Chapter 3

Next day at the Planet Clark sits at his desk staring blankly at the computer screen. He had not slept a wink last night. He kept replaying over and over the confrontation with whatever entity it was that was in Godfrey and how close it came to possessing him instead. The damage he could bring if it had succeeded...Clark internally shivers.

He is brought out of his stupor by the sound of a paper being slapped down on his desk. It's a copy of the Metropolis Inquisitor. The headline is about exposing Godfrey.

"How's that for tying up loose ends?"

Clark looks up to see it's Lois.

"It's going to take more than a loud mouth with a deviant sex life to stop me. Buddy of mine at the Inquisitor ran it for me. Since leather and lace really isn't Planet fare," she says, clearly proud of herself.

Clark sighs. "Lois, I think you went too far trying to discredit this annoying hero basher. You could have been killed," he argues.

"Godfrey was undermining Metropolis's faith in its defenders, I couldn't just stand by and let that happen," she argues back.

"What you did was brave, but…"

Lois cuts him off. "Between you and me, I was terrified. My worst fear is to be alone in the world without heroes. But I guess last night you were my hero, Smallville. First time for everything, huh?" she teases.

Clark arches an eyebrow. "First time?" he mutters. He has literally lost count of the number of times he's saved her. "Look, Lois, we all need people to look up to but be careful about putting them on too high of a pedestal. They might let you down," he says, expressing his own insecurities.

"Thanks Clark, but I get it the super-powered are people too. They wrestle with their own flaws, but the Blur is different. He's my hero, no matter what he's afraid of I know he will always be there for me," she states confidently.

Lois may think that Clark would find that reassuring but he really doesn't. It just heightens his worry that one day he will let her down.

Later in the day Clark heads out to get lunch when he bumps into someone as he exits the planet. "Excuse me, sorry," he apologies before he finds himself staring at the woman with glasses. "Mia?"

"Si. Soy yo." Mia finds her father continuing to stare. "What?" she finally asks.

Clark snaps out of it. "Sorry. You...just look like your mother the first time I saw her."

"Really?" she asks, genuinely interested.

"Yeah," he confirms because apart from the short hair she really does look like Andrea. "So, what brings you here?"

Mia rubs the back of her neck. "I was...worried about you. You left this morning without a word."

"Sorry about that. I had a lot on mind."

"About what that smoke monster said?" she queries intuitively.

Clark hesitates for a moment before saying, "Partly. It saw things inside me I didn't want to face."

"Because you have doubts?"

Clark shrugs. "Maybe."

"I know about having doubts," she chuckles nervously. "I mean I'm your daughter. I doubted I could ever live up to that."

Clark looks at her intrigued. "You shouldn't try to live up to me or anyone else for that matter, Mia. One can only ever do their best. As long as you know you're doing that it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks."

"Maybe you should be telling yourself that."

Clark laughs lightly. "Yeah. Maybe," he realises he's preaching what he ain't practicing. "This is probably a 'do as I say not as I do' speech."

Mia smiles softly, feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside that her and her father seem to be bonding. "Look I can't tell you the future in detail but what I can say is that you shouldn't worry too much. You'll get there."

"Thanks...I think."

"You're welcome."

"Makes you wonder if we put too much faith in these vigilantes," a man a short distance away says as he looks at a 'S' symbol on a wall.

Clark deflates at hearing that.

Mia makes a face. "Come on," she says, grabbing her father's arm. "Let's get away from these twips. Have some lunch. You can finish telling me how you met Mamá."

"Ok, fine but if you laugh once you're paying," he warns her.

"Don't have any creds on me valid for this time period," she points out, smiling sweetly.

"You're going to bankrupt me aren't you."

"Of course, that's why I'm here after all. To ruin you. You've seen through my evil plan!" she wails theatrically.

"You definitely did not inherit that from me," Clark mutters. He never acts like that.

"...so, I turn round and crash! There's your mother. Papers flying everywhere."

Mia guffaws at hearing how her father and mother met down in the basement at the Planet as they sit on a park bench with takeout. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes. I'm afraid," Clark assures her, smiling at how ridiculous it all was.

"What happened next?"

"Oh, I helped her pick them up…" while totally noticing how adorably geeky she was in her get up. "And then it quickly went downhill."

"How so?"

"Like I said I was trying to find your mother's alter ego to help me find my father's stolen watch but she thought Chloe and I were trying to expose her so she slipped out, changed into her costume and then came back to try and scare us off."

