Chapter 2:
Six months after his arrival to that far corner of the U.S, he began to adapt to that lifestyle:
Dillingham was basically, a fishing commercial city who had lived better days but it was everything he ever need: small city where he could live peacefully without people trying to find much about his past much like Smallville but instead of hurricanes, farms, cows and tractors, it had snow storms, industrial plants, fish and sailing boats.
This city was exactly what he needed: a new life around people, an undeniable feeling of companionship, interacting with people, all of that, was the essence of being human, something he desperately needed to feel even his heritage kept remembering him, otherwise.
Like any ordinary afternoon, he was doing his work as a teacher at a local school: he preferred to work as a reporter but big news in that far region of the world, aren't available everyday and his exposition would far greater than as a teacher. Instead, he educated the young minds, preparing them for the world of tomorrow: big exclusives were substituted by words, lectures of truth and justice, capturing the young minds' attention.
His main channel for news was of course, the internet and specifically the website of the Daily Planet where the latest news were posted: when he was a reporter, he was being kept updated out the latest news, like robberies, terrorists acts, etc…but now in a desolated area like he was living, the best channel of information was the internet.
The portable was standing in his desk being constantly updated by the latest news, everything that would require his help: he was correcting some exams in his small office where the heat equipment was turn on, not because he needed but to not raise any suspicions.
His attention was always divided between two separate scenarios: the exams and the several information websites.
While correcting some exams, he heard someone knocking on his office door.
"Professor King?" – A female voice spoke, asking permission to enter.
"A minute, please." – Frantically, he searched for his glasses in his desk, finding them, moments after.
"Come in, Wilma" – He stated as he finally put his glasses.
"Excuse me Professor but I just had a call from Miss Lemari. She said it's important." – A woman entered, in her sixties, gently and kind, smiling at him.
"Did she say anything else?" –he inquired, curious.
"No, professor, she only said it was important. From her voice tone, I could sense anxiety."
Quickly, Clark shut down the computer and ran out of his office, into the corridor.
"Thank you Wilma!" – He spoke at the end of the corridor, still running.
"City folks…." – she confessed.
In a small city like Dillingham, distances are always short, especially when it comes to a man who has abilities beyond mortal men and in a matter of a few minutes he was standing in front of her house. The door was slightly open. He pushed the door, knocking it gently.
"Hello? Lori?" – He asked at normal tone voice and shortly after, he heard a scream. Instinctively, he ran at super-speed, somehow thinking she was in trouble: he found her but to his surprise, everything was ok.
She was jumping, ecstatic with a single picture appearing on her screen.
"Lori?"- He asked, still confused. Again she jumped but this time, it was for another reason.
"Charlie! Are you trying to kill me, here?" – She looked at him, completely perplexed, astonished looking at her. – "Nevermind…" she "dragged" him to get him closer to the screen. "Here, take a closer look."
After a brief analysis, he looked at her. – "Is it possible?"
She waved positively. – "Isn't this great?" – He was about to reply but Lori was too excited to let him even talk. – "I mean…this is excellent! Unbelievable, I thought the species were extinct…"
"And they were about to but I managed to save them from mankind..." – A male voice interrupted Lori. She turned around to see the man who was behind her, who caught her by surprise.
"A.C?" – She was astonished to see her old friend standing there. – "Oh my God!" – She hugged him. –"Where have been you?"
"Swimming around…"- Curious, Arthur looked at the man who was standing in front of him but he could only see the man's back. –"Aren't you going to introduce to your friend?"
Lori noticed her friend's behavior: he was always nice to people but this time, there was something wrong. She could feel it but she decided to ignore it.
"Hey Charile...This is Arthur Curry but everyone calls him A.C. A.C, this is Charles King: He is a teacher who's helping me to develop my work. But I call him Charlie." – As Charlie turned around, Arthur's face changed from an amused expression to a mixture of surprise and anger.
Charlie extended his hand hoping his old friend would play along like if it was the first time they met.
"Someone said: It's a small world and whoever said it, is absolutely right. After all, two thirds of the planet is covered with water." – Arthur spoke with an icy tone which Lori immediately noticed.
"I'm sorry?"- Charlie tried to act confused but as time went by, his hopes were ruined.
"Have you two met before?" – Lori asked, somehow concerned about the sudden temper around those two.
"No, we haven't."- Charlie quickly declared.
"Memory's wipe? From what I've heard, it isn't something new…" – Arthur remarked sarcastically.
