Chapter 4 [Next Morning]

[Kent Farm]

Sol rose earlier than expected on the following morning with intense color and fire. The birds sang more clearly and pronounced across the prairie. The people hopped out of bed quicker than normal; their routines seeming more inviting.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted to put the previous day behind them…..

On the farm west of town, Martha sat at the kitchen table while reviewing the bills. She didn't have the same issues on her plate as when Jonathan was still alive and the farm was still a producing unit. There were no seed bills or risks of bad harvests any more. With only a couple of horses and a couple of cows, she only had to worry about feed and hay these days.

Thank my planning. She gazed out the window toward the former back forty area. She knew Jonathan wouldn't be happy with her selling the twenty-five acres to the Hendersons next door. Still, between that and the money from her three terms as Kansas' senator in Washington, she'd long paid off the mortgage and secured her own future putting the bank and Lex out of her life. Still she felt the tug of the land. She'd invested so much in the land during her partnership with her beloved husband and later Clark.

Clark….

She tapped her fingers across the table in a Morse code of foreboding. In his calls, he'd spoken of his accomplishments with the Daily Planet. She'd listened to his accounting of new friends in addition to occasional visits from Pete Ross and Chloe in Metropolis. She admittedly followed his exploits with Superman with anxiety and foreboding. While proud of his heroism, she worried that one day it would kill him.

After talking with her ex-boyfriend, Perry White, she knew something was wrong. She appreciated how he looked after Clark and kept the Secret despite how their relationship had ended years earlier. It was for that reason that his call and their conversation worried her. She knew his distraction over Lois' drive to get to the professional mountaintop strained Clark's nerves.

A glance at the latest series of articles from the past month made Perry's point for her. While Clark's prose still was sharp and clear, it lacked its usual punch and insight. She could almost feel his listlessness emanating from the screen….

Most might have reassigned Clark for various reasons. Perry chose to give the younger man a week off to get his life in order….

Her maternal instincts screamed at her. Something was deadly wrong with her son.

And Martha wouldn't stop until she found out the cause. Several calls to Lois' cell had gone unanswered. Clark had not returned a call as promised a couple of days earlier. Chloe hadn't heard anything either but promised to drive them to Metropolis herself to get to the bottom of things. She hadn't called Lana knowing how painfully things ended between her and Clark. How I wish she wasn't a walking Kryptonite bomb. I'd bring her into this but she's a death sentence for Clark.

Knowing that would be like feeding an out of control fire, she quickly disregarded that idea. Last thing Clark would need was a reminder of how he'd been denied his high school sweetheart by his ex-best friend and now adversary.

Once again she felt glad that the mortgage had been paid off. No more leverage for Lex to use against Clark….

Unreal! She wished that Clark would take advantage of the time off and just come home. Together they could deal with the burden. Together they could reset everything and get him back on the right track. She wasn't about to let him drown in the mess.

Count on that….

She filled her carafe at the sink with good well water and filled the coffee maker's reservoir. Then she measured out some of Clark's favorite coffee into a filter before placing it into its place and starting its drip. She set some corn muffins to warm in the microwave.

Then she opened the wooden door leaving the screen shut.

The aromas wafted from their source and out the door. As if on a mother's wings, they ascended into the early morning air. Their siren call biding a lost hero home.

And so it went…..

[Metropolis—Clark's Apartment]

Clark sat in the corner of his bedroom brooding over the Amsterdam disaster. He couldn't believe Lois' callousness. He couldn't deal with how she'd thrown his devotion and love toward her back in his face over their chosen craft.

The ring glittered at him on the nightstand in the early morning light. Its sparkling cutting through his resolve and depressing him further. Reminding him further of the failed investment in the former military brat….

He rolled his eyes. Brat. Yeah that's about right! He forced himself to stand up and trudge across the room toward the closet. Enough of this. Perry wants to give you time off. Fine. Don't waste it. He pulled several of his old flannels and jeans from that place and set them on the bed. He disconnected his laptop into its carrying bag. Then he placed his clothes into a duffel bag and set it beside the laptop.