Mia is clearly fascinated by the story, almost sitting on the edge of her seat. "Seguir."

"Well, she grabbed Chloe, made some threats and when I moved to intervene, she punched me clear across the room and through a cabinet."

Mia's eyes go wide. "She was really that strong?"

Clark nods. "Your mother is very strong," he says and boy does he intimately know exactly how strong she is.

"So did Mamá help you find your father's watch?"

"Eventually. Andrea and I managed to clear the air after Chloe and I lured her out."

'Clear the air? Is that what we're calling it?' a voice that sounds suspiciously like his red kryptonite alter-ego mocks. Clark tires to ignore it just like he has tried very hard over the years to ignore the memories of that night on the rooftop and just how incredible it had been. The feel of her strong, lithe body against his. The feeling of being joined...nope. Not going there. That way lies madness.

"So, um, what happened between you and her? I know you didn't stay together."

"No. We didn't," Clark says with what sure sounds like regret.

"So?"

"You sure you want to hear this?" Clark asks, which is a roundabout way of him saying he's not sure he wants to tell it.

"Absolutely. I've never heard the story."

"Andrea never told you it?"

Something flashes across Mia's face before she covers it up and speaks a simple, "No."

Clark takes a moment before he relents and continues. "Do...do you know what happened to your grandmother?"

"She was murdered."

"Yes. Andrea...for your mother the pain and grief was all encompassing. Believe me I knew how she felt because it was what I was feeling at the time. In looking for the watch we found the man who killed your grandmother and Andrea...she felt the only justice he deserved was for her to kill him. I couldn't let her do that but she wouldn't let it go. In the end…"

"In the end?"

"In the end we couldn't get past that impasse so she left town rather than remain at that loggerhead," he...well lies but he finds he can't tell Mia the truth. She doesn't need to know the truth and have the image of her mother ruined.

"Oh. I see."

"I'm sorry. You probably had some romantic notion of what Andrea and I had together and here I am ruining it," Clark says with regret that he might be upsetting her.

"You're not ruining it. I may have not known the details but I knew it was not anything long term but I do have a question."

"Go ahead."

"When during all that did you find the time to make me?"

Clark's eyes go wide and he actually begins to blush. "Um...err...wow," he stumbles over his words, rubbing the back of his neck.

Mia actually rolls her eyes. "I'm 24 Papá. I know all about the facts of life," she snorts.

Of course she does. Doesn't mean Clark is comfortable talking about it. "Mia. Your mother and I...we were just two grieving people in pain who happened to pass each other by. For one moment we found a way to ease that pain in each other."

"And that moment was how I came to be."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I wish I had a better story to tell and I swear Mia, I didn't know Andrea was pregnant when she left. If I had known…"

Mia looks at him hopefully. "If you had known…"

"If I had known you existed, I would have found a way to be a part of your life."

"You mean that?" she asks, her eyes tearing up.

"I do."

Mia throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around her father. Clark wraps his arms around her and hugs her back. Years of repressed emotion burst out of the brunette woman as her chest heaves and tears flow from her eyes.

Meanwhile Clark is having to deal with a brand new feeling. One of being a father comforting his child. This is...he can't ascribe words to it. "Shh, shh, hey it's alright," he assures her as he rubs her back.

There are half muttered words in Spanish being spoken into his shirt that he doesn't know. Definitely has to learn the language

Eventually Mia pulls back and starts wiping her tears, looking very embarrassed by her actions. "Sorry...about your shirt," she says which she has soaked through.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I always bring a spare to work. You feeling better now?"

Mia nods but on the inside she feels raw as her long repressed desire to know her father has finally been allowed out.

The two fall into an awkward silence.

Clark looks at his daughter. The adult daughter that never knew him and inside him determination wells up. That's it! No more delays. No more excuses. As soon as work is finished he's heading over to Coast City and confronting Andrea.

An elderly couple passes by and the woman says to her husband, "Aw, aren't they a cute couple."

"Oh my God I'm gonna barf!" Mia proclaims.

Clark closes his eyes and face palms himself. Oy!

Coast City…

Andrea Rojas returns home to her small apartment after working her dreary job in a coffee shop. She did it not because she wanted to. Heck no. She pretty much hated it. She did it to ensure there was money to take care of the only thing in her life that truly mattered. Her precious angel of a daughter.

To say she had been freaked out when she realised she was pregnant would be the understatement of a lifetime. Especially since the father could only be one person. One person she had shared a momentary but incredible connection with for that time up on the rooftop.

