- - - Chapter Nine
Martha was in the barn when they arrived. She had been baking all day in preparation for their arrival and was just now taking the time to feed the horses.
"Mom?" Clark called, hopping out of the car and popping the trunk.
"Clark? Here so soon?" Martha called from the barn. She was wearing jeans and comfortable, well worn shoes, her hair pulled back in the customary bun at the nape of her neck. She pulled off the leather work gloves to hug her son. Clark towered over her and it only became more obvious when she was so close.
"It's almost eight o' clock," Clark said, raising an eyebrow. His mother just shrugged, pulling away to be introduced to the two guests. "Oh, this is Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane," he said pointing to each of them in turn even though it wasn't necessary. "Guys, this is my mother, Martha Kent."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kent," Jimmy said, holding out his hand, which Martha shook.
"Mrs. Kent," Lois said, shaking her hand as well.
"Call me Martha," she instructed them both, and they nodded. "Well, let's not just stand here," she smiled and grabbed a suitcase out of the trunk. "I've got Clark's old room and the guest room all made up for you three… we can just put the bags on the stair for now, though. There's apple pie and tea waiting for us in the kitchen."
They each grabbed their own bags, Clark taking Lois's so she could close the trunk and then hold the door open for the rest. "You didn't have to make dessert, Mom," Clark said after they were inside.
"So?" Martha responded, pulling a knife out to slice the dessert, the same knife Clark had bent against his fingers almost a year ago.
- - -
After an awkward moment when assigning sleeping arrangements, they all settled down for the night. Jimmy ended up in Clark's old bedroom, looking at the strange glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, while Clark and Lois shared the guest bedroom. Martha didn't make quite so big of a scene when she noticed the ring of Lois's finger, but she was rather offended that she hadn't gotten phone call within thirty seconds of the engagement.
"We were waiting to tell you in person," Lois said quietly. In truth, they'd forgotten entirely about alerting anybody outside of the people they saw every day in the excitement of their lives.
"I've yet to meet my grandson," Martha told them, giving them a look. Lois blanched, How much does Martha know? How much does she think I know? Of course, Martha was asking the same questions.
"Would you care to come shopping with me, Lois?" Martha asked after a hearty farm breakfast the next morning. "I'm sure Clark and Jimmy can handle the morning chores…"
"Sure, I'd be glad to," Lois said, hoping for a chance to talk to her future mother-in-law. Jimmy paled slightly at the mention of morning chores, and Clark just started running water in the sink for dishes.
"Here, Jimmy," he said after the women had left. "You wash the breakfast dishes, and I'll go out to the barn and take care of stuff out there."
"Sounds good, CK," Jimmy said; dishes he could handle. Clark walked out to the barn and took care of what needed to be done at super-speed. There wasn't much left, anyways. He and Martha had been up with the sun, as usual, and had gotten a good start on things before their guests had started their morning showers.
"So…" Martha said once they were alone.
"So," Lois said, taking a deep breath. "Did Clark tell you Jason was his son…?"
"No," Martha said, smiling at the thought of her grandson. "I was in the crowd when… when the two of you visited him in the hospital," she paused to look at the woman beside her who had paled slightly at the mention of that visit. "A grandmother recognizes her grandchild."
"If I'd known who you were… I'm sorry you couldn't go see him," Lois said quietly.
"It's all right. He has secrets and I've kept them his entire life. He's alright and that's all that matters," she smiled warmly again. "I'm glad he finally told you who he is."
"Only when he couldn't avoid it anymore," Lois laughed. "Richard… Richard kicked Jason and me out of his house and Clark took us in. He was having trouble explaining his disappearances."
"He was never very good at coming up with excuses."
"Thinking back, they're kind of funny," Lois said.
"Sometimes."
"Um, we set a date for the wedding," Lois said after a minute. They were approaching the town quickly now that they had left the driveway. "May 20th."
"May 20th?"
"Yes," Lois shrugged.
"Where is it going to be?"
"We're not sure yet, we haven't actually planned it yet… we still have all winter."
"The winter will fly by."
"I know," Lois shrugged again. "We decided we want to have it in Metropolis, but that's about as far as we got."
