9
Granville had been a fixture of Chloe's life, but one she'd ignored for years, since Grammy Sullivan had passed away. She and her mom had been trapped in a car visiting her grandmother the day of the first meteor shower and that's when her life had been irrevocably altered, where she'd become a meteor mutant. Despite no longer having active powers, it had been a traumatizing period in her life and one that had changed her views of the afflicted in Smallville. It was a relief not to have the fear of dying, well more than any mortal, but it was also scarring to have done it twice to save those she loved. It was a price she'd gladly paid but something she couldn't bear to think of too closely.
Stepping into the little home in the suburbs, not unlike her home as a teenager in Luthor Estates (until Lionel had revoked it), but it was set in a nice patch of land with a high fenced backyard and even a small barn on the outskirts of her acreage behind the home. It was a suburban style house on the edge of farmland, one, which she would have no idea what to do with. Still, she could see the advantage to a place mostly quiet, with the neighbors close enough for emergencies but not too close, with a large fence hiding her son's speed. Hell, even the barn could be fun, something she was used to, that would be so very much like father and like son.
Chloe frowned. "Clark, George is in a Talon apartment."
He nodded. "They turned it into a triplex so he has the basement. It hasn't been a cafe in a long time, since Lana went off the radar."
"Oh."
"Yeah," he said, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "But we didn't want you in a town where people would recognize you. I know you 'died,' and now you have a brunette makeover, complete with extensions, and Christopher went redhead, but it's still a case of better safe than sorry. Granville's only thirty minutes away. You'll be able to visit George as often as you like, or, um, as often as he'll agree to for Christopher's sake."
Chloe sighed. "Yeah, making messes and alienating the men in her life is like the Chloe Sullivan tradition."
Clark shrugged at that. "You did what you thought was best to protect mine and Lois's feelings and our son. That matters for something."
"But I did it wrong and you both hate me."
" I don't hate you. In point of face, I could never hate you. I'm just upset because I missed so much of our son's life. I explained that. George is pissed, but he seems like he really loves Christopher."
"He does. He's a great father."
Clark stiffened. "And I appreciate that cause I felt that way about Jonathan Kent."
"You mean your dad," she said, sighing. "Just because Brainiac Five and the Legion said his funeral 'corrupted' you, I call bullshit. It hurt you, wounded you, but he was a good man and you loved him. I think what really set you off on that year of scorching buildings was Davis killing Jimmy."
"I don't want to talk about that."
"Why not? We should talk about it. That was my other big beyond humongous fuck-up. I trusted that Davis was more than a shell, that he had a soul, and then he betrayed us all and Jimmy, Henry, whoever really suffered for it. It wasn't your fault and it wasn't because you were 'too human.'"
Clark's grip on the handles of the suitcases became dangerously tight until the handles almost cracked. "We're not talking about this. I'm here to take you into the house that Oliver helped provide in honor of your years of service to the League, even as a consultant. You deserve more than an apartment. I knew that Singapore was crammed and Christopher's only known an apartment life. I think this would be good for him."
Chloe nodded and, taking out her new key, opened the door and waited for Clark to pass through the door and followed him. She gasped at the full array of furniture and even electronics that she saw before her. "Clark, the League didn't have to."
"We all wanted to. Even if you're barely a consultant now, you're always going to be one of us and we take care of our own."
"And that doesn't include you being honest with me?" she asked, pulling the suitcases out of his grip and rolling them into the living room by the sofa. It was black. She'd have preferred green of all things. But beggars...
"I'm not talking about Jimmy dying, ever. I was weak and now I'm not."
"But you'll take a few ties to humanity; you'd try it with Lois even if it didn't help. Now you'll try it with me because we have a son. You say you want a life that's not just 24/7 Superman and being a superhero but, at the same time, you won't face something in your past worse than your dad's death. You won't let me talk about what I need. Maybe you're not the only one who has been running from that day or who needs some catharsis."
"You know, let's just go see Christopher. We did leave him out exploring the backyard."