She had replayed in her mind over and over the feelings of it. His large solid body against hers. Being joined together. The brief moment of bliss washing away her grief but alas it had only lasted a moment before the grief rushed back in.

Anyway despite being freaked out she never considered for a second to do anything but have the baby(she is Catholic after all) and she does not ever regret that decision. Mia brought a joy to her life she never thought she would experience again after she lost her mother.

Speaking of said joy she was there with her after Andrea had picked her up from the Daycare she used. So far Mia had not exhibited any of her parents' abilities so this was an arrangement that was satisfactory...for now. In fact, if Andrea is being honest, Mia had been quite a sickly child when she was born.

Now that had terrified her. The thought of her child being sick but slowly Mia had gotten stronger. Now her daughter seemed to suffer a myriad of allergies and a mild case of asthma. "Mia, why don't you go play in your room while Mamá gets dinner on, hmm?"

"Ok!" she says enthusiastically, her blue eyes shining. The same eyes as her father.

Andrea smiles happily as she heads for the kitchen...only for the doorbell to ring. She swears in Spanish. "Got to be kidding me," she mutters as she heads for the door. In her irritation she opens the door without looking through the peephole first. The sight of the man standing there robs her of breath.

"Hello Andrea," Clark says as his eyes roam up and down her form. She's just as lovely as he remembers her to be. Perhaps more so as the passing years have allowed her features to mature.

Andrea swallows hard. "What are you doing here?" she demands to know as she rebuilds her defences quickly.

"You don't want to have this conversation in the hallway," Clark argues.

"I kinda think I do," she argues back, folding her arms across her chest, her eyes glancing backward towards whom is there. "Especially if you're here to throw me in jail which is what you threatened to do last time we met," she says, her words almost stabbing him with their intensity.

"No. I'm not," he tells her.

"Well!" she gestures with her hand for him to spit it out.

Clark almost rolls her eyes at her stubbornness before conceding. "It's a funny story. There I was having a normal day when our daughter from the future showed up and spilled the beans."

"What?" Andrea asks, sure she must have misheard him.

"Oh yeah, time travel's a thing. Now, do you really want to have this conversation here?"

"You're insane."

"Her name is Mia. She has my eyes and your nose. Considering we both have black hair I guess it could have come from either one of us."

Andrea blinks.

"So, can I come in now?"

Andrea's mind is in a stunned state but she steps back and lets Clark in.

"Thank you," Clark says trying to remain civil.

Andrea leads him to the living area and gestures for him to sit in the chair while she sits on the couch.

Clark's eyes take in the small apartment. His daughter should be living in something far better than this.

"Time travel's a thing?" Andrea starts the conversation off, sounding completely off kilter.

"Sounds insane I know but it is possible. I've done it."

"And Mia travelled back in time?"

"Yeah. You may have seen her on the news. The 'Maiden of Might'."

Andrea almost goes goggled-eyed. "That was her?!"

Clark nods.

Andrea had seen that woman on the news. That was her daughter? Her little angel? "But...she doesn't have any of our abilities," she argues.

Clark shrugs. "They must kick in when she's older," he reasons.

"But...wasn't she flying?"

"Yeah."

"I can't fly."

"I can...kinda."

"Kinda?"

"I possess the ability. I just haven't quite mastered it yet."

Andrea looks at him oddly.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Andrea."

"And there's a lot I do," she retorts, being just a little bit flirty.

Clark lets that pass without comment but there's a lot she doesn't. A lot he'll have to tell her. She has to know what he is and therefore what their daughter is but that's a conversation for much later.

"I mean...are you sure...it's not a deception of some sort?" Andrea presses.

"It occurred to me."

"And what are you doing about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" the Latino woman queries in disbelief at what she sees as his blasé attitude.

"Nothing to her. When she told me who she was I went to a friend. The one who helped set up your new life here. While I didn't ask him outright if he knew you had a daughter he never contradicted it either. And funnily enough neither have you since I got here."

Andrea's mouth opens and closes a few times. "You…"

"Yes?"

"You...you're playing dumb," she accuses him.

"I don't know what you mean," he brushes that off.

"You're playing along with 'Mia', letting her get comfortable and waiting for her to slip up while at the same time seeing if what she is saying is true or not."

"That's certainly one interpretation that I cannot confirm or deny but I'm not here to talk about adult Mia, Andrea. I'm here to talk about my daughter in the here and now and she is mine isn't she. Please don't try and deny it."