"Who have you told about this?" Martha asked as they pulled into the grocery store parking lot.
"Well, the office knows, and my Dad knows. Jimmy kind of told him last week when we were staying with him to do my half of the article… He took Clark for a drive and dropped him off right outside the base limits- my Dad's an Army General, we stayed on base with him last week."
"He dropped Clark off…?"
"Yeah, he wasn't very happy. He's always been a bit protective and he didn't like finding out we were engaged before he knew we were together," she smiled. "Clark talked him around, though."
"Does he… does he know Clark's secret?" Martha asked. They were now walking down the produce aisle.
"No, neither does Jimmy," Lois said. "My Dad is really good at only seeing what's put directly in front of him. Jimmy, on the other hand… he's suspicious."
"He's a reporter."
"Photographer," Lois corrected.
"Well, anyways, I promise not to leave you at the grocery store," Martha said, the cheery warmth Clark had always described of his mother filtering into her features.
"I appreciate that."
- - -
"Clark?" Jimmy had finished the dishes and come out into the barn to find his friend.
"Up here," Clark called down from his loft. Martha hadn't moved things very much at all. His telescope was still pointing out the, closed, window, the table was scattered with old papers and photographs, and the bookshelves were packed with just as many books as he'd had when he left. There were a few new blankets on the couch, evidence that Martha had sat there recently. Clark scanned the loft quickly as Jimmy made his way up the stairs; if anything was suspicious the photographer would be sure to notice it. But there was nothing, just stuff.
"What is this place?"
"It's the loft…" Clark said, looking around with 'what else would it be' written on his face.
"The loft?"
"Yeah- we used to store hay and stuff up here, but I kind of took it over in middle school," he shrugged.
"Cool."
"Yeah," he started going through the bookcase.
"No chores left?"
"Nope."
"Good."
"Yeah."
"What do you think Lois and your Mom are talking about?"
"I don't know…" he said, tilting his head and listening across town. "Probably Jason," he added quieter. "Or the wedding."
"You hadn't told her either?"
"We hadn't really told anybody but you guys at work," Clark shrugged again. "Didn't even think about it until we ended up on the base."
"Yeah…"
They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Clark remembered something, "Hey, Perry told me to get a picture of you trying to ride a horse."
"Oh, let's not."
"Oh, let's," Clark said, grinning wickedly and going down the stairs to find Betsy, the gentler of the two horses.
Lois and Martha returned almost an hour later to find Jimmy perched nervously atop the horse, and Clark snapping a few photographs. "Can I get down now? I think I've been humiliated enough for one day…" He asked just as Betsy shifted her feet. Jimmy immediately leaned low over her back, clutching at the saddle and reins. Clark laughed heartily, taking Betsy's reins so that Jimmy might relax enough to get off the horse.
"Sure," Clark said, grinning at his mother and fiancé as they got out of the truck. He'd never seen somebody so thankful to be back on the ground, and he'd taken a few reluctant people much higher than the back of a horse.
"Do you ride, Clark?" Lois asked, grabbing a bag of groceries from the back seat before turning to look at him.
"Yeah," Clark said, leading the horse back into the barn.
"There was one point when we thought he was going to join the rodeo, but then…" Martha caught herself, glancing at Jimmy and shrugging to cover herself. It would've been hard for Clark to be in the rodeo if he never got hurt. Lois seemed to have followed the sentence to the same conclusion, and just nodded her head.
"I can't imagine Clark at a rodeo," Jimmy said, coming over to them, still looking a bit uncomfortable.
"You'd be surprised what Clark's got in him," Martha said with a smile, bringing the bag of groceries she'd taken from the car into the house, Lois following behind. Jimmy just shook his head, still unable to imagine Clark even on a horse.
- - -
Jimmy quickly got an idea of just how much Clark had in him. Not only did Clark wake up at hours much too early for even his mother, he got all the farm chores done in less than an hour; a feet he'd heard was next to impossible, according to all the books about farmers he'd ever read. Clark never even seemed tired, and Jimmy knew he wasn't getting much sleep. Jimmy himself was exhausted living on the modified version of the farmer's schedule he and Lois had adopted.