"At least there's a fence," she riposted. "I'm serious. You can't bury the past. I tried that by erasing myself." She brought a hand to his shoulder and tried not to show her disappointment when he pulled away. "Clark, we have to face up to what killed Jimmy sometime and you have to realize that your human past, that it's okay to embrace Martha and Jonathan again."
"Chloe, I said let's go double check on our son," he said, stepping ahead of her toward the backyard.
"Mom! It's so cool and there's a tire swing in back and there's all these kittens and I like it!" Christopher called running, still in human speed, into her arms.
Clark was blinking back at him. "Wow."
"You didn't know this place had strays?" she asked, smirking.
"No, he talks even faster than you do."
"And only in exclamations," she replied. "He gets carried away."
"Imagine that," he riposted, kneeling down, trying to get at Christopher's eye level. "Hi."
"Uncle Clark, thank you for letting us visit your house," Christopher said politely. "I never knew your farm was so cool. I mean there are squirrels!"
Chloe smiled at Clark's confusion over something so mundane. "They don't have those in Singapore. They don't have a lot of things, actually. It's a whole flora and fauna new adjustment."
"Oh," he replied, turning his focus back to their son. "Christopher, it's okay to call me just 'Clark,' like I said before, and this isn't my house, exactly, but I, um, will be visiting a lot."
"In the cool place we saw with the Justice League?"
Clark nodded. "Exactly. I'd prefer that."
He frowned and looked up at Chloe. "Mom, can I?"
"Clark, why drop the 'uncle?'"
"Because I'm not really but I didn't have a better title, considering our situation. I just don't want to be called 'uncle' anymore. So just Clark works for me."
Christopher put up bigger puppy eyes for her. "Mom, please, it's very cool."
"Alright, but just for Clark. You're not going to call me 'Chloe' or your dad 'George' or anything like that."
"And not Aunt Lois?" he asked and Chloe flinched.
Kneeling down alongside Clark, she took her son's hand. "Baby, Aunt Lois isn't going to be around for a while. She went to take an assignment all the way in Africa. She left when we spent that week at the Watchtower."
"Oh. But Clark's still here."
Clark swallowed. "That's true but Aunt Lois is going to be gone for a long time."
"Did you fight? She was mad when she woke me up," Christopher said.
Chloe could see Clark figuring out the best response, and she wondered how much it pained him to talk about her cousin. "We decided it was best not to be engaged anymore. That's why she's not in Metropolis and you won't be seeing her for a while."
Christopher considered that and, unsolicited, gave Clark a hug. "I'm sorry."
Clark let out a deep breath, closed his eyes, and squeezed Christopher back. It was a mix of endearing and a bit annoying to see him take comfort from their son. Although he had to be thinking about Lois, Chloe had a feeling the hug also had a lot to do with the embrace she'd seen him and Christopher in the Watchtower. She wished she was a part of it and then chastised herself for being jealous of a five year old.
"It's alright," Clark said, pulling away. Chloe took a cue to stand back up. Unlike Clark, her legs did get that needle feeling in them from being in one position for too long. "But we have something very important to tell you."
"Is this about why mommy has brown hair now or mine's red? And when's daddy coming to the farm? I want to show him the tire swing too!"
Chloe closed her eyes and steadied herself. She'd earned that. Reaching out, she ruffled her son's newly red locks. "Honey, daddy will be visiting later. He's staying downtown in Smallville. We can even go to see where he is in a few minutes."
"Why isn't he with us at the farm?"
"Sweetheart, mommy and daddy decided something that has nothing to do with you and everything to do with something I did," she explained.
"What?"
She took in a deep breath and refused to look at Clark. This was between her and Christopher. "We're not going to be married anymore, but," she said, hugging him close as he started to cry. "Daddy's going to live about thirty minutes away and visit you a lot. He's not going too far from here at all, I promise. It'll be a lot like before. He'll take you to breakfasts and come over here and play with you and he'll have a lot more time too because he won't work long hours at an embassy."