"Little late for that. Christ, I fell for the naive farmboy act," she lambasts her own foolishness.

"Don't take it personally. Everyone does," he says with a shit-eating grin.

"You're not that cute, Kent," she tells him off, rolling her eyes.

"Matter of opinion. Look, Andrea when I came here, I promised myself I wouldn't act rashly or in anger but you have to realise that I'm pretty pissed off at finding out I have a child you hid from me."

"I didn't hide her!" the brunette hisses. "I just didn't want her to grow up with her mother in jail!"

"You killed a man, Andrea."

"He killed my mother!"

"I know he did but we cannot be Judge, Jury and Executioner, Andrea. We possess far too much power to go around acting like that. If you hadn't noticed 'vigilantes' ain't exactly popular at the moment. Acts like that is exactly what those critics need to throw the book at us."

"Us?" she picks up on.

"I use my abilities to help people now."

"You're the Blur. I kinda figured."

"You've been keeping track?"

Andrea shrugs and doesn't really answer.

Clark's impressed she figured it out and oddly he's not freaked out like he would be with other people figuring it out. He takes a few calming breaths. They're off topic. "Andrea. I swear I'm not here to haul you off to jail. I'm not here to fight you. I'm here because I want to be part of my daughter's life. That's all. I just came to talk to you about that."

"That's it?" she asks, clearly sceptical.

"Yes."

Andrea falls into a silence, unsure how to take this. She never expected Clark to show up at her door like this...ever. Therefore she has no response. She's never thought about this situation. She finds herself wringing her hands in her lap. "I...um…" she blows out a breath. "I don't know what to say," she admits in a quiet voice.

"Just don't say, no," Clark requests of her in a quiet earnest voice, not wanting to even think about her refusing to let him be part of Mia's life.

"How…would...we do this? You live in Metropolis."

Hope swells up in Clark that Andrea seems to be receptive. "Which, for me, is literally just a run of a few minutes," he points out.

"Oh," she says, caught out. She means she knew he was fast but not that fast.

Clark observes her closely. In truth he doesn't know her. He doesn't know how she would react but so far she hasn't said no so he's hopeful.

"Mamá?"

Clark's gaze shifts immediately to the small 4-year-old at the doorway...and he does mean small. Definitely below average for what he thinks a 4-year-old should be but having met the adult Mia she clearly has a growth spurt at some point considering she's as tall as her mother who is only about half a foot shorter than him. Beyond that she is just a child version of the woman he's met which does seem to confirm more and more Mia is who she claims to be. He struggles to keep his emotions in check at the sight of his daughter.

Andrea gets to her feet and goes and picks her daughter up. "Mia."

"I'm hungry," the little girl says.

"Oh. I was supposed to be making dinner," she says.

"I'm sorry," Clark apologises as he gets to his feet. "I guess that's my fault."

"Mia. This is...Clark. Someone I knew from before you were born," she says, aiming a look at him not to contradict her and reveal the truth.

Clark feels a stab of hurt at that but bites his tongue.

"Hello," the little girl says, shyly cuddling into her mother.

"Hello Mia," Clark says with a soft, warm smile. "Look, I'll go. Let you have dinner," he decides, not wanting his daughter to go hungry.

Andrea puts Mia down. "I'm just going to show Clark to the door, sweetie then I'll get you your dinner, ok?"

The little girl nods while the two adults head for the door.

Clark turns back round once he's in the hallway. "She's lovely, Andrea."

"She's my angel," Andrea says with lots of deep emotion.

"We still need to sort this out," Clark points out.

"I know," she concedes. "But I don't have a day off work until Saturday."

"I can do Saturday. Dinner?" he proposes.

"I'll have to arrange a babysitter for Mia but sure I should be able to."

Clark reaches into his pocket and fishes out a small card. "My cell number. Just tell me where and when and I'll be there," he promises.

Andrea takes it and looks up at the father of her child.

"Just to be clear, you keeping Mia from me, we're not done having that talk," he warns her.

Andrea school her features, not willing to give any ground there. "See you Saturday then," she says, coolly.

"Saturday," Clark confirms before he turns and departs.

Andrea closes the door and leans her forehead against it, trying not to let herself be overwhelmed by her emotions. Seeing Clark again...it just brings it all back that very brief time they were together. Not just the moment they shared on the rooftop but where she was in her life at that time. The grief and pain over her mother. The rage at her mother's killer.

"Mamá! Hungry!"