As it was, he flopped onto Clark's old bed as the sun was setting, completely exhausted. The first night there he'd wondered about the weird constellations and the single red dot that patterned the ceiling, but he never remembered to ask during that first day, he'd been too busy worrying about the horse, and now he was too tired to remember when he woke up.
Tuesday night was just like any other. He pulled on the flannel pajama pants he'd taken to sleeping in, it was too hot for the usual flannel shirt, and fell into bed. The window was right next to his bed, and he closed his eyes against the fading sunlight that managed to seep in around the curtain. He was asleep before he could think of pulling the shade down further.
He woke in the dark of night, he couldn't make out the arms on the old fashioned clock in Clark's room, so he just went for 'late.' Now what had woken him up? He wasn't even close to fully rested. Then he heard the voices from the yard below.
"Clark?!" Lois's voice was panicked and Jimmy immediately jumped towards the window, deciding to peek down at them through the crack under the shade. If it wasn't serious, he'd just close the window, even if it cut off what little breeze there was, and go back to sleep. What he saw down on the dirt and rock driveway was enough to keep him peeking.
Superman was coming in for a landing, looking tired and completely covered in blood. Lois ran into view, keeping her distance from him, but Jimmy could tell even from his distance and position that she was terrified for him. Martha followed her out a few seconds later, completely silent with a hand over her mouth.
"Clark, what happened?" Lois's voice came up to his window, and Superman just shook his head. Wait. Clark? Did she call Superman Clark?
"Clark?" Martha's shaky voice made it up to his widow finally.
"I'm okay, it's not my blood," Superman said, but neither of the women believed him. Martha disappeared for a moment and then came back into view with a towel.
"Where are you hurt?" She asked, taking his hands first and carefully wiping some of the blood away.
"Mom," Superman said, pulling his hands away. "It's not my blood… A building collapsed and a man's artery was cut by some debris. I had to carry him to the hospital to get him help in time; he was bleeding all over," Superman's face was written with sorrow.
"Was he alright?" Lois asked, taking the towel from Martha when the older woman seemed to want to start rubbing the blood away again.
"He didn't make it to the hospital… he was bleeding too much… it was all over," both women on the driveway looked like they would've hugged him if he weren't completely covered in blood.
"You're sure you're okay?" Martha asked again. Superman smiled and disappeared for a moment, then Jimmy heard the hose come to life. Superman appeared after a few minutes, coming and taking the bloody towel away from Lois to rub some of the water out of his hair with the clean side.
"I'm fine, Mom," Superman said. Martha finally seemed to relax.
Jimmy sat back from the window, playing the scene below in his head again and again. Is Clark really Superman? He asked himself. He'd suspected for awhile, especially now during these two weeks so close to him, but… It was one thing to suspect, something entirely different to know. He looked through the crack under the shade again and realized they'd all gone inside.
He considered going downstairs for a moment. But what would he do? Confront them? Would it be Clark or Superman sitting at the kitchen table drinking the tea Martha always made for her son? Jimmy sighed and realized that Superman, or Clark, could probably see through the floor and would know he was awake. What if he knows I know? Why didn't they tell me before? This is so confusing.
Burying his curiosity for the moment, Jimmy lay back down in bed and looked at the ceiling again; for the first time since they'd arrived he couldn't get his brain to rest. Of course, now the red dot on the ceiling made sense, at least.
- - -
Jimmy woke the next morning feeling as though he'd never gone to sleep. He'd had the weirdest dream. Of course, as his dreams usually went, he couldn't remember it very clearly. It had had something to do with Clark, or Superman, or both. And there was blood on a towel in Martha's hands, and the sound of a hose pumping water. The images in his mind were so concrete that they could've actually happened, but…
"Morning Jimmy!" Clark said cheerily, letting the screen door slam behind him as he entered the house. Jimmy glowered at him. It was obvious Clark had already been up for a number of hours, and that meant that he'd already had coffee, which meant he was set for the day.
"Morning CK," Jimmy responded groggily, still pondering over the dream he'd had.
"Sleep well?" Clark asked.