"I know when I'm too much around here. Excuse me Lori…" – Charlie began walking and when he was passing by Arthur, Arthur grabbed him by his arm. Charlie looked at him and whispered to Arthur so that Lori couldn't hear.
"Remember, you aren't in the sea…" – Slowly, Arthur let go Charlie's arm and again Charlie restarted his walk.
"Charlie wait…" –Lori pleaded but Charlie continued but soon he stopped once again.
"I wonder how Lois feels about this". – Arthur turned around to see Charlie's reaction. He closed his fists, controlling his sudden anger towards Arthur. Arthur didn't know the sacrifices he had to do: his life, his love, he had to leave everything behind so could everyone live a life of peace.
Slowly, he controlled his anger and resumed his path outside Lori's house. Lori approached her friend Arthur and confronted him.
"What the hell was this about?" – At her friend's question, Arthur looked at Lori, unbendable.
"Go ask him. He's the one with the explaining to do." – He turned around and just like Charlie, he left Lori's house, leaving Lori all alone and intrigued about Charlie's past.
He retreated to his house and stood there for a couple of hours thinking about his last encounter with his past: Arthur Curry. They had encountered themselves a few times in their teenage years and each time, there was always confrontation but somehow they managed to pass the barriers: however this time was different. He was Superman and as Clark Kent, the reporter, he was "assassinated", courtesy of Lex Luthor and with the lack of evidence and the danger of the Daily Planet's closure, he was forced to live in exile. As for Arthur Curry, he was Aquaman, the King of Atlantis, an underwater civilization which was resurfacing again and its highest representative was demanding respect from mankind for the oceans, blaming mankind for all its evil done to the oceans and doing everything in his power to accomplish his gold even if it meant a war.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden message in his cell phone:
"Come and meet me at the Siegel's bar." – He estranged the message knowing who send it.
He went to the only bar which he used to go to meet from time to time with his old friend: Pete Ross. Congressman, he was one of the most promising young politicians and some people even predicted a White House scenario for this young politician but as he walked inside the bar, he just saw his old friend standing in front of him, waiting for him with a smile.
"Pete Ross…I've should know…"
"Professor King…" – they hugged, synonymy of the old times and the time they have missed, being together, to spend some time as friends like the old days.
"Go and sit on that table at the corner: I want to discuss something with you." - He noticed suddenly his friend's expression, shifting from the happiness to an expression of seriousness and some gravity. He sat at the table requested by his friend, soon joined by him when he came with some drinks.
"What's going on?" – He asked curious and somewhat concerned.
Pete opened his briefcase and grabbed a file and handled it to him. He opened the file and began reading it and he looked at his friend expecting an answer to his doubts.
"Superman Protocols?" – He asked confused.
"Yes, a series of established procedures to execute in case of Superman going rogue…This administration had been gathering several Intel about you…" – Pete lowered his head and whispered. – "…and the information gathered about you, has been treated and submitted into these Superman Protocols."
"How is this possible? I mean, I have been careful enough for to being followed, observed, etc…No one knows that I'm living, only you." – He stated, doubting his friend's affirmation.
"I didn't have full access to these protocols and what you see is basically the generic terms of the protocols, what they are and what they are meant to do but there is something you should know: your rescues." – Again he frowned at his friend affirmation and he definitely, he didn't like.
"What about them?" – He asked slightly confused.
"There is a possibility of some accidents in which the rescue operations you have participated, may not had been accidents…"
"What?" – He interrupted Pete, perplexed.
"Some of the "accidents" were possibly, induced events to draw your attention and study you carefully: it is the only plausible explanation to gather intelligence about you. You know what this means, right?" – Pete looked at his troubled friend: he knew what he was thinking.
"Luthor…" – he replied, already angered.
"You have to be extra careful: something is coming soon and it doesn't look good. Luthor's influence is bigger than ever and every member of the Administration is by his side. I don't know how he's done it but he has…"
He couldn't listen anymore Pete because he was only focused on the one man who had destroyed his life, twice. He was forced to live a live of exile, away from the people he loved, hidden from the world, only to appear as the world's greatest hero and that same existence as a hero was now in jeopardy, according to his friend.
Suddenly his attention was again to his friend as Pete shook him.
"Hey! I know how troubled you must be feeling right now but you have to be extra careful from now on. Luthor has eyes and ears everything and even now I'm risking your safety by being here but you had to be warned."
He looked at Pete, grateful. – "Thank you, my friend."
