Chapter 3 – The Camp

Somewhere in America

"Jon! Come inside!"

The nearly-two-year-old boy looked up from his toys. He hesitated, reluctant to come in from his play although he well knew Ma did not like her instructions disobeyed. He was occupied in the building of a big and wonderful city, which in his mind was called Metropolis. He had never been there, but he had heard his Pa talk of Metropolis many times with longing in his voice. In his child's mind, he hoped that if he built a 'Metropolis,' maybe Pa would come home.

Diana only saw that her son had managed to make a muddy mess in the backyard of their small cottage-style house; he'd dug holes and made heaps of dirt for his Tonka trucks, which were his favorite toys of the moment. Jon was caked in dirt from head to toe.

The Amazon shook her head in dismay: how was it possible for one child to cause so much mess? Then, of course, he was no ordinary child: Jon-El was the seed of both Krypton and Themyscira, two great and ancient cultures, both now lost to time.

For now, though, he was just a dirty little boy in dire need of a bath.

"Jon, it's time to come in! You need to get cleaned up before we leave."

Jon cheered up considerably hearing that. That was right, he remembered, he and Ma were going on a trip! They were finally going to see Pa!

"Yes, Mama!"

Jon jumped up, making sure he had his favorite toy truck with him, and toddled after his mother into their small home. It was a comfortable place, cozy; it had come already furnished, which was why it looked nothing like his Ma's taste. But there had been something about it Pa didn't like, which Jon didn't understand. He had overheard him and Ma arguing about it, before he left.

"Clark, for Hera's sake, it's only temporary. We can't live in the Fortress all the time, you know that."

"Well we also can't always go running to Bruce to take care of our problems."

"No one 'ran' to Bruce, he made the offer, remember? Really, it's the safest place other than the Fortress-"

"I don't need to be 'safe.'"

"What do you need then?"

"You know damn well."

"Clark, it's not…you have to remember it's going to take time. You're not getting worse at least…"

"I'm not getting better either, not fast enough. I can't just sit here watching TV, listening to everyone saying 'Superman is dead, and where is he' when I could be doing something to prove...'"

"You're not just sitting around, or have you forgotten that you're a father?"

"You know I haven't! It's because I'm a father I have to do this."

"Do what? What are you talking about?"

There were other things they'd argued about (he heard them, although they tried to hide it) which Jon didn't understand, but whatever those things were, the result was the same: Pa was gone. He'd been gone for about a month or so, but it seemed like forever to Jon. He'd thought maybe it was something he'd done or didn't do and it made him unhappy.

Before he'd left, Pa had tried to console him. He'd sat next to him on his little bed in the house (he had his own bedroom now). Jon buried his face in his tear-soaked pillow, clutching Krypto, his plushie white dog, tightly. He felt one of Pa's big hands gently rub his back.

"I'm going to be away for a little while," Pa said gently. "You need to be strong, and behave, for your Ma. Can you do that, Jon?"

"Don't go, Pa," Jon had wept. "Please don't go."

Jon had remembered Pa had looked very sad, but his face was already in that stubborn look he'd come to recognize. His Ma also could look alot like that too.

"I have to, little man," Pa tried to explain. "So we can get our own home, someday. I won't be gone forever."

"We have a home," Jon insisted. He didn't understand what Pa meant. They didn't live outside – weren't they together already?

"I explained it to your Ma: this isn't our home, it belongs to someone else. Even your clothes, they're…"

Then Pa looked more angry than stubborn. "I have to go back to work, Jon. I know you don't understand…but I need you to be good for your Ma. Will you help me? Help take care of her for me?"

Jon's tears stopped at the thought of helping his Pa. If he helped him, and did a good job, maybe Pa would come home quicker. "Ok." He'd agreed.

Pa smiled then. "That's my good boy, Jon. I'll be back before you know it."

Then he was gone. Ma had in turns been angry, sad, or moody without Pa around, but she pretended everything was normal. Sometimes Ma took him flying, and Jon had been excited thinking they were going to see Pa but it was only to stay at the Fortress when Ma was at her own 'work.' The metal bugs Kelex and Kebex babysat him, or sometimes he talked with Grandpa, but Grandpa couldn't tell him where Pa was either. Sometimes they went to a place called 'Hall of Justice' and another place called 'Watchtower' where his many 'uncles' and 'aunties' spoiled him (that was how Ma described it) but although he liked visiting and being fussed over, it wasn't the same as being with Pa.