"Sure," Jimmy answered, running a hand through his hair and looking for a clean coffee mug. Clark handed him one already full of steaming coffee and Jimmy thanked him with his eyes while he gulped the hot brew down. Clark seemed to take pity on him after a moment.
"Just four more days, Jimmy," he said with a smile. Jimmy refilled his coffee cup.
"Clark, come kill the tractor, would you?" Martha shouted from the barn. He smiled at Jimmy one more time before walking out and letting the screen door slam again. Lois entered the room after that, looking barely more rested than Jimmy.
"What's Clark killing?" She asked, taking the fresh mug he offered her.
"Tractor," Jimmy mumbled, opening the microwave to see what Martha had put on hold for them inside. "Ooh," he said, warming up the food inside and bringing the plates out to show Lois. "Pancakes… real pancakes."
"I don't think I've had pancakes from scratch since… I don't know," she pulled the syrup out of the cabinet and squirted it over her stack, thankful, for once, not to have to be a good example. Jimmy smiled, and followed her not so good example.
"I'm glad you like my cooking," Martha said, walking in and catching the door with her foot so it didn't bang.
"Why is Clark killing the tractor?" Lois asked between bites.
"It broke again," Martha shrugged and sighed tiredly. "It's old; wearing down. I never seem to be able to fix it quite as well as Clark. Ben can't even do it, and he's been around tractors longer than Clark."
"Who's Ben?" Jimmy asked.
"He lives down the road," Martha said, "you might meet him tomorrow if you're up early enough when he delivers more of his zucchini."
There was a rumble from the garage and a bang. Clark stumbled out a minute later, coughing and waving a hand around for a moment before glancing back at the house. Martha shifted herself so that she blocked the window entirely; keeping Jimmy blind to the events going on outside. Winking at her, Clark inhaled deeply and blew away the smoke before walking back into the barn with his shoulders set.
"What's going on out there?"
"Clark's losing," Martha said, rolling her eyes. "Might be time for a new tractor…"
Jimmy walked out onto the porch after breakfast and found himself rooted to the spot when he noticed the spot on the driveway near the hose where the dirt was darker, like it had been wet recently and hadn't quite dried all the way through. It was also just red enough to be noticed.
"What happened there?" He asked, trying to sound only politely interested.
"Dunno," Clark said, glancing at the spot and shrugging. Jimmy was inclined to believe him, but something about his face made him doubt. Instead of commenting, Jimmy just nodded and climbed into the truck behind Lois; the three of them were heading into town for awhile so Martha could have a little time to herself, she wasn't used to having so many people around.
As Clark drove he noticed how closely Jimmy was watching him, had been watching him, really, all day. It had started after he'd come in from fixing the tractor. He didn't look the way Clark normally looked, he'd reverted to the same outfit he'd worn the first night he'd been properly awake after his return, jeans and a white t-shirt with his favorite well-worn tan jacket. He didn't like to trip over things when he was at home, but he'd been making an effort to be more klutzy around his friend, even if it meant sending sawdust all over the barn or spilling his coffee all over himself. He was used to cleaning things up by now anyways. He'd also taken to stuttering a lot more than necessary, usually followed by apologetic glances to his mother and Lois as soon as Jimmy looked away. They both understood why he was dipping into his Clark Kent persona, but it was annoying to have to follow his stutters when they knew he could talk perfectly fine.
"What's up, Jimmy?" He finally asked after he caught the younger guy staring at his eyes in the rearview mirror.
"What?"
"You-you've been looking at me weird all day."
"Oh, sorry…"
The rest of the ride passed silently, Lois and Jimmy dedicating themselves to the view out the window, and Clark focusing on the road. The sun was just beginning to reach the horizon, the sky tinted orange and red, the corn reflecting gold. "Now I get why you like it here so much," Lois said when they were getting out of the truck.
"Sunsets and sunrises," Clark said wistfully. Lois moved close, grabbing his hand and wondering silently how many wonderful sights he'd seen. He had the capacity to travel the world and see as many sunsets or sunrises as he wanted over any city or landscape in the world; yet he chose Smallville, Kansas. Home of corn… and cows. And his mother, she reasoned.
