan seemed to be so disconnected from each other lately. "I can't. He's pulled so far away from me already."

Lois stared at him. She knew he was right, but part of her couldn't keep lying to her children any longer. They already lied to the world about Superman, but keep lying to their children? Although she knew Clark had a point, the burden of such a secret wouldn't be easy on them, but she knew them, and her family, she knew just how much love their family had for each other for them to want to protect it at all costs.

Silence fell dead between them, then Lois finally spoke. "When we were dreaming about having a family, it didn't look like this, did it? Didn't have lost jobs or….teens with severe anxiety or…Parents gone too soon. No one ever dreams about the problems, but every life has them." Clark stared at her. "Even the extraordinary ones."

"I tried to warn you, Lois." Sam Lane had told his daughter after he'd called to inform them of what he'd discovered at the power plant. Someone had a vendetta against Superman and somehow knew his real name.

"Come on, Dad…"

"When you wanted to get married, I tried warning you." He said, in defeat. "You may have fallen in love with Clark Kent, but you married Superman and he doesn't get to have a normal life, no matter how much you want one for him or yourself."

Lois tossed the phone to the side. They both knew in part Sam was right, being Superman had cost them greatly.

"He's right." Clark said. "Us having a normal life, doesn't really…"

"Don't you finish that sentence. We've been doing this for a long time Clark and whatever my father says doesn't change who you are and who you have been to the world and our children. "

"But I am both Lois and as much as I wish there were two of me so I could be a parent and a superhero, sometimes. It isn't enough."

"No, but right now it is your Mom just died, babe. The boys barely survived an accident… The world will always need Superman and when there is a problem, you will be there for them, but right now, this family needs you more."

Later that morning, after Sam's call, she barely had said two words to Clark and the kids were sensing something was wrong.

"Mommy, is Daddy in trouble?" Hannah asked, she and Owen were having breakfast with them first because they were going to go into town. Lois stared at her youngest child and then at her husband.

"He may be a little, not everyone can be as well behaved as you…" Lois said with a kiss to her child's cheek making her giggle as Natalie had come downstairs, still in her pajamas.

"Good morning honey, you know if you hurry you could come with us to town…" Clark offered. He could really get people who still liked him in his corner at the moment.

"No thanks, I'm good, I'm just going to try and finish my book." Natalie had heard her brothers talking about the accident the other night, and she was keen to know just what they would find, she too, like it was the Lane nature, was curious. Her Mom shot her a look, but knew they'd be okay by themselves for a few hours.

"You really think Dad's hiding something from us?" Jonathan asked Jordan as they walked to the barn after their parents had left.

"We had all those poles land on us. Besides, how did he get them up off of us so fast, anyway?" Jordan questioned. Natalie then stopped in her tracks. She'd been asking herself that same question.

Her brothers had noticed her now. "You can't come with us." Jordan told her.

"Why not? I didn't go with Mom and Dad into town because I knew you two would do something that would get yourselves into trouble." Jonathan rolled his eyes at her.

"And why do you want to get yourself in the middle of it too?"

She shrugged. "I want to know what happened just as much as you do, plus, we don't get to do any fun investigative stuff like we used to." She admitted, a glint of sadness in her voice. Jordan nodded.

"Come on."

"So how did Dad get to you so fast, and lifted that pole all by himself?"

"I don't know. Adrenaline, maybe?" Jonathan offered. "Like a soccer mom lifting a car kind of thing."

"Dad can't put up a Christmas tree without falling off the ladder." Natalie huffed.

"And what's the thing he says every single time we come here?" Jordan asked his siblings.

"Don't put your finger in that?" Natalie said, making Jonathan chuckle.

"Stay out of the barn." Jordan said in all seriousness.

"Jordan, what are we looking for, anyways?" His sister asked as they walked further into the barn and started looking around.

