Chapter Two

It was white in this place, actually it was too white. Heaven always was depicted by the heavenly lights, white clouds, angels who doubled as harpists. At least, that was the Christian view of the afterlife. Being an alien though gave a new perspective on the afterlife. In fact, there had been many possible afterlives that Clark had known about. This however seemed more of a clinic or health spa than an actual place you would be sent to after death.

He needed to find something to do or at least somewhere to go where he could escape from this place and head back to earth. With all that he had been through, death wasn't necessarily the final word, there could be ways back from 'death'.

Avoiding the elevator, Clark went to what appeared a large window and was happy to see his reflection. He was in the body of Clark Kent only without the glasses on. Maybe this was how he was always supposed to look despite how he missed the glasses that marked the difference between himself and the man of steel.

Reaching out towards the window, Clark felt a warmness in his hand as it seemed to turn into a bright and warm light. Focusing on that fact, he could see the whole world before him and calmed his body so the light had covered his whole physical body. Now he could move through space as this light. If he stayed calm enough, he knew he could go anywhere and there was only one destination that his body was telling him to go towards.

It was to her, to her side, to his Lois.

….

A young angel who had died from a car accident outside of Metropolis made her way towards the body of the man she was supposed to meet. Abigail was French but now in the afterlife language wasn't important, it wasn't a barrier anymore between people. She took a deep breath and put a hand on the young space man's back. "Sir, we need you to come back," she said. "We need to figure out your afterlife. I'll give you another moment and then I'll have to pull you-"

Clark turned as she said that, "Of course," he nodded. "I mean, it's okay, I was just…"

"I bet you were communicating with your wife. I know of your many powers, but this will get more difficult if your body molecular structure pulls apart and you're scattered across time and space. Now, I am pleased to say that my name is Abigail and I will sort over your details. I know that during your time in the living world, you have done more good deeds than anyone. That entitles you to a special place in our good place."

Clark sighed, but nodded. He pushed a hand through his hair and nodded. "I'm not ready to move on though. You don't understand how much the people in…"

"The world need their Superman?" Abigail asked. "I do understand that, but we do need to process you. It's such an honor to meet you, but what I really want is to give you the best transition to the next world as possible."

Clark laughed slightly, "The world might need him, but my family needs me. My wife needs me. She may seem the most independent, stubborn, and capable person but trust me, from experience I know that the people who put themselves in the most risk to be hurt and the people who need someone they can trust to help them with it in case they do. I'm not ready to give up on her."

"Your love for her does seem to trump your love for others," Abigail laughed softly before meeting with Clark's eyes and the severity within them. "Alright, well there is one way to get back to her but it is quite risky especially since your original body is still active."

Clark's eyes lit up, "Alright, and in your objective view on this, is it safe?"

"It's been used before," Abigail nodded. She took a breath in, "Let me take you to the computers. We'll need to open your files and then I can let you know how we can get you back. It's only for people who have the kind of goodness score that you have, understand, we only reserve this for individuals who have the few reserved seats in the inner circle of the good place."

Clark nodded, he tried to think about how to handle everything. He had so many questions, some of them being whether or not this was some part of evil corporation to get him trapped. However, all the signs pointed towards him being dead. If he was offered a way to return to his wife, his family, wouldn't it be best just to trust someone and take it? Then again, he could be closing his defenses for someone who wanted to rid the world of superheroes. The decision to be made was agonizingly difficult, but only one image was making him trust the work of those around him. Her.

Abigail had them sit down on opposite sides of a desk whilst she opened up the correct files on the computer. "So," she nodded, "We see here that you really are Clark Kent and we can also see the amazing and inspiring good that your presence and existence has had on the world. I can also see a footnote from my friend Mr. Wells that you are meant to exist in the future so I can tell you your options."

Abigail leaned forwards, she measured her breath as she attempted to relay the information as calmly as she could. "You can either return to earth or not. You can stay here and have your seat in the good place which means that you wouldn't need to help with crime or save people's lives, you could enjoy an afterlife of bliss and happiness or you could return in a different body. This will be selected randomly from bodies that expire at the exact same time your soul returns. You could have the body of a murderer, a drug dealer, or even a doctor. It is completely randomized, but you would be there, on earth at least until that body dies."

Clark watched her closely. Abigail's body wasn't betraying her words, in fact it wasn't showing a single sign of deception. He felt he could trust her, but he didn't know what to say. Being in the body of someone about to be executed wouldn't be good, but being with his wife would fit his desires.

"It's completely random? I would have no choice?" Clark asked as he contemplated the offer. "Would I be able to tell my wife, to contact her."

"I don't see why not," Abigail smiled, "If you wanted to convince her then you could, it's your choice. It's not up to us to convince her though."

Clark nodded, "Okay," he said, "I'll do it. I want to do it."

"Then please press the return button," Abigail showed him and after inhaling deeply, Clark reached out and tapped the button before being surrounded by a different kind of white light.

He had his eyes closed as he heard the heart monitor next to him. "He's alive, thank god" a woman's voice could be heard. "Patient is stabilizing. It's a miracle, we just need to keep him under 72 hours surveillance. This has been a suicide attempt before anyone forgets."

Suicide? So this was a different body. He had wanted to be with Lois immediately, but this was still possible. He just needed to figure out what was happening and whether this was a dream. Most of these encounters with the unknown had not been.

….

….

Seventy two hours had never seemed so long before which seemed a very odd thing to say after going through the things that Clark had gone through during his life. He had always been able to do something or go somewhere, in fact he could have probably flown around the world so fast during seventy-two hours that he could have changed the rotation of the planet and turned time back a century.

Not in this position though.

He had had long enough now so that he could assess his new body. He noticed the way that the pale skin, blonde hair, and larger abdomen made him appear. He noticed the cuts and the sickly look of the slightly huskier body. It would need some work.

He had also noticed things that had made him Superman, or rather Kal-el.

He had focused primarily on his eyes and ears. He still had his abilities and in saying that, he knew where the phones were kept and all the different exit pathways he could have tried to make his escape using. He had noticed also how his voice sounded, the accent of somebody who had grown up very far from Kansas in an urban area.

He had also heard his name, Troy. He had heard about how much his parents loved him, how he had siblings and other close relatives. He had heard about a dog that the family had. He had heard all of this about Troy, but he hadn't heard anything about Metropolis, about Clark Kent, and the only thing he had heard about his own body was that the man of steel had not been seen in a long time.

So, either his body was dead or the man who had led to the events of his death hadn't cared enough about others to risk his own life in saving them.

All he wanted to do when he was released from this hold was to call the woman he loved more than anyone.

Yes, the woman he loved.

He didn't know how to explain any of this to her. He knew that she trusted he would come back for her. He knew that she would love him in any body, but did that include this one as well. As much as Troy hated to admit it, the body of a fully developed reporter was quite different from this puffy body of a nervous pre-law student.

As the time to his release counted down, Clark thought about calling about the right words to say. The right words to give hope to someone who needed him to do so, but nothing sounded right. He would have to leave and go there, that was the only way of really proving who he was.

At least rejection was sometimes easier to deal with if it was done in person.