"Let's see," Jimmy said a little sarcastically, looking down Main Street. "A bowling alley, a coffee shop, a bar, a barber shop, a movie theater, another bar… small town."
"Welcome to Smallville," Clark said, smiling.
"In Metropolis there's at least five of those within three blocks of each other," Jimmy said, sounded offended.
"Small town," Lois reminded him.
But the small town was coming alive. There were trucks pulling into parking lots all over. Teenagers were appearing out of the woodwork, flooding into the movie theater and coffee shop. A few even went into the bar, coming out a within the minute and looking embarrassed. Adults were disappearing into the bars, or joining groups of younger people going bowling or to the theater. Lois tried to imagine a teenage version of Clark walking with the packs into the coffee shop.
"Where do you want to go?" Clark asked, praying Jimmy didn't suggest the theater.
"What's good?" Lois asked.
"Um. If we go into the bars you're going to get an earful about this season's crop, whatever corn or soybeans are selling for today, or the fact that you're not from around here. The bowling alley is going to be loud and smoky. I went to high school with the woman that owns the coffee shop. And the barber shop doesn't get much action this time of night," he shrugged.
"I could do with some real coffee," Lois said, tugging Clark's hand toward the shop. It was already filling up. Clark followed a little reluctantly, not sure how his history with one Lana Lang would affect this visit. Jimmy just followed silently, still thinking about his dream and the things he'd been noticing in the course of the past few weeks.
"Clark Kent?!" A voice came from behind him as he was about to sit down. Instead, he turned around slowly, careful not to knock anything over.
"Lana," he said, hugging her back gently when she threw her arms around him.
"Where did you disappear to?" Lana asked, sweeping her dark hair out of her eyes casually and looking up at the taller man. "I haven't seen you since right after high school! Not even at the reunions… you haven't changed a bit, you know," she said, looking him up and down. He was just as tall and broad as she remembered, the dorky glasses he'd added soon after their graduation were still in place; he was even wearing the farmboy-style clothes he'd favored his entire life.
"Can I get those one at a time?" Clark asked, smiling. She smiled back, waiting for the answers. "I moved to Metropolis, working for the Daily Planet…"
"Oh that is you!" She said, smiling broader. "I saw some of your articles and wondered… but who are these?" She'd noticed Lois and Jimmy.
"Oh, um, Lana Lang: Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen," Clark said, turning and gesturing to each in turn.
"Nice to meet you," Lois said politely, holding out a hand. Lana stared at it.
"The Lois Lane?"
"Wh-what?"
"The one who wrote that article… 'Why the World Doesn't Need Superman'…?"
"Um, yeah," she said, grimacing more than smiling.
"She got a Pulitzer for it," Jimmy said, trying to find his way into the conversation.
"Do you work at the Planet too, then?" Lana asked.
:"Oh, yeah. Photographer."
"Ever taken any of Superman?" Lana asked.
"Yeah, loads."
"Wow," she looked wistful. "We never see him around here. Probably a good thing, but still…"
"Ms. Lang! My refill?!" An angry voice came from across the room. Lana apologetically excused herself, promising to come back for their orders soon, still staring at the three of them with some awe.
"Local celebrity, huh?" Jimmy asked, laughing in Clark's direction.
"Small town," he said, shaking his head. They ordered a few minutes later, but Lana couldn't stay to chat; it was a busy night and she had plenty to distract her.
They sat and talked for what seemed like hours. People came and went around them. Tables filling and emptying almost as fast as the cups of coffee. Lana walked by several times and attempted to talk to them, but she was always called away. Instead, Lois asked about the town and the people; getting stories she could use in the article. Clark told her about how he'd been adopted when he was about three, something Jimmy had had no idea about, and then gleaned over his childhood. He couldn't share half the stories he wanted to with Jimmy around.