"Just something unusual. Something out of place." He said, hitting a hollow step. "Hear that?" He jumped on it again and then looked at it closely. There was a handle. Jonathan and Natalie looked at each other. Jordan rarely took the lead on anything, but he really was mad at their Dad.

"Come on, get the flashlight." Her brothers pushed her back a little as they both lifted the door.

When they reached the bottom of the hidden steps, Natalie took a step back as Jonathan turned to her. "Sis?"

"I don't really know if I want to find out, whatever is in here." She said.

Jonathan put his arm around her. "It's okay, you can go back outside if you want."

"I just don't think Dad would do anything bad, I mean, he's dad, he is a good guy Jon." Her brother sighed.

"That doesn't mean he's not hiding a secret." Jordan told her.

"This place is probably Grandpa's old tool storage or something." Jonathan said. Natalie stared at her brothers. This was literally just an old cellar. What could their Dad have here?

"Guys, what is that thing?" She heard Jonathan say. Natalie focused her eyes in the darkness to where Jordan was pointing the flashlight. They took the white sheet off it and Natalie's eyes widened.

"What are you doing? Do not touch that!" She scolded her brother as Jordan moved closer, Jonathan instinctively put his arm in front of her.

It was too late though, the pod had hummed and when Jordan moved his hand closer, against Jon's protests, it somehow opened up, hovering some sort of crystal into his hand.

"What the hell is that thing?" Jonathan asked, as he and Natalie leaned in to get a closer look.

"Whatever it is, it's not from Kansas." Natalie stared at her brothers again. Her head spinning.

What exactly were their parents hiding?


The kids had fallen asleep on the drive back home, so Clark took a second to reminisce about his former home and what Lana had told them about the farm at the bank. "All my memories, my childhood, my parents…They're all here." Lois looked at him. "Why would my mom want me to come home just to sell the farm?"

"I don't think she wanted you to sell it." She told him. turning back to see if Owen and Hannah were still asleep. "I think she wanted you to save it."

"How? You know, we're not exactly flush with cash, especially after getting fired."

"I don't know yet." Lois said. "But those reverse mortgages weren't because the bank was feeling generous." She sighed. "You may have super strength and super hearing, but I have super smell, and those loans don't smell right."

Clark stared at her. Oh, he knew just how good she was and it was one of the many things he loved about her. "I do have super smell, by the way. I just don't use it very often, because of the boys…"

"Are we home?" They heard a small voice say. "I'm hungry." Owen looked up from the back seat, rubbing his eyes.

Hannah stirred beside him, saying she was hungry too.

"I'll start lunch in a minute you guys." Lois said as they got out of the truck, grateful they hadn't heard what they were talking about just a moment ago. Clark and Lois stopped cold in their tracks as they spotted the kids coming out of the barn.

"So that's why? Why you never wanted us in the barn?" They heard Jordan say as Lois told Owen and Hannah to go in."No Mom, let them hear how Dad keeps a freakin' alien ship in there."

"Look, I can explain." Clark said.

"Yeah, can you? Can you explain how I fell 30 feet and nothing happened?"

"Jordan..." Natalie begged. Her eyes tearing. Their little brother and sister, just as confused, called for Jordan to stop as well to no avail.

"Just give him a chance to explain…" Jonathan begged his brother, but it was too late. His eyes were going back between his siblings and his parents. Owen was looking at Jon as if he wanted him to stop Jordan from yelling, but he too couldn't move.

"All you said is that we got lucky." Jordan said, a little more in Clark's face now. "But that was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Yes, okay?" Clark said finally, he'd shared a look with Lois. "It was a lie."

He took a deep breath. "Owen, go back into the house buddy, Nat would you get your sister and go with him please?" Clark tried. Wanting to shield them just a bit longer.

Natalie stared at her father. "No, I want to know what that thing was."

"What are they talking about?"

"What's wrong Daddy?"

The voices of his youngest children echoed, equally puzzled.

