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Jemma Fields stared at the address messily written on the paper in her hand, and then at the letterbox in front of her, and then up at the conveniently placed road sign only thirty or so meters away. She sighed. This was definitely the place. Hitching her bag a little higher on her shoulder, Jemma swallowed (most of) her fear and began to walk at a steady pace down the long narrow driveway of the Kent's Farm. For some reason or another Jor-El had knocked her out somehow and she had woken up in a helicopter with Lois Lane who had smiled kindly at her before asking her how she had gotten out there with her. Jemma had pretended she was too shell shocked to speak and laid back down, trying to sleep as they were flown from the icy covered land to mainland Canada. She had been initially upset that Clark had left her, but after her first two days of hitchhiking to wherever it was that he had written for her to go to, she had forgiven him, realizing that whatever reason he had left her behind was a good one, he wouldn't have otherwise. She couldn't get Jor-El's words out of her head though.
"While he may be alone in strength and speed and ability, as long as he has you he will never truly be alone..." she mulled these thoughts over as she walked. He had spoken of someone named Kal… and that he could 'see why he has chosen you'. Jemma frowned. Was Kal Clark? Was that his alien name or something? The young woman chewed her bottom lip in thought. "Make sure he knows even his limits, emotionally, physically…" Jemma remembered that particular part often, it would just come to her randomly sometimes when she was walking, or waiting or not really doing anything that required much thought. If it was Clark that Jor had been speaking about, she wondered how exactly she could help him know his limits when she didn't even know the full extent of his abilities! Other than when he had melted the ice away with his laser tag vision (she would never not call it that) she had never seen Clark use his abilities just cause. He had stopped cars and caught trees and listened to conversations happening on the other side of town, but Jemma had never seen him truly use his strength, when he had so easily, without even trying really, pulled the metal panel from the ship to make them an entry way, that had gotten Jemma thinking about just how strong Clark may be? She wondered if she'd ever find out.
Jemma stopped as she approached the very farm-like looking house that was situated at the end of the driveway, in the middle of the fields. She lifted her hands to shield her eyes from the sun and smiled at it fondly, the red brick reminding her of her own home back in Texas.
"My Husband's father built the home. Beautiful isn't it?" A female voice came from behind her and the young woman turned to see a slightly older woman standing behind her, one hand she held a basket of apples, the other hand was being used similarly to Jemma's and was blocking out the sun. The woman smiled at her, and the younger woman found her to be rather beautiful, if not a little weathered due to maybe a little too long in the sun.
"It is, reminds me of my own little house back home." She drawled returning the woman's smile as she held out her hand and Jemma's took it, shaking the woman's hand heartily.
"I'm Martha Kent."
"Jemma Fields, Ma'am." She replied and a look of recognition before a slightly cheeky smile took over the woman's face as she took her hand back with a nod towards the house and the two began walking side by side.
"Anything in particular I can help you with, Jemma?" Martha asked gesturing to the piece of paper the younger woman still held in her hands. And Jemma braced herself as they reached the decking of the house and wondered briefly if Clark had told his mother about her (from the look she received she had guessed he had), climbing the stairs and taking a seat at one of the white chairs that sat around a little white table when Martha offered it to her.
"Well Ma'am, I'm a… a friend of your son Clark. We've been traveling together for a while now and he had to go off and do some… business… He sent me here, I don't know why though Mrs. Kent, I'm terribly sorry if I've intruded." Jemma babbled but cleared her throat awkwardly when she received a knowing look from Martha. "You know about him, don't you?" She asked, but it was more of a statement than a question and Jemma nodded hesitantly as the woman stood up. "You don't mind if we take this conversation inside, dear? It's a little hot outside. And I'd prefer none of the farm hands hearing any of this." Martha said and Jemma nodded twice, standing up and following the older lady inside, a grin appearing on her face at the Kent home's décor and she stopped in the living room, staring at all the photos and decorations on the wall.