But now, at last, they were finally going to see him! Ma had told him that they were going to see Pa where he worked, someplace she called a 'man-camp.' He wasn't sure if Pa was finally coming home, or if they were going to live with him at this man-camp but he was happy all the same.

Diana pulled Jon out of his dirty clothes. "Look at what you've done!" She chastised him affectionately. "Now, I'll have to give you a bath before we go see Daddy."

Jon squealed with excitement, wriggling about so much that Diana had to chastise him again, more sternly this time, to get him to settle down.

"We going see Pa?" Jon had to be sure.

"Yes, we're going to see Papa," Diana affirmed quietly. For the next several minutes Jon chanted happily as she washed him, now ready to behave now that he knew he would get to see his dad.

Diana sighed inwardly; she was looking forward to her reunion with her husband, but at the same time she couldn't help fretting that they would just spend the time arguing, just like they did before he left. She couldn't stop worrying about whether he was all right, despite her anger at him. Zeus take him, but she couldn't stay angry at him.

No, she thought: she should have known Clark wouldn't be content to wait at the Fortress or the Watchtower for his powers to return, but it was more than that.

For the first several weeks he had tolerated the tests and examinations J'onn and Bruce conducted. When it became evident that his 'recovery' would take some time he stopped them altogether, much to Bruce's irritation.

"These tests are a waste of time! I could be doing something else…"

"What can you do, Clark? Think about it!" Bruce had argued, in that imperious, not-so-helpful way of his. "Yes, you're in good health. Hell, you're in better shape than most people. But you can be killed easily. A single bullet could kill you, even a car accident-"

"You too," Clark had replied tersely. "It doesn't keep you from sitting around your mansion. Anyway, I've made up my mind. I'm going back to work."

Diana assumed Clark would quietly write his articles for Lois' media company. Or, he would just make regular appearances in his suit to reassure people that Superman wasn't dead (he'd already done so, but still some people weren't convinced and 'conspiracy theories' dominated the Internet). But Lois had pitched some ideas to Clark that he'd accepted eagerly, ideas that dismayed both Diana and Bruce.

"You're doing what?" Bruce had snapped.

"I said, I'm going back to work. I've gotten a job at the new Bakken Camp in North Dakota, where they're experimenting with new energy sources. I'm going to be doing a series of articles on the lives of the workers there and the work they're doing. Lois thinks that there's something sketchy about what's going on."

"Yes, I know all about it – my company has a contract to supply some of the equipment. There is nothing 'sketchy' going on, Lois is imagining things as usual. Clark, listen, I could provide you a better job, something at corporate headquarters…"

"Something in an office cubicle? Thanks but no thanks."

"Do I need to remind you that Bakken is very dangerous work, Clark? Accidents happen there all the time, not to mention the type of people who work there. You could be injured easily, and in your condition…"

That had been the wrong thing to say. Clark had grown increasingly prickly over his 'condition.'

"I'll be fine, Bruce," he'd insisted. "I've already made up my mind."

"Really. And what does Diana think about all this?"

Diana was less than thrilled about it, especially after it became clear that the camp Clark planned to work was a 'workers-only' site; no families were allowed there since there simply wasn't the infrastructure: it was a hundred miles from the nearest city, with no schools, restaurants, or other amenities. When Diana had tried to talk to Clark about his decision, he only grew more stubborn and argumentative, two of her husband's less-attractive traits.

"You didn't even discuss this with me before you decided on this?"

"We did discuss it, remember? When you agreed with me that it would be a good idea for me to do something, not sit in the Fortress all day."

"I didn't mean this! I didn't expect you to just up and leave your family! Did you even bother to think about what it would mean for us? For Jon? We're supposed to be a family!"

"I did think about it, Diana – I'm taking care of my family. That's why I'm doing this! We can't keep taking Bruce's charity forever!"

That was what galled him, Diana thought as she toweled Jon dry. Bruce had generously provided this little house in a quiet neighborhood for them to live, and he provided Clark with another identity, as he was now a wanted man (or, 'person of interest' as the Orange County police phrased it), wanted for questioning in the disappearance of his uncle, David Kent. He'd also loaned Diana the minivan, more family camouflage. Clark had said nothing, so she'd thought he was all right with it. But the last straw seemed to be when Alfred had shown up with a large box in his arms containing Bruce's old childhood clothes ("All in excellent and serviceable condition still, Miss Diana," Alfred had said with his impeccable English accent).