A super speed shower refreshed him. The hot water cleansed his body and opened his pores. It relaxed his mind. It soothed his heart ever so slightly. It gave him a purpose.

He climbed out of the stall and super sped through getting dressed and checking all of the details in his apartment. He'd come back at midweek to check on it but he had some place else to be. He walked out of his apartment and locked the door behind himself. Then, with a few words to his landlady, he headed out into the city proper. He crossed the street and made his way toward the alley there.

After a quick check to make sure nobody watched him, he shed his outer clothes to reveal his costume. He stuffed the shirt, slacks and shoes in his duffel. Then he streaked into the air and banked toward the southwest. Granted he should've driven and taken the time that the road would've offered him to think and consider matters….

Still the sky freed him from the mundane concerns below. It allowed him freedom from concerns and the solitude he most needed at times. Being Superman may have meant more power than all but a few of the Earth's residents but it added a burden to his shoulders too. The constant battles and preserving the peace weighed on him.

As with the rest of the world, he needed a vacation once in a while…

The skyscrapers and suburbs quickly fell away from him in a few seconds' time. In another heartbeat, the familiar rural hamlets had taken their places. The sounds of urban gridlock and activity faded out. In their place, the familiar sounds of tractors and combines. Even the smell of manure proved a welcome scent.

Then, above it all, another aroma caught his nostrils. It teased a smile out of even his burdened heart on that gloomy morn.

…Javanese Mocha…

…warm corn muffins….

Mom. He exhaled a deep breath and followed the trail toward his source. Between his nose and his internal compass, he quickly streaked over the remaining distance from the Lowell County line in two heartbeats' time and alighted in the backfields to cover himself. There he changed into his old flannels and mussed his hair ever so slightly. From there it was a quick jog to the farm's open door. He rapped on the door opening it. "Mom?"

"Clark," Martha turned to face her son with a bright smile. "I knew that breakfast would guide you back here." Despite her concern, she put on her best front for him.

"Never resist your corn muffins and that coffee. Thanks. You okay?" He hugged her tightly. Despite her human softness and physical frailty, he could feel her strength flowing into him.

"Never mind me, Clark. What's going on with you?" she pressed. Her eyes locked onto his steely blue counterparts. Maybe he was Superman but she knew his heart.

"Mom, I…." He bowed his head and stumbled backward. Tears filled his eyes and flooded over his cheeks. "I…I…"

In an instant, she resumed the embrace. "I know, Baby. Perry told me the whole thing. It's going to be okay. Momma will make sure of that." She rocked him gently. "Did you talk with Lois?"

"Y…yes. She…she…" She pulled the ring out of his pocket and dropped it on the kitchen table.

She stared in shock at the bauble. "Oh."

"We're through, Mom. She said her career was more important than our relationship! I can't believe this! After everything I put into it. I just…."

"I know. It hurts. I'm sorry. I wish I could say more than that," she wished despondently. She stared in horror at the ring.

"You're great, Mom. I need this again maybe for a little while," he assured her with a gentle smile. "You're always there for me."

"Always." She collected the ring and put it in a drawer. "There. We both know where it is. For now though we're going to have breakfast just the two of us. Then we'll go and talk with your father."

"I don't want to put you through…" he doubted.

"He'd be disappointed if you didn't visit him. Then we'll stop by the Ledger. Chloe will need to hear this," she suggested. "If you hadn't shown up, she and I were ready to drive to Metro ourselves to track you and Lois down."

"At least that's not necessary." He managed a smile at his former editor's drive to be the best friend. That and being married to another of his super hero comrades made Chloe more understanding of his issues than most. "Maybe we could have her and Oliver over for dinner some night?"

"Count on it. That is if you both can leave the super hero stuff in the closet for the night," she noted with a bit of teasing.

He smeared a corn muffin with butter and bit into it. The tastes of home already worked on him relaxing him a bit.

Be it so humble, there's no place like home…..