My Weird Little Brother
Lois and Clark – The New Adventures Of Superman
By Thomas Mc

Time For Explanations

For a couple of seconds Martha and Jonathan stared at Susan and Clark who stared expectantly back at their parents. Martha noticed that Clark seemed more interested than disturbed over his sister's question but there was also a hint of fear in his expression.

Martha was the first to break the silence. "Why would you ask that question, Susan?"

Susan responded. "I've known for a long time that Clark is a bit different than the other kids. I have already decided that he wasn't a changeling. That's just fairytales and kid stuff. And he doesn't look like a mutant ..." She shrugged. "So, that leaves space alien."

"'What do you mean by different?" Jonathan inquired with a frown.

"He can do a lot of things that normal people just can't do." Susan responded. She then proceeded to list all the things that she had become aware of as well as what she had actually witnessed as proof. She could quickly tell by their reactions which anomalies they were aware of and which ones took them by surprise.

Clark's apparent immunity to disease was no surprise to them. They were also aware of his superior hearing and his remarkable speed. Mention of his apparent invulnerability drew a more speculative response. They knew he was tougher than normal but not the true extent of that toughness. Mention of the effect of his touch when she was feeling ill resulted in raised eyebrows on all three of them. Both parents were unaware of how massive strength really was or his phenomenal visual gifts. The description of his laser vision followed by a detailed description of the afternoon's events left them totally stunned. During the retelling of the hay bale incident she noticed that Clark was starting to withdraw with-in himself. She ruffled his hair causing the usual indignant response and breaking Clark's withdrawal.

Martha closed her eyes for a moment to collect her thoughts then took a deep breath. "How to begin? …" She glanced at Clark then at Susan. "It all started the day we finally had to accept the fact that we would never be able to have children." She looked at her husband as she continued. "I was feeling very depressed and a bit guilty that I was unable to bear Jonathon any children. He took me for a ride into town to raise my spirits." She paused to glance lovingly at Jonathon. He gave her a reassuring nod. Then she returned her attention back to her children. "It was just before dusk and the clouds were moving in from the west. We were driving home and Jonathan had just turned on the truck's headlights when we saw a bright object shoot across the sky in front of us leaving a fiery trail behind. The object appeared to have come down in Shuster's Field. Jonathon guessed that it was a meteor but I wasn't so sure and wanted to get a closer look."

Jonathon took up the narrative. "The thing left a furrow where it came down. We followed the furrow and what we found at the end was not a piece of space rock ... it was some kind of craft that looked a lot like the pictures in some of your mother's science fiction magazines." He gave her a knowing smile. "Naturally she just had to take a closer look."

Martha continued. "I reached out to touch it because it wasn't giving off heat like I expected. As soon as I touched it, the front of it opened up. Inside it was a tiny newborn baby ..." She looked directly at Clark. "We took you home and, with the help of some very good friends, we adopted you as our own."

"So I really am a space alien after all." Clark spoke softly toward the floor. Then he looked up at the only parents he had ever known, his eyes echoing sorrow mixed with fear of rejection. "I'm probably not even human."

"Martha shook her head. "Oh, Honey, we didn't care if you were a Human or a Martian. We found you and you were ours. That was all that mattered."

Jonathon spoke up. "You may not be our flesh and blood but, regardless what else you may be, you are our child and we both love you as our own son."

Susan gave Clark a quick hug. "Told ya' so." She looked back at Martha and Jonathon. "What happened to the ship?"

Jonathon responded. "I went back to the site to burn the ship and haul it off to the dump. But when it came down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to destroy it. It was yours ... a part of your heritage." He glanced at Martha. "I took out the few loose items I found in it, then I buried the craft down near our favorite fishing hole. The other stuff I brought home." Jonathon lips quirked a half smile. "You know that old half collapsed shed near the fishing hole that I always look at as we pass it" Clark and Susan both nodded. "The ship is buried underneath it."

Martha jumped up. "I'll be right back." Then she rushed to the back of the house.

A minute later, Martha came back carrying a brown leather suitcase and set it on the low table before the sofa. When she opened the suitcase they all saw that it was, apparently, filled with old sci-fi magazines.

"What is this?" Susan asked in a disappointed voice.

Martha held up one finger (a common gesture to pay attention) then she grabbed the outer corners of two of the magazines and lifted. An inch-and-half thick jumbled pile of magazines came up in one piece to expose the hollow interior of the suitcase.

Martha reached in and pulled out a five inch wide red and yellow diamond shaped shield with a stylized "S" nearly filling it embroidered onto a piece of bright blue cloth that was cut into a quarter inch boarder around the shield.

"What is that?" Asked Susan.

"We don't know." Responded Jonathon. "But that symbol was also embossed on the nose of the craft you arrived in."

"And it is on this." Added Martha as she lifted out a bright blue baby blanket with a smaller version of the "S" shield embroidered into one corner. "You were wrapped in this so we think that the symbol is somehow connected to you."