Christopher stepped back and looked between her and Clark. "We're staying here?"
"Christopher," Clark started and she nodded to let him continue. "those men who found you and almost took you from your mom will keep looking for you, especially in Singapore. You can't go back there and you have to be very careful and hide. It's why you and your mom look different."
"And why that lady in the top hat did something so daddy in the mirror looks weird?"
"Yes, baby," Chloe replied, grateful Zatanna skills had greatly improved and that she could make it so she, Clark, and Christopher could still see George as he'd been. She didn't think Christopher could deal with a change that drastic on top of all of that. "We have to stay here. I'm sorry."
"I don't want to. I want to go home. I like the farm, but not to stay. It's too cold here and what about bak chang? What about the New Year?"
Clark glanced at her, confused. She knew why. Christopher was listing foods and festivals because she hadn't let him go to school yet. He'd been old enough to start the equivalent of kindergarten but she hadn't trusted him with his strength yet, even if he'd had two years to practice.
"We can find things like that here. Metropolis has a big Asian community. I'm sure there's a part that's like Singapore. I...we have to do this. It's not safe."
"Why?" he asked, eyes full of tears and Chloe had rarely felt lower in her life. "Why do they want me?"
Chloe looked to Clark. "I don't really know how to tell you this."
Clark swallowed and took the lead. "Christopher, I know you love your dad."
"He's the best dad ever."
Clark flinched but continued. "I know and I respect that, believe me I do, but I'm your father."
Christopher furrowed his brow in a gesture that was pure Clark. "Mommy?"
She nodded. "I left America after I realized it and then I married your dad and didn't tell him. That's why he's mad at me. He's not mad at you. He'd never be mad at you, but I messed up a lot. I'm sorry."
Christopher rubbed his eyes and hiccupped. "If Clark's my real daddy then I'm..."
Clark nodded and squeezed Christopher's shoulder. "You're 'Superman's' son. That's why the bad men want you. One day you'll be able to do everything I can but right now you're still little and you can't protect yourself. That's why we're on the farm and you're staying with me. I'm sorry that you can't go home. I'm sorry that your dad isn't living here too and I'm sorry you're like me."
Christopher kept crying silently, occasionally sniveling to himself. "I'd like to go see my dad now. Can I?"
Clark stood up and she could tell from the hunch of his shoulders how upset he was. "Of course, Christopher. Let me and your mom put your suitcases upstairs and I'll take you over, like a blink."
"Not fast enough," he said, as he turned to the house, his little back shaking as he took in huge gulps of air.
Chloe'd had never felt worse, even after her deal with Lionel had come out or when she'd had to fake her death and leave Clark behind.
It was cumbersome to carry more than one person in superspeed. Clark could do it, but, for once, he relied on the more mundane forms of transport. He was taking the modest Honda that the League had also provided for Chloe. It wasn't flashy and fit in well with the rest of suburbia and the middle class. Ollie could have and probably would have gotten her something nice, sporty, Italian, and completely impractical. He had a lot of his own guilt to deal with, Clark knew, because Oliver Queen had fallen for Dinah before his "marriage" with Chloe had been annulled. He'd not cheated, but it was obvious to almost everyone in the League how smitten they were with each other. He and Chloe called it quits before it could escalate and hurt all three of them.
Except for George, who seemed like a genuinely nice guy, Chloe had terrible taste in men. Clark counted himself in that mix because he'd never treated her with the respect and appreciation she deserved, nor had he considered her feelings enough, even if he hadn't always returned them. But Jimmy, Davis, Oliver, and an assortment of meteor stalkers had all broken her down over the years. Oddly it was Jimmy and Oliver, normal non-psychotic men, who had hurt her probably the most. Both men's attitudes had shredded her paltry self-esteem, which Clark knew he'd helped beat down during his Lana chasing and by using her as what she had once called his "krypto-hag."