Clark tried to calm himself down. He could see the despair in all of his children's eyes. He had wanted to protect them from his secret for as long as he could, but in that moment he knew that even Hannah and Owen were deserving of the truth. He looked back at his youngests children then back at Jordan. "Look...that ship… brought me to Earth. Landed here in Smallville, right in those cornfields over there." He said, moving his finger to point but his eyes focused on Jordan. His other hand had instinctively moved to the back of Hannah's head as he felt her behind him, he was expecting her to flinch or pull back, but she held onto him even more tightly. "I was sent here when my planet…Krypton was destroyed."

"Krypton?" Owen could barely get the words out as he whispered them to himself after Jon had said it for affirmation.

"Yes. And because I wasn't from here, I had certain powers." Owen's mind was reeling. His Dad was not about to say, he was... Superman, was he? "Your grandparents, they took me in. They raised me. They taught me how to control my abilities, how to blend in until the day I was ready to leave and become who I was sent here to be."

"You're saying you're Superman?" Natalie asked, finally finding her voice again.

"No, I've seen Superman before." Jordan moved even closer towards him. "We've seen him."

Clark then took a step back, Hannah still clung to his leg, the little girl's eyes, drifting between them. She saw her Dad take off his glasses slowly, as if he was unsure of what he was doing. He stared at them again, one by one without them on.

Lois felt Owen shift at one side of her as she grabbed Hannah and pulled her closer when Clark began to walk.

A hand holding both children back in case they had wanted to run towards their father. Clark walked beside the truck and lifted it up easily from behind.

Owen's eyes widened as he held a breath. His Dad picked the truck up like it was nothing, their eyes locking as he noticed how his feet slowly left the ground.

And he flew. Owen couldn't believe it. His Dad was Superman.

"When your father first told me, I didn't understand it either." Owen heard his Mom say once his Dad was back on the ground. He blinked twice just to make sure he wasn't still sleeping.

"I understand." He heard Jordan say. "I understand all the excuses…All the times you were gone. You lied to us." His brother sobbed. "You both did."

"He was saving lives, Jordan…" Lois tried to explain.

"That doesn't make it less true!" Jordan said exasperated. Natalie stared at her Mom and Dad, who for the first time looked like strangers to her. They both glanced back, as if they were begging for her forgiveness.

"You lied to protect his secret." Natalie said. Not sure if she was saying to try and understand or if she was judging her Mom.

"All the things I've been feeling." Jordan began again. "You made me think I was crazy. They put me on pills!"

"Your mental health has nothing to do with who your father is." Lois tried to reason with him but Jordan was yelling again.

"And how do you know that?" She felt her younger children inching closer again as if they were starting to become afraid of their older brother. "I'm half human, half whatever the hell he is!"

"Do not yell at your mother, okay? This is not her fault. I'm the one that didn't want you to know." Clark raised his voice at him firmly.

"Why?" Jonathan asked, his voice full of emotion.

"Because I knew what kind of burden it would be if any of you kids had powers. Or worse, if one of you had them and the others didn't. "

"You think he's the reason we survived yesterday." Jordan told him, defeated.

"What are you talking about?" Natalie asked, but Jordan turned to Jonathan clearly ignoring her.

"Go on, Dad. Go tell Superboy here why he's really so perfect."

"We thought your athletic talents could be latent abilities starting to emerge, and then yesterday…" Their mother explained.

"The only way that both of you could have survived that accident is for at least one of you to be like me." Clark said.

"You wouldn't have it any other way, would you, Dad?" Was the last thing Jordan said before walking away. Clark called for him but he didn't stop. Not until he was almost at the door. "Don't try to talk to me, all right? You may have been sent here to be some hero, but you sure as hell weren't sent here to be a father."

Natalie was crying as she stared at her Mom and then at her Dad. She didn't know whose side she should be on. She loved her parents so much and at some degree understood that maybe they couldn't be told everything because they were kids and yet, a part of her also sided with her brothers, it was so confusing, she could barely make sense of what she had just been told or seen.