Even after all these years in Man's World, whenever she thought she'd finally understood the place and its people, something would happen that would baffle her. Often it was her husband. The hardened look on his face when he saw Jon dressed in one of Bruce's old 'hand-me-downs,' as he called them, made her realize that.

Clark had always been stubborn, even pig-headed (in Diana's estimation) at times, but with his 'depowering' those traits seemed to have increased just as his powers decreased. His personality had grown more prickly and moody, and she felt helpless to do anything about it. She couldn't make his powers come back faster. They had argued, but Clark wouldn't be budged, not even by her pleading. Something in him had changed, almost transforming her husband into a cold and distant man.

"Can't you see I'm doing this for the both of you?"

"You're doing this for yourself! For your pride, not for your family! If you were doing this for your family you'd be here with Jon and me!"

"Diana…I don't want to leave you and Jon, but I'm doing no good here. I'm going back to work and I'm taking care of my family, that's what a man's supposed to do. If I can't do that I'm worthless."

"You are not worthless, you are taking care of your family. You're taking care of Jon. Being a family means being together."

"I can't protect you, you or baby Jon. I'm more of a liability. You can protect Jon when I'm gone, just fine, you said it yourself, remember? You won't miss me..."

"I can't believe you just said that! Fine, go on and leave then, if you're so determined!"

Her friends in the Justice League had sympathized with her, but were just as helpless as her to change his attitude. J'onn had taken her aside and tried to explain it to her:

"When a person becomes...disabled, often the personality may change. They have to cope with their new body, and it can be a very frustrating, frightening new time."

"But he's not disabled."

"He is, although he may not look it. Yes, he's still stronger than most humans, but not even as strong as Batman. It's like he has become a child again, and it must be very difficult for him, even though he won't say. Just be patient with him, he's still the same Kal-El we know, deep down."

So she had taken the Martian's advice (he was strangely more perceptive of humans that most humans, she thought) and tried to accept Clark's decision. But it wasn't easy. Now, she had to talk some sense into him.

Diana sighed, and dressed Jon in some fresh, clean clothes. Not Bruce's, at least, so Clark couldn't argue about that. Then she combed Jon's silky dark hair.

"We gon fly?"

"No, not today, we are driving."

"No, no, want to see Dada now! Fly!" Jon jumped up and down furiously.

"Stop that. Behave or we can walk instead."

Jon stopped, but his face settled into a sulky pout. That's his father, Diana thought. The very image.

"Pa," Jon muttered. "Want to see Pa. I want him to come home."

"He's going to," Diana said firmly, and Jon wondered at the conviction in her voice.

Once Diana got Jon into his car seat in the back he quieted down again. She doubted any car accident could injure him, but she didn't need the hassle of being pulled over. Jon watched a cartoon DVD, and she concentrated on her drive: it was over 500 miles to her destination.

Diana would have preferred to fly herself, but there were appearances to be kept - hadn't Clark taught her that? At least she could use the time to get her thoughts in order.

The corporation that owned the camp was putting on a 'Family Day' over the holiday weekend. It would be an opportunity for the wives and families of the workers to reunite with their men and enjoy a break, according to the press release. Diana wondered if it was their way to counter negative press. Clark had already written a series of articles that described how the camps were overflowing with men (and a few women) desperate to find work and prosperity in a struggling economy, and the area had turned into something like the Wild West, while the small local towns surrounding the camp tried to cope with the sudden influx of thousands of people. There was crime, but it seemed to be dwindling as the corporation cracked down and brought in more security, and more amenities.

As Diana drove, and Jon dozed in his car seat, she noticed how the landscape gradually transformed as they went further and further from gentrified suburbia. Houses and storefronts dwindled, and became older, more dilapidated-looking, until they disappeared altogether and then there were mostly endless flat plains broken only by the highway. The weather seemed to grow colder too. It was the sort of detail she didn't often notice. Diana found it all depressing for some reason, although empty nature usually stimulated her.

They stopped for the night at a motel near a Pilot Travel stop, as she decided arriving in the morning would be best, and she would be fresh. She had called Clark beforehand to let him know and he agreed that would be best. He got to talk to Jon, who screamed with his excitement, before the connection died (cell phone service was terrible where he was at). To her surprise, Jon didn't protest, but obediently followed her into the store without fuss. The place was brightly-lit and busy, full of truckers and tired families who'd pulled over for a bathroom break. As regular Diana Prince, no one gave her a second look.