His mom had video tapes somewhere that she had made while he was figuring out his powers. It was dangerous, they both knew that. But his childhood had been so unique. Everybody else they knew had home videos of their children's firsts, and his parents decided that they wanted that too, even if they could never show them to anyone. There were entire tapes that were filled up with normal things; Clark's birthday parties and graduation and things like that. Then there were the tapes that were hidden in the storm cellar in the barn with all the issues of the Daily Planet from while he was gone and many more from years before that- his mother had saved every issue that he'd had something published in. That cellar housed not only a few extra super suites, but the video tapes from his childhood that showed him jumping off silos to test his jumping abilities- seeing if he could bounce- and running through the cornfields so fast that you could only see the corn stalks waver unless you slowed the tape down. Then there was the tape of Martha making the first super suite, the suite that had been replicated in a slightly more durable form by the Fortress of Solitude eventually. He loved watching those tapes, hoping someday he'd have similar memories for Jason, but knowing his son's life would be entirely different.
He sighed loudly without realizing it, making his two companions stop talking to stare at him. "Get hit by a wave of nostalgia there, Clark?" Jimmy asked, smiling at him
"Erm, yeah," Clark replied lamely. Lois's eyes were smiling, but she managed to keep the grin from breaking across her face.
"So," Lana's voice came from beside them unexpectedly. "What are three big city names doing in Nowheresville, Kansas?"
"Working on a story," Lois answered without missing a beat. Jimmy was still smiling at being called a big city name.
"Really?" Lana looked surprised. "What story found in Smallville would the Daily Planet want to publish?"
"Well, his name is Clark Kent," Lois said, smiling at Clark from across the table.
"What?" Lana looked from Lois to Clark and back.
"The Planet has been running background articles on all the writers," Clark explained, grabbing an old issue from a nearby table and opening up to the proper page. "Perry seems to think people will like to read our articles more if they know something beyond the fact that we write for the newspaper."
"It's a good idea," Lana said, skimming the article he was showing her. "So you're here getting background on Clark?"
"Pretty much," Lois said, smiling at Clark again.
"Got anything good?" Jimmy asked. "Or maybe something that can represent his youth besides a sunset over a cornfield…?"
"The Torch newsroom still exists at Smallville High," Lana said after a thoughtful pause. "You could probably get a picture of his journalistic beginnings, but… other than that corn and sunsets is pretty much what we're made of around here."
"Ah, but the sunsets are very nice, and everybody likes corn," Clark defended. Lana smiled at him, nodding her agreement, and Lois decided she didn't like Lana very much.
- - -
It was nearly midnight of the next night when Lois's cell phone rang. Clark was first to wake, his sensitive ears tuned to anything abnormal so that he could go save people should they call in the night. "Lois," he mumbled sleepily, prodding the woman next to him in the back. "Lois, your phone is loud."
"What phone?" Lois replied.
"Yours."
"What about it?"
"It's ringing."
"How can you tell? It's down in the living room," she paused for a moment before it seemed to hit her. "Oh yeah, stupid question."
"It's still ringing."
"Well if it's so important why don't you go answer it?"
"Because I got back from Japan twenty minutes ago and I'm tired," he was beginning to come around, though. "And it's your phone."
"Fine, I'm getting my phone that I can't even hear…"
"Thank you, Lois," he kissed her gently and watched her leave the room, grabbing her robe and leaving the door open behind her. Sighing, he rolled over and listened to her make her way downstairs, feeling his eyelids droop as he relaxed to the sound of her heartbeat. He was shocked awake again a moment later when Jimmy flushed the toilet in the next room. Loudly, he might add.
"Hello?" Lois's tired voice reached his ears from the living room where her cell phone had been charging. "Hello? – Jason? Honey, is that you? – Jason?!"
Clark was downstairs in a flash, standing next to her in nothing but his pajama pants and his open robe. Lois pushed the speakerphone button and they both anxiously listened to the little voice on the other end.
"Mommy," Jason sounded terrified. "The bad man from the boat is here… Uncle Perry hid me in their closet, but I think the bad man will find me… I can hear them…" he shuddered. "The bad man isn't being nice… he's asking them where you and Daddy are, and where I am…"
"Jason, I want you to stay where you are; stay hidden. Don't let them find you," Lois said, her voice rising with panic. Jimmy was coming down the stairs after hearing the commotion.