"Can I get you anything?" Martha called from the kitchen. "No thank you Ma'am!" Jemma called back, really wishing not to intrude even though she was dying of thirst. Martha returned with a tray of lemonade and two glasses anyway and Jemma smiled, the woman reminding her very much of her own mother. "That accent… Are you Texan?" the older woman asked, as they got comfortable on the couch and Jemma smiled. "Born and raised!" She exclaimed with vigor, sipping politely on the drink she had been offered. "Clark's told me a lot about you… You're just as gorgeous as he's said." Martha told her and Jemma's face turned pink. "He has? And thank you Ma'am…"she replied bashfully looking around the living room. "You really do have a beautiful home, Mrs. Kent." She said and stood, walking to the fireplace and taking a picture of a much younger Clark into her hands. Martha smiled and took the opportunity to look over the young woman properly. She was short, about 5'5 and she had dark brown hair that was tied up in a high pony tail that had then been braided, it reached the middle of her back and Martha silently applauded the girl for being able to grow her hair so long. She also noticed (though more due to the fact Clark had mentioned her weight as a worry before) that she was rather skinny. Her breasts and hips were filled out, and she held the shape of a woman, but everywhere else she seemed too thin. Martha frowned and her heart broke for the girl who had lost her sister, her mother and then truly her sister again. She swept the thoughts from her mind as a loud ring tone began playing in the mostly silent room and the young woman jumped and fumbled for her phone in her pocket.
"Hello?" She answered and placed the photo frame back on the mantle. "Clark?! Where are you? Are you okay? Thank the lord… Okay. Yes, I'm here now, your mother's with me." She smiled at the older woman who winked back at her. "Ask him if he's coming home." She mock whispered and Jemma nodded.
"She wants to know if you're coming home?" She drawled and nodded to herself, giving Martha the thumbs up. "Yes Honey… No I'm fine. I got here fine, you just get here fine too and I'll be happy. Okay. Yeah, okay. I love you too. See you soon. Bye." Jemma blushed as she hung up the phone and turned back to Martha, a dazzling smile on her face. The two women smiled fondly at each other. Before Martha bristled at her own bad manners.
"Jemma dear, I'm so sorry I forgot to ask! Would you like to stay for a while? Until Clark gets here or until he decided to run off again?" Jemma made to protest, telling the older woman she would stay in town but Martha went mother mode on her and held up a hand. "I will not have you staying in a dingy Smallville motel. You have been with my son for five years now Jemma, you're practically family!" Martha explained, ushering the young woman up the stairs.
"I'll show you where you can stay. I'm afraid the house doesn't have a spare room, but that's okay right. Not like you and Clark haven't slept in the same bed before." Jemma went red at the comment and held up her hands. "Oh! No! Clark and I don't- I mean we haven't… um…" Martha smiled back at her in a sly, motherly way and winked again. "It's okay dear, I'm not shy to the ways of this world. Here." She said, stopping at a door and opening it to reveal a neatly cleaned, but very lived in room. Jemma walked forwards into the bedroom, taking in the place. Posters of baseballers and footballers adorned the walls and on the dresser where some photographs of Clark as a teenager with a two other people showing up repeatedly in the images. Jemma smiled, her earlier embarrassment gone. "This is Clark's room?" She asked softly and Martha nodded, leaning against the doorframe. "It's hard to think he's all grown up now…" She trailed off staring at the inside of the room herself. Jemma laughed as she spotted his aquarium blanket and pillow set with an old beaten brown bear sitting on the pillow. "Its hard to imagine he was ever a child." She spoke quietly and turned back to Martha with a cheeky grin. "You'll have to show me all the baby photos and tell me all the embarrassing stories!" She said with excitement and Martha's eyes lit up.
"After dinner dear, I'll give you all the blackmail you'll ever need!"
A/N: Thanks for reading! Chapter 11! Finally! Tell me what you think?! Love it? Hate it?
Thanks again! Love you all! xx 3 R&R