"What a well-behaved child!" The clerk commented as Diana purchased some toiletries and snacks for herself and Jon.

"What do we say, Jon?"

"Tank you maam," he replied gravely, causing to clerk to chuckle.

"We don't often see such polite children nowadays," she remarked. "Too often they just come in and tear around the place, knocking stuff off the shelves, parents don't even do anything."

The middle-aged lady behind the counter eyed Diana curiously, not failing to miss that she looked a bit different from the other customers, most of whom were unfortunately over their optimum body-mass index. "Are you a tourist?"

She hesitated a moment then replied, "Sort of. My husband works up at the Bakken Camp. We're going to visit him."

"Oh, that place," the woman sniffed with obvious disdain. "Well…be careful."

"Why?" Diana asked curiously.

She looked at her, surprised. "Well…it's not the best place for a young lady and a child, if you catch my meaning. A lot of fights and drug use there, I've heard. They've tried to clean it up a bit after the news got wind of it - someone wrote a buncha stories about it - but there's still too many lowlifes up there, and they bring their trouble here. Not that I mean your husband is one of course," the cashier hastily added before turning her attention to the next customer.

Deep in thought, Diana took her bag and walked with Jon back to her car. The last email she'd had from Clark stated everything was fine. Although she could have visited him anytime, he'd asked her not to just drop in – literally - so as to keep up 'appearances.' They'd Skyped a few times but that was it, and their conversations had had all the depth of an episode of reality TV. He would only say that he was so busy with the job and then writing during his free time, he'd hardly had time to do much else. Diana had doubted that, especially after Lois had let drop that she was in regular contact with Clark for his damned articles. It had annoyed her, but she had really tried to respect his wishes, although she didn't believe he had reciprocated. Was there something he didn't want her to see?

The next day dawned a bit warmer and the sun had come out, its light substantially lighting up her mood as well as the environment. Even Jon was being less fussy, although he was clearly very excited; his sheer joy at the thought of seeing his dad was making Diana look more forward to the visit too. Regardless of their arguments in the past, she still loved him, and missed him terribly. She only wondered if he knew how much their separation had hurt her.

Does he care?

Diana pushed that thought out of her mind. She couldn't allow herself to doubt.

It was only a few more hours to the work camp. Diana saw the landscape change again, become grittier and more industrial. Trucks of all kind zoomed past her van, but she also saw regular cars and guessed they were all headed the same way too. Clark had described where she should go, and she navigated her way through the miles of warehouses and storage tanks until she arrived at an area dotted with trailers and modular buildings that had been thrown up as barracks for the workers. She saw a few other hastily constructed buildings that served as convenience stores, bars, a gym, a barber shop, and a first-aid clinic. She saw a big open tent that had a cross stitched over the entrance. There were even a few food trucks arriving, presumably for the family day.

As she drove further into what was obviously the workers' 'town,' following the dirt-and-gravel roads, she saw clusters of men hanging about, mostly big guys, bearded, tough-looking. She supposed they had to be to endure the weather here and the grueling work conditions. Clark said he often worked 12-hour shifts, sometimes out in the below-zero cold. She still didn't know exactly what he did, but whatever it was, it was presumably worth it to keep him away from his family and the job that Bruce had offered him.

Diana shook her head again, tried to keep a positive attitude. She didn't want to argue with Clark right at the start of their visit, it would set the wrong mood for later.

Although there seemed to be no order to the 'streets' she managed to find the right lane and found Clark's trailer, which looked no different from the hundreds of others there.

Jon sat up eagerly, nearly breaking the strap on his car-seat. It wouldn't be the first time. "We here?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, but don't get out yet! Let me help you out."

Diana got out, took her time getting Jon out of his seat and getting her bags. She had taken the time to dress fashionably, her makeup and her hair arranged, and she was dressed in a warm cashmere coat. But she wondered if she may have overdressed; a few of the other trailers had men lounging outside and she could feel their eyes on her. Well, let them look. She had dressed for Clark.

With Jon practically hopping up and down beside her, Diana took a deep breath and walked up the short level of steps to the door of the trailer. She honestly didn't know what to expect. She hadn't even seen him, even through Skype, for over a week. She tried the door of the trailer; it was unlocked and she opened it.

