I do not own the song in this. Also, i guess this is kinda for my mom. I don't know why she'd by reading this, but Mom, this one's for you for your lullabyes, awesome parenting, and your walking fortune cookie-ness.

Please enjoy :)

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Conner was beyond nervous.

When Superman, Clark, had told him that he wanted to spend more time with Athena, Conner was perfectly okay with the idea.

When Clark told him that he wanted to bring Athena to Kansas for a week, that made Conner more uneasy.

"I think it will be a good time for us to bond. Plus she can meet Ma and Pa, and I know that they will love her." Clark explained, and Conner sighed.

"You just need to know… she get scared very easily. I mean, she has been getting better at it, but she's been though a lot."

"Well, what do I need to know?" Clark questioned. Conner paused a moment to think. Clark was serious about this, so he needed to know how to handle Athena for a week.

"Well, she has some sort of PTSD. If you try to put her under a lot of pressure she sometimes breaks down. If you yell at her, or so much as raise your voice, she will get scared and sometimes break down. She often has bad dreams. When she does have a bad dream, she likes to eat saltine crackers and she needs someone to comfort her until she falls asleep again. She likes whipped cream, that you know. Do not let her watch horror movies. It doesn't end well. She loves animals, especially bears and sea otters."

"Why bears and sea otters?" Clark questioned.

"Because Bears are strong and not to be underestimated, and Otters are cute." Conner answered, then went on.

"She loves her turtle, Minerva. But you have to act like Minerva is a lady not an 'it' and especially not a boy. She loves Ralph, her teddy bear, and sometimes talks to him. And Athena has yet to get her super hearing under control, and it sometimes kicks in and it causes her a lot of pain. When this happens, you have to talk to her and give her something to concentrate on, and if that doesn't work, have her put on headphones and listen to Elvis music, Elvis music usually calms her down. But just… she needs to be… handled with care." Conner sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"She has been getting better, but we're taking small steps."

"I understand." Clark nodded. "And I will take care of her. I want to spend time with her. She is my daughter too."

Conner nodded.

"Alright. Just talk to Bruce about…"

"I already have, and he said that I could take Athena with me to Kansas. But he did suggest talking to you." Clark smiled. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her, and I will call you if anything happens that I need help with."

Conner nodded, but still couldn't help but be nervous.

~*~*~*~*~*~The Next Day~*~*~*~*~*~

Athena stared at the Kent Farm, nervous about what would happen next.

"Athena, are you alright?" Clark questioned, noting the worried look on the girl's face.

She looked up at him, pushing the black strands of hair out of her face.

Clark told her that she could go without her disguise in Smallville.

"I… I'm alright." She said in a small voice. Clark placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, trying to give her an encouraging smile, and walked up to the door, knocking on it gently.

It quickly opened to reveal a small woman with graying hair, and a taller man with broad shoulders.

"Hello son!" the man beamed, hugging Clark right away and the woman was quickly hugging the boy too.

She then brushed aside some of the hair on Clark's head that got messed up.

"Have you been eating right, dear?" she questioned with worry.

"I'm fine, Ma." Clark smiled, then pushed Athena, who had inched backwards, up to his adopted parents.

"Ma, Pa, this is Athena. Athena, this is Ma, and Pa." Clark introduced.

"H-hello." Athena said quietly with a small smile, but the two people beamed happily at her, and the woman was instantly hugging her.

"We have heard so much about you, honey." She smiled.

"Y-you have?" Athena inquired.

"Of course we have, Clark talks about you a lot." Pa Kent said with pride. "You're practically our granddaughter."

Athena's eyes widened at that. More family. She cherished the fact that she had such a large family, but she had no qualms about adding people. And she never had grandparents before.

~*~*~*~*~*~Four Days Later~*~*~*~*~*~

Clark didn't know how Conner did it.

This was the fourth night in a row that Athena woke up sobbing from a nightmare, and Clark was trying not to get frustrated.

He sighed, hearing her sobs from his room, and stood from the bed.

"Clark, go back to sleep." Clark saw Ma Kent standing in the doorway.

"But Ma…"

"I'll handle it, honey." She smiled, and Clark went straight back to bed, not wanting to debate with Ma Kent.

Ma walked into Athena's room and sat on the edge of the girl's bed.

"I-I'm so-rry to wake you up." Athena said through her tears.

"It's alright honey, I was already awake." Ma lied, smiling at the girl. "Did you have a bad dream?" she inquired, and Athena nodded her head.

She shook, trying to forget her dream, but the more she tried to forget, the more the images flashed through her head, making her cry harder.

Ma Kent wrapped her arms around Athena, and started to soothingly stroke her hair.

"Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes

Rest your head close to my heart

Never to part, baby of mine."

Athena calmed down as she listened to Ma Kent sing. It calmed her and slowly the terrifying images in her head faded away and only Ma Kent's voice resonated in her mind.

She fell asleep in Ma's arms, feeling warm and calm.