"You're welcome but I have to go. I'm required elsewhere and I can't stay any longer: I don't want to risk your life. Take the file and studied carefully: I've already a copy and so, you can keep this one. "
They got up and exited the coffee shop and headed to the small parking lot where Pete's car was. - "Good luck, pal. It seems you're going to need it." – Pete declared and they hugged.
"Thank you, for everything." – Clark valued his friend for everything he's done for him, from helping to escape Luthor's claws to getting a new identity.
After his friend left, he headed home, troubled, thinking about his life and all his friends, family and especially Lois: since his supposed death, he didn't have anytime with her, at least some time alone with her, only brief moments shared with dozens of reporters, each time he was in any rescue.
Several times he regretted the decision of self exile when emotion replaced logic, when the desire overpowered his sense of protection but in the end, he knew he made the right decision, even if it was costly.
He could see his house in front but he also could see there someone at the entrance: he could see right away who was…Lori. Earlier she was left by him with a series of doubts and questions needed to be answered.
He continued walking until he reached the house's entry and looked at her.
"We need to talk."- Lori declared.
"I agree." – He replied, flatly.
They both entered at the house and Lori sat at the couch while he walked to the kitchen.
"Do you want anything?" – He tried a small talk which Lori didn't answer back.
Soon he joined her at the living room with a cup of coffee and headed for the only window the living room had.
"Who are you?" – She questioned him when the silence was becoming unbearable.
"This is hard to explain…"
"I presume you're not the average school teacher…"
"My real name is Clark Kent and I used to be a reporter at the Daily Planet when there was an attempt to assassinate me but I've managed to escape." – Clark declared feeling relief to confess what he considered to be a burden, to pretend to be someone he wasn't.
"Ok…Ccclllaaark….so do you know who try to kill you?"
He looked at her, not even slightly amused by her irony but he couldn't blame her also: he kept it a secret from her, a friend he instantly he gained from the moment they met.
"Yes, I do… but I'm not going to reveal to you. It is for your own safety. I'm already revealing too much. It's better this way." - He turned around and began looking once again through the window.
She could sense the sudden sadness her friend was feeling: his eyes were saying a horrible truth and she couldn't do anything else than feel sorry for him a word exploded in her mind, an answer for his state of mind.
"Who's Lois?" – Her curiosity was stronger than her remorse for earlier comments.
Its mere pronunciation altered him and than, more ever, she realized the power of a woman she never met on a man she considered to be friend and in her deepest desire to be more than a friend.
She noticed him walking slowing like a convict in a death row, heading to the front door and he opened.
"I would like to be alone." – She had no choice but to respect him and so she left his apartment.
"I'm sorry." – She truly apologized before leaving the apartment.
He remained quiet and closed the door. He headed for the window where he stayed for a few minutes, just staring at the vast view the window had to offer, trying to find some comfort but he couldn't.
The recent discoveries made him unease and the place he once considered to be safe to begin a new life but now it was like every other place.
Something was telling him that all, all of his current life was going to end: it scared and so he decided to clear his mind and made his mind up and he flew away, rising above the clouds until he could see the entire continent. He stood there and focused his attention on the city he once considered to live his life: Metropolis.
Determined, he flew, heading for Metropolis until his feet were at the top of globe of the Daily Planet where he could see the entire city and above all, a place where he could see her: Lois.
He looked at her neighborhood and he could see cars, men and women, watching, guarding her, giving him no chance to approach her.
He stayed there just watching, wishing he could be with her, with any sort of restrictions, like any ordinary couple but destiny made it clear, it wasn't the time.
Lost in his thoughts, suddenly something capture his attention: she was now at window and like him she was just enjoying the view.
Next, he focused his vision and then he could see her face and the tenuous light from a near post emphasized her beauty. For moments, he looked at the moon, his silent companion for many hours and had an idea.
With his heat vision, he managed to create a small power cut at the closest power station, only to leave the entire block where she was living in almost darkness, only enlightened by the moonlight: Once almost faded, blocked by the almost blinding lights, the moonlight was clearly strong, showing its vigor.
He looked at her, searching, wanting for her reaction until she looked at the moon and saw a body with a cape almost blocking the moonlight.
He saw her smiling, looking at his direction: she realized his intention and still far away from her, he managed to hear her, whispering….repeating…
"I love you…
I love you…
I love you…"
Right then, He flew at super-speed by her neighborhood and flew away, somehow comforted by her words, hoping for a better tomorrow.
To be continued…