Andrea can only reluctantly smile at that. Right. Time to be a mother. Deal with Clark later...though right this second, she has no clue how.

Fortress of Solitude…

Clark had a list of things he needed to get done. Seeing Andrea and Mia had been top of it. For a moment he had so badly wanted to lift Mia into his arms and hold her. Fortunately, he managed to control himself. And tonight he had taken the first step towards being in his daughter's life.

Next on Clark's list of things to do was to see Jor-El so here he was.

"Jor-El!" he calls out to amongst the giant crystals.

"My son," the voice says in return.

"So, I met the darkness you warned me about," he drops casually.

"And managed to resist its influence I assume."

Clark's face screws up slightly. "No. Not really."

"Yet it did not possess you," the ghostly voice can plainly see.

"That visitor from the future you wanted me to get rid of saved me. She possesses the means to drive the darkness away so I think I'll be letting her stick around."

"I still do not think that is wise."

"Luckily it's not your choice to make."

"Your continued defiance of my wishes is self-defeating, Kal-El."

"Well maybe that's because your wishes, tend to come at the price of what I want. Then again you've never cared about that have you."

"Sometimes personal sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

"Do you have any idea how many times I have done that already? When does it stop? When do I get to live my life?"

"You are living your life, Kal-El," Jor-El argues. "But your life involves a greater destiny."

"Which I am trying very hard to fulfil if you hadn't noticed."

"And yet doubt remains within you whether you can achieve this. Doubt the Darkness will use to possess you should it get an opportunity. Only when doubt has been removed from your spirit will you be safe from its malign influence."

"The only malign influence in my life is you," Clark mutters.

"I believe this a conversation best had when you are less emotional but heed my warning Kal-El. For as long as you remain conflicted you are vulnerable to the Darkness."

Smallville…

"So, is 'couch potato' still a term they use in the future?" Clark asks humorously upon returning to the farm and finding his offspring sprawled out on said couch.

Mia narrows her eyes as she stares daggers at him, clearly unamused by the comment.

"You know if you're planning to stay we are going to have to find something for you to do," he calmly points out.

"You're going to let me stay?" she asks, clear hope in her voice.

"Jor-El mentioned that the dark force that was possessing Godfrey was something that was spreading and you have the means to at least hurt it so it would be foolish to send that advantage away."

"Oh. I see," Mia says, face falling. "I'm just a convenient tool," she says, hurt.

"There's that. Also, I'm pulling your leg," he jests as he leans down and kisses the top of her head. "Now budge over," he pushes her aside as he sits down next to her.

"So, you're letting me stay because…"

"I want you here. I want to know my daughter."

Mia smiles brightly at hearing that and her heart sings gladly. "So where were you tonight?"

"Oh. Nowhere special. Just catching up with your mother," he drops the revelation in over casual tones.

Mia chokes as she stares at him in shock. "You saw Mamá?!"

"And you. You're an adorable 4-year-old," he pinches her cheek.

"Papá!" she whines, embarrassed, slapping his hand away. "You're not supposed to do that. That's why I wouldn't tell you where Mamá is."

"Come on Mia. You had to know I would go look for the two of you as soon as you revealed who you were."

"But what about altering the timeline? I'm certain I got a lecture about that."

"Says the girl who travelled back in time. Also, lecture from whom?"

"Um…" Mia looks away at the ceiling. "Not sure I should say."

"Yeah. We're really going to have to sort this out one day."

Mia grins self-effacingly.

"Not this Saturday though."

"What about Saturday?"

"I'm meeting your mother so we can figure out how I can be part of your life. Just like I said to you earlier, Mia if I had known nothing would have stopped me and nothing will, I promise."

Mia stares at her father, adoring him more and more by the second. "So, this Saturday, is this like a date?"

Clark chortles at her hopeful tone. "Don't get your hopes up Mia. Your mother and I did not part on good terms," he cautions her.

"But at least you're talking."

"And here people accuse me of being naively optimistic."

"Or a Boyscout. I heard that one a lot in reference to you."

"Damn Oliver. I miss one meeting and get labelled with that for life," he laments.

Speaking of Oliver, he's suddenly on the news…

"Thank you all for coming, I brought you here to make an announcement. People have these so-called vigilantes all wrong. There's only one way for me to set the record straight. I am Green Arrow."

Author's Note: And we're done with the episode. I find Clark's self-doubts a little bit irritating personally but it's part of the show so I just have to include them and besides they start to get dealt with in the next episode.