What he wanted was to make it up to her, to make up everything he'd missed with his son as well. However, he didn't understand why he had to face his biggest mistakes for that. He could build a home outside of Smallville, he had for years. The last thing he needed was to face the farm or anything else. His mistakes were behind him and there was nothing he could do, literally, to change them. He knew better now than to fuck with the timeline and, even if he were tempted some days, the Fortress couldn't and Kara had taken his ring with her disappearance to God knew when.
"Clark?" Chloe asked, as they took the exit off Route One for Smallville. "You've been awful quiet. Are you alright. I...I know I pressed too hard. I do that sometimes."
He shook his head. "No Chlo, I'm fine." He looked into the rear view mirror and shook his head. Christopher was quiet but the tears were still drying on his cheek. "Buddy...um, Christopher, I'm really sorry about all of this, but we're almost to where your dad is. Then you can spend the whole day with him if you want. I promise you can visit every day if he says yes. Maybe he can help keep you after kindergarten."
It wouldn't be hard for George to do as much. He had a night job for eleven at night to eight am at the Queen Industries Fertilizer Plant, which had been set up in order to revitalize Smallville some years back. George would be the night guard at a salary on par, by a miracle, with what he had at the embassy. (Or by Oliver Queen, sometimes it was the same difference.)
Clark ignored the pain that came with the thought of George still spending hours a day with his son. He couldn't be petty or jealous. This was all about what made Christopher happy and safe. Safe they had covered between him keeping an eye on him and the undercover move to Granville. Happy was harder when the family his son had had for his whole life was torn asunder and a new person was trying to ingratiate himself into his life.
His son sniffled again and let out a shuddering breath. "I can see daddy that much?"
Clark nodded. "Promise. You still have both mommy and your daddy. I...you just have me too. Like I said I want to be with you in your life, but you don't have to...like I said, call me 'Clark' because that's all you have to do."
He hoped that meant right now, but if that was for always, he'd have to learn to live with that.
Christopher rubbed his eyes again and they were so red. Clark was glad they were passing onto main street and he was about to pull into the lot behind The Talon. "Okay, but I can see daddy?"
Clark flinched and was relieved a little when Chloe patted his arm. "Yes, baby, we'll work out something to you can probably see your daddy every day on weekdays and on Saturdays."
"What happens to Sundays?"
She smiled and twisted back to look at him. "I hoped you'd stay with me and Clark at our place in Granville. You'd like to hang out with your old mom too, right?"
"Of course, mommy. I just want daddy right now."
Clark sighed and turned off the engine. "Well buddy, we're definitely doing that."
They got out of the car in silence, slipping through the back door and down into the basement. Clark noticed Chloe trailing behind them. "Chloe?"
"I...Clark can you take him down and ask George how he wants to split things up. If babysitting while I'm working teaching English and doing after school newspaper club at Granville High is something he can do?"
Clark frowned at her. "You could come ask him yourself."
She shook her head. "Davis was down here. Sometimes I still have nightmares. Even if it's been changed over the years. Going down there? I can't."
"Alright," he said, taking Christopher's hand in the dim stairway, grateful his son's fear of tripping made him amenable to touching him. "I'll go down with him. No worries."
"Thank you," she replied, letting the door shut behind them.
"Uncl...Clark, why isn't mommy coming?" Christopher asked and Clark was terrified that he might start crying again.
"Because she used to live here and sometimes it makes her sad. I'll drop you off with your dad, no worries."
"Okay."
When they got downstairs, George was sitting on a modest plaid sofa, drinking a Coke. He brightened immediately and set down his drink. "Come here, son."
Christopher smiled and ran into his father's arms. "I missed you!"
George held Christopher tight and rubbed his hair. "I love you."
"Love you too," Christopher said, pulling back. "I missed you too and you have to see our house and it's big and it has cats in the back and it has a tire swing and maybe mom can get a pool like the big ones our neighbor has and it's got a fence and-"
"Whoa, tiger, you're going pretty fast."
Clark stood at the side, pretending he wasn't there. He spotted something intimate between a father and son, and, sadly, he wasn't a part of it. It wasn't his place. Maybe one day, but today was certainly not it. He'd not earned it.