"What's going on?" He asked groggily, noticing that Lois was close to tears and that Clark didn't even have his glasses on.
"Clark, why are you still here?!" Lois practically yelled, pushing him towards the door. "It's okay, Jason. You'll be okay. Daddy's on his way."
"Lois," Jimmy said, glancing toward the door, "there's no way Clark can get to Metropolis tonight; no more planes go out until noon tomorrow…" he stopped when he realized just how fast Clark had disappeared. And then there was a sonic boom from above them.
"Jason, honey, are you okay? Can you still hear the voices?" Jimmy's thoughts were halted in their tracks for a moment when he heard this. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Lois wasn't listening to him.
"NO!!! DADDY! DADDY, HELP!!!" Jason's voice came through the small phone twice as loud in his panic. Lois had never felt so helpless. "STOP!! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! DADDY!"
"Jason? JASON?!!"
"Hello, Miss Lane," a cold voice said after a moment. Lois paled and her knees gave out. Luckily, she was standing right next to the couch and she ended up sitting on the edge of the cushion. Martha was on the stairs now, her robe hanging open and worried curiosity written across her face.
"Luthor," Lois whispered. Jimmy's face fell, and Martha came running down the rest of the steps.
"Oh, very good, Miss Lane," Luthor said, slightly amused. "I expect you've sent the caped crusader by now…" if he was waiting for an answer Lois was in no state to give one.
"No! I don't like you! You're a bad man! DADDY! DADDY! Lemme go," Jason could be heard in the background and then he suddenly fell silent.
"What did you do to Jason?! What do you want from us?!" Lois asked, crying. Martha sat down in a chair across from her, a hand on her mouth, listening carefully. Jimmy was rooted to the spot, barely able to process the events unfolding.
"Oh, I think you know what I want from you," Luthor said simply, and the line went dead.
"No, no, no," Lois mumbled, dialing Perry's cell phone again. She nearly screamed when she got the pre-recorded out of service message. She threw the phone across the room in frustration and it hit the wall with what would've been a satisfying crack.
The noise seemed to wake those in the room somewhat. Jimmy managed to sit down on the couch with Lois, and Martha managed to blink. Lois grabbed Clark's phone from the side table where it had been charging next to hers and called the police.
"9-1-1 emergency, how can I help you?"
"What is Lex Luthor doing out of prison?!" Lois all but screamed into the phone.
"Ma'am, Lex Luthor is still in prison," the woman's voice on the other end assured her.
"No, he's not," Lois said, keeping her voice under a little more control through her tears. "This is Lois Lane. My six year old just called and told me that his uncle had hid him in the closet when Luthor entered their house in Metropolis."
Clark couldn't think of a time he'd been more frightened in his life. He'd done plenty of things that would've been frightening to a normal person, but he wasn't exactly a normal person. And this was his son.
He shot through the skies, pushing himself, and reaching Metropolis in less than a minute. It was weird flying without a cape or the blue tights he'd become accustomed to, but that didn't really matter. The robe, still open, flapped around him in a similar fashion to the cape, but it wasn't the same. He could hear Jason's panicked screams suddenly stop to give way to terrified wheezing. And then silence.
Clark wanted nothing better to crash through the window and take Luthor out then and there, but he'd learned his lesson the last time he'd crashed down on Luthor. He hovered above the familiar rooftop and used his x-ray vision to asses the situation below.
The house was empty.
A speaker reminiscent of Charlie's Angels sat in the middle of the living room. Clark looked through the walls more carefully. There were signs of struggle. The front door was broken in, and the clocks were flashing, meaning the power had been out. The room Jason was staying in was the messiest. It looked like Luthor's thugs had overturned everything before they'd realized he wasn't there. Perry's room wasn't as bad, but the closet door where Jason had said he'd been hiding had been ripped off its hinges. There was no blood, luckily. An overturned vase in the entryway was still spilling water all over the floor, meaning he'd missed them by seconds.
Clark took to the skies after smashing the speaker with his bare foot for good measure.
Looking for opinions, here- what's your take on the kings of the twenty-eighth planet thing? is there something more they can do in this story, or do you want to move on from them?
Thanks for reading!