"Just leave us alone." Jonathan said, trailing behind Jordan. Natalie remained frozen in her spot.

"Nat?" Lois turned to her. "It's okay if you are mad too." She was 12 and yet in that moment she felt so small, so conflicted.

"I think I just need to be by myself for a while." Natalie said.

"That's fair." She had started to walk back to the house.

"Honey, if you want to ask me anything, you can, okay?" Her father said sweetly. Natalie nodded.

Clark took a deep breath again, finally focusing on Owen and Hannah who were crying but had remained put. He knew that even though it would be harder for them to make sense of what they had just been told, perhaps it would come easier for them to be able to grasp the idea of their Dad being Superman. They both held onto Lois as he knelt in front of them, so he could be at their level.

"Guys?" His glasses weren't back on yet, but it didn't matter, Hannah just ran into his arms and cried."I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, sweet girl, are you okay?"

Hannah nodded into his shirt, Clark placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Why is Jordan so mad?" "It's not your fault your Mommy and your Daddy died." She told him. It melted Clark's heart. He might have just told his children he was not from Earth but to her, he was still her Daddy, and it was all that mattered.

"It's just going to take him some time sweetheart." Clark told her. "Owen, buddy, is there something you want to ask me?"

Owen couldn't speak, what he'd just seen and been told had not made any sense but he understood that in some way, he could see his Dad being Superman and not being able to reveal his true identity to people. Lois had knelt in front of him as well for reassurance.

"Owen honey… it's okay."

"How old were you when you got here?"

"I was a baby. Not sure how old." His Dad admitted. Owen stared at him again. His Dad didn't look like an alien, he just looked like him, and without his glasses, he could see the resemblance between him and Superman even though he'd only seen pictures. His hand reached out to touch Clark's face. Lois, who had already cried enough in the last hour, felt tears stream down her face again.

"So, you don't remember anything?"

"No, not really buddy, the only parents and home I remember were right here in Smallville." Clark told him. "And it was the only family I ever knew before I met Mom." He reached to grab Lois's hand. "You know that it's okay if you two are upset like your brothers and sister, I understand how confusing this all is."

He looked at both kids again and it took Owen a minute to respond.

"But…you're still Dad, Jordan's just mad because he's not the one with powers." Owen said honestly which made his parents sigh in relief and even smile. "Superheroes can't reveal their identities, because people would just try and hurt them and the people they love."

Owen was right and as a little boy who spent a lot of time reading into superheroes, he should know. "That's right."

"And that's why we can't tell anyone about who Daddy is." Lois said to them both. "No one. Ever. Do you understand?" Owen nodded rather quickly but Hannah hesitated, her brother gave her a reassuring nod but she just bit her lip in deep thought.

"I know it's a big secret baby, and if it wasn't super important I wouldn't ask you to…" Hannah gave this another minute then glanced at Lois who offered her a smile.

"I'll do it for you Daddy. I'll keep your secret, I promise." Clark had tears in his eyes as Owen reached for his arms as well and wrapped them both into a hug.

"I want you to know how brave you two are, you know Mommy and I love you more than anything, right?"

Both kids nodded. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"I think Mommy needs a hug too." He stood up with both kids in his arms, chuckling and pulled his wife in too.

"I love you so much and I'm sorry about earlier... I was such an..." She kissed him.

"Shut up, don't. We might still have a long way to go with the other three but we can deal with it together babe, you and me."

Clark let out a sigh, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, if there's still had to deal with the consequences of what he'd been so afraid to reveal.


These first chapters are just in my head and might be coming every weekend or so, but I had already planned on the second one, so I thought I'd share it now.
This isn't beta'd. If anyone is interested in helping me out, I'd really appreciate it, since English isn't my first language.
I took some actual moments from the pilot because I loved it so much.
If you can, please leave me a review, it helps to keep me motivated to write.
Thanks!