Christopher continued, grinning. "It's really nice and there are squirrels and I have a big room I bet and it's got floors and things, like two and an attic, and it's sooo big, way bigger than in Singapore and you're gonna love it!"
"I...I live here now, tiger. Your mommy told you that, right?"
"But you could live with us."
George shook his head. "We really can't do that anymore, your mom and me."
"Why not?"
"Your mom did something very bad and I can't stay with her, but I still love you a lot and you can visit any time."
"But-"
"Did your mom tell you the same thing?" George prodded.
"Yeah but you can still come. If I ask-"
George sighed and set Christopher back on the floor. "I really can't. It's not about you. It's about mommy and I can't forgive her for what she did. We're still family, tiger, but we live apart now. It'll be okay."
Christopher's brows furrowed in a gesture Clark recognized from his own face in the mirror. It was eerie to see it on someone who so clearly had Chloe's features. "Clark said he was my dad too, is that true?"
"Yeah, he's your dad and I love you but technically we're not related."
"But you're my dad and Clark...he's my uncle, kind of."
"Maybe that's a way to think of it for a while."
"I...Superman's my dad and that's how I have powers but you're my real dad and I am gonna spend lots of time here?"
George hugged him. "Yes, it's like that. Hey, tiger, why don't you go back to the car for a minute. Then we'll watch movies together. I have Disney."
"Yay!"
"But first I have to talk to Clark."
"Okay," Christopher said, kissing his dad on the cheek and rushing back up the steps to Chloe, ignoring George's warnings to be careful and go slowly on the stairs. It was so parental and Clark had no idea how to be like that, even if he wanted to be. Hell, he'd only seen Christopher a half dozen or so times in his life in person. He was barely "the fun uncle."
"Clark, how you doing?" George asked, his voice thick with bitterness.
He stepped forward but didn't sit on the sofa or in the recliner in the corner. "Chloe really was hoping you'd babysit him from three to about seven while she's at work and commuting in from Granville. I know you'd have to be up after a long night at work, but she wants you to have that and to have Saturdays with him. I mean, he can sign up for something to do then, maybe."
"He can't do cub scouts or soccer, Clark, and you know that. He's way too strong for other children."
"I know, but maybe he'll learn to like museums, I don't know. There are things to do on a Saturday that isn't athletics. I'm sorry he's come from me and that his powers are mine. Or vice-versa. It's hard, but he can learn."
"Well it is too late for him to be mine. I admit that. I just...fuck, why do I have to compete with goddamn Superman."
Clark sighed and shrugged. "Why do I have to compete with the man who was there when he was born all the way through taking him to special breakfasts at a place as cool as an embassy. It works both ways. You shared his best moments, and I didn't get that. He loves you so much, cried a ton when he realized you wouldn't be in his house. I do not want to steal him from you. I swear that I don't."
"Funny how my wife... ex-wife wants you now, maybe she always did. It makes sense why you never visited, makes so so much sense. I mean, she'd have avoided you, no matter what because she couldn't kill those feelings, especially not with Christopher reminding her of you twenty four hours a day."
"Then all three of us have our insecurities, but we can't compete for his love like a game. I'd like to; I feel as territorial over him as you do, as jealous, but we're the adults here and he's between us. Maybe we didn't mean for this to happen, but it did. I...will you take care of him and you can get Saturdays and him for every other Holiday. Like Christmas Eve with him and we'd get Christmas Day, but you can have Thanksgiving Day and we'll do our dinner the night before. We can make this work, but I need you to do this with me."
"For him," George said, standing and shaking Clark's hand. "I'd do anything."
Clark noticed the way George stood straighter, the resolute way he jutted out his chin. Not a lot of people looked "Superman" in the eye. George wasn't fazed by him at all, even while knowing Clark's true nature. This impressed him. He believed George's word that he'd always care for Christopher as much as Clark, himself, or Chloe did. That made Clark sad for himself, for that petty part of him that wanted all of his son's attention.
