Chapter 6 – Sibling Bonding

Clark could not hide his smile. His decision to bring Superboy home never seemed so right. His daughter was dragging Superboy by the hand to the guest room, and he noticed that she had cleaned it up, changing a little bit the decoration and making the room more comfortable.

"So... what do you think?" she asked excitedly when they got in. Her eyes were shining and Superboy looked around, still a little uneasy.

"Hm... Looks nice."

"It's your room now." Clark said, sending a grateful look to Claire for having prepared the room beforehand. "We'll probably need to go out somewhere soon so we can buy a few things for you, including new clothes that can actually fit you."

Claire smiled. "Yes! A shopping trip. It will be awesome!"

Superboy smiled for her, but looked a little unsure whether or not getting in the room. Before Clark could say anything, though, he heard the distinctive sound of a blaring siren and gunshots and screams. He sighed.

"There's a car chase downtown. I have to get there." he said, and then put a hand on Superboy's shoulder. "Claire will make you company while I go out, ok? I'll be back soon, I hope."

Superboy only nodded.

"Be safe, dad." Claire said.

He smiled for them, changing to his uniform and flying away through the window.

~.~

After her dad left, Claire insisted with Superboy that he could take a shower and change clothes. He didn't have anything proper to wear, so Claire picked up a few of her dad's old clothes and put them on Superboy's bed so he could change. She could always make some adjustments, if needed.

Going back to the kitchen, she decided to start making dinner. The cake would probably be served later, when her dad was back and they had a proper dinner, so she put the cake aside and started picking up ingredients.

Superboy appeared in the kitchen not much time after, standing a little awkwardly in the door frame that divided the kitchen from the dinner room.

"Hey!" she said, trying to make him more comfortable. Poor boy was all nerves so far, and Claire wanted him to lighten up a little.

"Hey." he answered.

"How was your shower?" she said, half her body almost inside the fridge picking things for dinner.

"Nice." he said.

She emerged from the fridge and smiled for him.

"You're not a guy of many words, are you?"

He cleaned his throat. "It's just... Too weird."

"What is?"

"This." he pointed around. "Me at Superman's house, watching his daughter cooking."

She laughed a little.

"Yeah. I bet the fact that he had a daughter made your brain freeze for a few seconds."

She saw the smallest of smiles in his lips, and his eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Yeah, it did. I came here still expecting it to be a joke."

Claire laughed a little more.

"Well, it's not." she said, starting to cut onions. "It's just not public information."

He nodded, and pointed to the other vegetables.

"Do you want help?"

She stopped cutting the onion and looked at him. "Do you know how to cook?"

He seemed embarrassed, now.

"Well, not really, but..."

She smiled. "Great! I can teach you!"

He looked at her with surprise in his eyes, and also excitement. She picked up another knife and gave him a few tomatoes to cut, showing him how to do it.

Superboy was a fast learner. He soon was cutting the vegetables as fast as her, helping her with the spaghetti carbonara which she decided for dinner. They didn't talked much, but she realized that his posture became a little more relaxed, more light. Like he was really enjoying being there.

Finally, when there was nothing left to do but to wait a few minutes, she started setting up the table with his help. That's when he decided to ask a few things.

"So... Superman has a job?" he seemed honestly confused.

"Yes. He's a reporter at the Daily Planet. And you can call him 'dad' or by his name if you want. And if we're home and he's not in costume." she smiled.

He looked a little more confused.

"His name? But... It's Superman. His name, I mean."

Claire suddenly stopped putting the silverware on the table and looked at him. Superboy seemed completely and honestly lost about this.

"Well..." she started explaining. "Most heroes have secret identities. The hero name is a name they invented so they can fight crime without being recognized. It's also why they wear costumes."

He seemed intrigued. "Really? Cadmus didn't put anything about that in my education."

Claire fought the scowl that she wanted to make by hearing about his 'education'.

"Well, it's a thing." she continued. "So the heroes names aren't actually their real names, you know? They are not their birth names."

Superboy seemed to think for a second before asking, timidly.

"So... What is Superman's name?"

"Clark Kent." she said, smiling for him. "You can't tell anyone this. Secret identities exist to protect the heroes' families and friends from harm. And to let the heroes live somewhat normal lives when they are not saving people."

He frowned, but nodded his consent. "It's a weird concept."

Claire laughed a little. "It's an important concept."

He smiled for her, and they kept talking casually until Superman came flying through the window.

"Hey dad!" she waved. "How was patrol?"

"Nothing big." he shrugged. "I'll take a shower and join you two for dinner."

And then he was gone. Superboy blinked.

"He just used his superspeed, right?"

"Yeah," Claire laughed. "he normally does that when he's really hungry. Now come on, let's put the food in the table too."

~.~

Dinner went very well. Clark and Claire were amazing people, and Superboy saw himself smiling to them in more than one occasion. There were still some awkwardness in his and Super-Clark's communication, but he supposed it should pass soon. He was his clone, after all. Clark had to get used to the idea.

He helped Claire with the dishes, while Clark started writing something on his laptop – a story for the Daily Planet, he said, and Superboy still couldn't believe Superman was a reporter – and they went into a peaceful pace with an amicable silence.

Soon after, Claire ran to her dad's room and picked a few clothes for him, and Superboy had to put every single one of them, because Claire made her job to adjust the clothes so they could fit him properly, until they could go out in the weekend and make that 'shopping trip' – for which Claire was particularly excited about.

When she finished making marks on where the clothes would be needing adjustments, it was almost eleven pm, and Sup-Clark told them to go to sleep.

"But I'm not even tired!" Claire complained.

"But you have school tomorrow morning, Claire." Clark said, stern but not unkindly. "You should rest."

She made a pouting face that made Superboy laugh, and then she was smiling at him. Getting up from the couch, she went to give him a hug and a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm really happy you're here, Superboy." then she frowned. "We really need a name for you."

He didn't know why he would need another name, but didn't said anything. She shook her head and smiled at him again.

"Anyhow... Good night, little bro." she took the clothes and her sewing kit with her for her bedroom, that was right in front of his.

Awkwardly, he stood and saw that Clark was looking at him.

"I'm happy you're here too, you know." the hero said. "I'm sorry I didn't brought you here yesterday."

He smiled, honestly.

"It's okay. I'm here now and we can start over. And... Thank you for giving me an opportunity."

"You are very welcome." Clark said, and then, "Good night."

He mumbled a 'good night' back, and went to his new bedroom, that was still very bare, but he had the feeling Claire would help him fill, and the thought of having her supporting him and helping him adjust to this new life made him lay on his bed with a smile on his lips.

Awn. I really liked writing this chapter.

As usual, tell me if you find any errors so I can fix it and improve my writing. If you want to be a beta, PM me.

Next chapter is the last one of this story, but don't worry! I have a lot of ideas for this AU, and there will be more stories very soon! :)

Now, tell me what you think! :*