~*~*~*~*~*~The Next Day~*~*~*~*~*~

Clark hoped that he and Athena could bond more by fishing.

Sure, she had warmed up to Ma and Pa. She had often helped Ma in the kitchen, and she loved cutting firewood and working around the farm with Pa. However, he still felt like there was a gap between himself and the girl.

So, he thought fishing would be a good idea.

"So…" Clark started. He knew that being quiet when fishing was usually a good idea, but Athena took the task seriously and didn't say a word. She was staring intently on her line, waiting for a tug so she could reel in a fish.

Pa had taken her fishing two days prior and she was a fast learner.

"So… I heard some kids hurt you a few days ago… how exactly did you get bruises when your bones and skin are invincible?" he questioned, but then scolded himself immediately afterwards.

Nice Clark. Ask her about how she got beat up. Real nice conversation. He thought sarcastically.

"It's strange." Athena answered in a low voice, so that she wouldn't scare the fish. "Bruce thinks it's because since I'm not one hundred percent invincible, I can still manage to have some internal bleeding, like getting bruises, while my skin and bones stay strong." She informed.

"So something could kill you from the inside?" Clark questioned, but once again regretted it. No doubt she'd have nightmares about that.

"I guess." Was her short answer, still very quiet. The fish weren't biting much due to the time of day and how shallow the part of the river they were at, but Athena was still staring at her line intently.

"So, how's your friend, Ramon?" he inquired.

"He's still getting better from getting beaten up." Athena informed stiffly. She was still upset with herself that she couldn't have helped him sooner.

"And how about you're new friend, Patricia?"

"Paige." Athena corrected. "And she is alright. She wants to drown the bullies who attacked Ramon and I in spit."

"Uh… huh." Clark nodded slowly. Clark didn't know what else to say, and was silent.

"Do you like fishing?" Athena questioned.

"Not that much." Clark informed, and Athena nodded, then started to reel her line in.

"Then we shouldn't be fishing." She stated. "What do you like to do?"

"I… uh… like bird watching." He informed.

"Then we should do that." Athena said as she packed away her hook from the rod.

~*~*~*~*~*~Two Hours Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"I didn't know this is what you meant by bird watching." Athena informed as her and Clark floated in the air with bird flying all around.

"I think it's more fun." Clark shrugged with a small smile. "You know, you can get closer to the birds."

"No, I'm good at this distance." Athena informed quickly. She didn't like birds. She didn't mind looking at them, but she didn't like the possibility of them landing on her.

"Look at that Red Tailed Hawk." Clark smiled in excitement, pointing to the bird, and Athena smiled.

"She's beautiful." Athena grinned, looking at the bird.

Despite her dislike of birds, she still loved animals, and she didn't mind viewing the bird much. And she really did think that the Red Tailed Hawk was beautiful. She didn't get to see many large birds in Gotham. Well… besides Robin.

Athena and Clark landed on the ground, and the man quickly lifted her onto his shoulders, and started to leisurely walk to the Kent's Farm.

"Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Did you really shun Conner for a while?" Clark wasn't expecting that question.

"Yes… I did." He informed quietly.

"Do you not like biological children?" she inquired.

"I… don't think so. I like biological children." He answered.

"So what was wrong with Conner and I?" Clark sighed.

"Nothing was wrong with you two… it's just…" he ran his hand over his face. "It's hard to explain, Athena. I wasn't expecting you two."

"So… you didn't want us at first?" Athena questioned. She didn't sound sad, only curious.

"It… well… yes." Clark said in a whisper, but Athena could hear him. "But, I'm happy I have you know, both of you. I would never want you or Conner to leave." He informed quickly.

"You know, I hated you for a while." Athena said as she played with the random curls in Clark's dark hair.

"Hated me?"

"Yes." Athena nodded. "I didn't want to, but I did. I was angry at you for thinking of me as a project. I was angry at you for a lot of things, but that was my biggest issue." She sighed. "I wanted everyone to see me as a person, and if not everyone, than only the people I really cared about. I really cared about what you thought of me because you are one of my Dads. And as a Dad, I wanted you to be proud of me, or at least see me as human." She informed, and Clark felt his heart sink.

He really did treat Athena terrible.

"I see you as human now." Clark stated firmly. "And I love you." He said seriously.

"I love you too." Athena smiled.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift." Clark smiled, remembering what Ma had told him when he was little.

"That is why we call it the present." Athena finished, and Clark chuckled.

"Sounds like you have been spending a lot of time with Ma."

~*~*~*~*~*~Several Days Later~*~*~*~*~*~

"So it went well?" Conner questioned with some worry. Clark smiled and nodded.

"It was great." He said, and then placed a hand on Conner's shoulder. "I have to say, I don't know how you are able to do it with those nightmares though. Ma was the only one who could get her to sleep afterwards." He informed.

"It just takes practice, I guess." Conner shrugged, and Clark shook his head.

"Or maybe it just takes a good parent."