A/N: fixed the continuity error. Van-Zee was the Pre-Crisis Kandorian Nightwing after Superman gave up the title and returned to Earth, not Kal's mommy! My bad!
Chapter 6: Clark
Clark caught up to the boy easily He had stopped by the barn and was doubled over, leaning against the door posts. Clark walked up cautiously, not wanting to startle the boy into flying away or blasting Clark again.
"Uhm…Look…" Clark began, the boy turning quickly to look at him. Clark watched as the boy drifted into the air about foot. "I don't want to hurt you or anything… I just want to help you."
The boy scowled and floated backwards into the barn, "I don't think you can help me," he sounded like he was trying very hard not to sound scared.
"I promise you're not in trouble for breaking into my house or out of the hospital," Clark took another couple of steps forward and the boy hadn't tried to make a run for it yet, so far so good. "I just want to find out if you're ok, what your name is, and where you came from so I can help you get home…"
The boy gave a derisive laugh, "Dude, unless you can, I don't know, fly so fast around the world you can speed up time and launch me back into the future, I don't think you can help me." He finally settled down onto the hay strewn barn floor. The boy suddenly smirked and rubbed the back of his head, "Heh… Back to the Future… Know anyone with a Delorean?"
Clark had to step forward quickly to catch the boy as he began to sink further to the ground. "I've got you. Let me take you back inside and you can explain what you mean by 'the future'."
"No." the boy said, pointing behind him vaguely, "I need to recharge… Stay in the sunlight. I was going to sit in the loft. It gets a lot of sun in the afternoons…"
Clark frowned, but the kid started to pull away, so Clark stayed with him, helping him up the stairs to the loft. He sat the boy down on in a sunny spot on the couch. "Better?"
"Yeah… Thanks." the boy said softly, his eyes closing, face turning into the sunlight pouring through the window.
Clark pulled his desk chair around and sat astride it, arms crossed on the hard back, "What's your name?"
"It's Ko-- waaait. I shouldn't tell you." The kid stopped, frowning.
"Why not?" Clark found himself tensing, ready to jump after the kid if he needed to, though, it really didn't look like the younger boy was in any state to make a run for it. He looked absolutely exhausted.
The kid looked across at Clark, slightly panicked, "I could totally mess up the time line! I mean… what if I explain to you who I am and when I finally get back to my time everything was backwards! Sky's black, sun's red, Batman's smiling, dogs and cats living together… bad stuff!" The boy lifted his arms to gesture, but they quickly slumped back to his sides.
"Are you sure you're ok?" The kid really thought he was from the future? Maybe he was still injured or had a concussion or amnesia.
"Yeah, I'm really ok. I'm not crazy, alright. I just need a recharge and I'm hungry. I did a lot of flying today and I was already slagged from the battle and I've already said too much." The kid rubbed his face and looked around the loft, "Man, everything looks the same…" He bounced on the couch some, "Couch is different, though…"
"Different than in the future?" Clark asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of his tone.
"Yeah… I mean…" the kid was chewing on his lower lip and Clark could practically see him choosing his words, "Different from when I live here…"
"In the future." The boy threw Clark a dirty look that was strangely familiar.
"Yes, in the future! What do you want me to do, tell you about everything that's going to happen in the next 15 years? Cause, you know, I totally can, but then there will be a massive time paradox." The way the boy was glaring, Clark was afraid he was about to get another laser blast. However, the boy sighed and rubbed his eyes hard, "Man… I wish Robin was here… He always knows what to do when this kind of crap happens…"
Clark opened his mouth to talk, but the boy cut him off. "Please, don't attempt sarcasm again… You really suck at it and I already have a headache. I can see where you probably think I'm cracked or something…" Clark didn't exactly nod, but the feeling was still there.
The kid sighed and leaned forward on the couch, "Ok. I don't think I would hurt time if I told you stuff you should already know about. Your name is Clark Kent. You were adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent after they found your spaceship in the back forty. Your real name is Kal-El, son of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van of the former planet Krypton. You look like you're twenty or something, so you're probably in college. You like astronomy, journalism, and Metallica."
As the kid continued to talk, Clark felt his eyes go wide. How could this kid know any of this? About Krypton and Jor-El.. And Clark didn't even know his birth mother's full name! The kid was either a very good liar or he really was from the future.
Quickly piecing things together, Clark came to a realization: "Are… are you my… my son?"
"Wha?" The kid, who had his eyes closed again, opened them with a look of surprise.
"My son… I mean, you have laser vision, you're fast like me, and you do look a lot like me…" Clark felt a strange emotion welling inside of him; a strong feeling akin to hope. In the future, he had a son. For some reason, that thought made Clark feel happier than he ever thought it would.
"Not really…" Clark felt the hope bubble burst like a too full water balloon. "I mean… if you look at it genetically I kind of am. But you didn't raise me or anything like that." The kid didn't sound nearly as apologetic for that fact as he should, Clark though.
"So, you're genetically related to me, but not my…" Clark was trying to sort out the barrage of thoughts racing through his mind, but the kid cut him off.
"It's… It's really, really, really complicated. I can't tell you any more or else it might, I don't know, end my existence or something. Which would be bad." The kid was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Clark found himself frowning. Assuming this kid really was from the future, then Clark shouldn't press him for more information. After all, stranger things than time traveling kids from the future had happened in Smallville (though, admittedly, not many). However, while the "from-the-future, don't-question-further" line might work with Chloe and Clark's mother, it most certainly wouldn't fly with Lois. "Ok, I believe you." Clark said, which earned a surprised look from the boy.
"There are only a few people who know about Krypton. I know none of them would have told you. So… You would have to be from the future or something to know and.. Well… I understand your not wanting to say more. And I want you to know I will do everything I can to try to get you home, I promise.. But… we have to have something to tell Lois and the other people."
The boy's frown looked so familiar, it was a bit disconcerting. It wasn't like Clark's own frown. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead, a female voice sounded from downstairs. "Clark? Are you in here?"
It was Chloe, "Err… in the loft, Chloe…" Clark looked across at the boy and gestured for him to stay put. Thank god it was Chloe and not Lois. Chloe could help.