The smell hit her first - if Man's World could be bottled and sold as scent, this is what it would smell like, she thought. Unwashed clothes and sweat and stale food and air. It was dark inside, with some morning light filtering in through the crooked blinds.

As for bottles, that was the first thing that struck Diana. Empty beer bottles were scattered everywhere, on the table, the chairs, the sofa, even the bloody floor. Furniture was shifted around haphazardly, empty food cartons stacked on top. She stared at the mess - was Jimmy Olsen here too?

"Clark?" She called out tentatively. "Clark where are you?"

No answer.

Holding Jon's hand tightly, she peered in the kitchen - no one. He'd told her he was working nights so he should be off work by now...then she remembered the bedroom.

Diana turned just as the door to the bathroom opened and a skinny man stumbled out, the sound of a flushing toilet following him, pulling up a pair of jeans. It was not her husband. She could practically smell the alcohol coming out of his pores.

He almost ran into her until he looked up, surprised. It wasn't Jimmy Olsen, but it could be a close relation, with his shock of red hair and pasty white face.

"Uhhh...what're you still doing here?" He slurred, clearly hungover. "I thought all you girls left already. We gettin' an encore performance?" He laughed uproariously.

Before the furious Amazon could speak, he looked over his shoulder and bawled.

"Josh! Ya must've forgot to pay off onna th' dancers!"

He turned and dug into his jeans pocket, pulled out some crumpled bills and shoved them at Diana.

"Gotta do everything myself...here, thass all I got, come back later and I'll..."

"Get out," said Diana in a very low tone that seemed to pierce through the man's hungover haze. He blinked, looked at Diana's face and didn't like what he saw there, seemed to see Jon for the first time (who was goggling up at him), and appeared to realize he'd stumbled into a very precarious situation...for him. He shoved the bills back into his pocket.

"Um, uh, yeah...sure thing, no problem..." The man somehow managed to stumble towards the door, grabbing his boots as he did so, and stumbled down the steps, barefoot.

Diana wasted no more time. Pulling Jon behind her, she shoved the bedroom door open.

Clark Kent, or as his alias now had him, Joshua Clark, was sprawled half-on half-off the bed, still dressed in the dirty work clothes he must have had on yesterday, his socks still on. He lay on his stomach, his mouth open, snoring just so slightly - certainly he had never heard his unnamed friend's calls.

"Clark," Diana said, then much louder. "CLARK!"

Her husband stirred and looked up, blinking still in sleepiness. "Diana? is that you?"

Jon couldn't wait anymore. He broke free from his mom's hand and leapt onto the bed with surprising speed, nearly knocking Clark backwards as he tried to sit up.

"Daddy!" Jon cried. "Daddy daddy daddy!"

"Oh, hey, Jon my big man!" Clark rubbed his eyes, while his other arm held Jon. "How's my big boy?"

"Your 'friend' just left," Diana said icily, standing in the doorway with her arms folded. "I guess there was quite the party here last night. Sorry I missed it."

"Um...I thought you wouldn't be in until noon...yeah one of the guys on my shift had a birthday party and we'd thought...um..."

Clark held Jon awkwardly with one arm against his stubbly cheek, while Jon clambered all over him.

"He'll be better when he sees his Dad sobered up," Diana pulled a squalling Jon away from Clark. "Go get cleaned up first," she ordered.

"Diana, I-"

"Go take a shower, Clark. I'll clean up here. I don't want Jon to see you like a mess."

Jon giggled happily. "Daddy smell funny!" He laughed.

"Um, all right," Clark at least had the decency to look abashed. He grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom.

After she heard the shower turn on she allowed the ice-queen look to drop from her face and she rubbed her forehead. This reunion was not starting out as she expected.

She herded Jon back into the living room and turned on the TV for him, then began searching for the trash bags. Once she got this dump squared away she and her husband would sit down to a serious talk. About their future.

To be continued...

[A/N: I hope readers aren't too put out by what has happened w/Clark and Diana in this chapter, heh heh...but at least I didn't do a New 52 on him, lol. I did want to explore how their relationship may have changed due to his depowering. I put Clark in this setting for a reason, it will have something to do with the plot later...there will be a character (villain) familiar to most of you that will show up there soon...I based the camp on the real Bakken oil boom in ND, which I haven't actually been there so I'm sure all the details are wrong. Anyway, please review...I hope to have a new chapter up soon!]