As Martha set the baby blanket carefully aside with a tender smile, Jonathon reached in and pulled out a seven inch long transparent blue crystal. "I have no idea what this is but I found it in a hidden compartment. I never would have known it was there. I banged my elbow when I was trying to retrieve the sphere from a tight corner of the compartment you were in. Then a small hidden compartment popped open."

"What sphere?" Asked Susan.

"This." Remarked Jonathon. He pulled out a small white cloth drawstring bag. He opened it and pulled out a four inch sphere with random red, brown and orange shapes covering it. "You can barely feel it vibrating when you first pick it up. Then after about a second it goes quiet."

Without thinking, Clark reached out to touch the sphere for about a second then jerked his hand back in surprise. "Krypton." He uttered softly.

"What did you say?" Asked Susan.

Clark looked up at those around him. "Krypton." He took a deep breath and pointed at the sphere. "That is the planet Krypton ... Where I was born." He looked back at the sphere. "It's so strange. I touched it and suddenly it was there in my mind. I just knew that was where I came from." He looked over at the 'S' shield "That symbol is the family crest ... The 'S' shape is the Kryptonian symbol for hope." The shapes on the sphere began to shift and new colors appeared. Soon it settled in a perfect representation of Earth. Clark looked thoughtfully at the altered globe. "Maybe that means that I'm where I was meant to be." He looked at his parents and shrugged. "But why am I here?" There was a hint of need in Clark's voice.

Jonathon responded as he put his arm around Martha. "As far as I'm concerned, you are here to be our son, making our lives as a family more complete." He kissed Martha's cheek then looked Clark eye to eye. "As for your purpose on this Earth, that is your choice to make. You are a good person and we have faith in you." He rested his free hand on Clark's shoulder and his expression became extremely serious. "Just make sure no one, outside the four of us, ever finds out where you come from and what you can do or the government will try to catch you and dissect you like a frog to find out what you are and how you do what you do"

Clark and Susan both became very serious as they nodded in response.

~ o ~

As Susan was walking home, her head was full of plans for her future. Fortunately, Smallvile High School offered Freshman College classes which meant that she had one more year before she would have to go to college in Wichita. She and Clark's friend Rachel Harris had dreams of being a police officers, like Sherriff Harris. Then her mind drifted to thoughts of Clark's upcoming sixteenth birthday and his budding crush on Lana Lang. She wondered if Lana was going to do anything special for his birthday. The relationship between Lana and Clark was so nebulous that it was impossible to tell exactly what her feelings for him were. Lana had always seemed to be self-centered and a bit flakey. Susan felt very protective of her little brother and did not trust Lana to treat him right. Personally, she thought Rachel would make a much better match for Clark.

Susan's thoughts again drifted back to her college plans. By getting most of her freshman course requirements out of the way now in high school, she was saving her parents a bundle. And taking her sophomore year at one of the Wichita junior colleges while living with a cousin of her adoptive mother would also save some money. She knew that their adoptive parents had saved up a tidy little college fund for her and Clark by renting out her old family farm land to local farmers but the less she spent on her own education the more there would be for Clark who had visions of being a Journalist.

Susan arrived home to find Martha was standing in the back door looking toward Clark's tree house with a worried frown on her face. "Mom? Is something wrong?"

Martha looked over at Susan. "It's Clark ..." She paused momentarily as her gaze shifted back to the tree house as she continued to speak. "He told the nurse that he had a bad headache. He won't open his eyes and he won't tell me what is wrong. I think it must be some new development with his vision abilities." She shifted her gaze back to Susan. "You two have always been so close. Your father and I have always supported him when a new ability appeared but you are so good at helping him understand and control them. Maybe he will tell you what happened."

Susan found him sitting on the floor with his back and head against the wall, his knees drawn up and his eyes tightly shut.

"Clark?"

He didn't move

"Clark, what's wrong?"

He dropped his head to his knees without opening his eyes. "I saw her ... Lana ... in the girls shower." His voice was just barely loud enough for her to hear.

Susan blinked twice. She wasn't sure she had heard him right. "Clark, what are you talking about. Look at me and tell me what's wrong."

"I can't! I might see something that I shouldn't." He cried out in dismay.

She thought over what he was saying and her eyebrows shot up a notch as it hit her. "Are you saying that you saw through the walls?"

Clark nodded. "I couldn't help it. My eyes went straight to Lana before I thought to close them."

She took hold of his wrists and demanded his attention. "Clark, do as I tell you! Open your eyes and look at my face!" She gave his wrists a slight squeeze. And spoke in a softer voice. "Come on Clark, just do it, for me."

Clark reluctantly raised his head. Very slowly he opened his eyes. Relief flooded his face when all he saw was his sister's face.

She swallowed as she thought about what to say next and the possible ramifications. "Now, very slowly, look downward."

He hesitated, then lowered his gaze, an inch at a time. "My vision is normal!" He crowed.

She pointed to the wall to her left. "What do you see?"

"A wooden wall." He replied.

"Look past the wall."

He concentrated for a second then the wall of the tree house seemed to dissolve away and his eyes got wide with wonder. "I can see the house and the barn and the fields around them." He centered in on the house and concentrated. The outer walls of the house dissolved and he could see mother in the kitchen, cooking dinner. He relaxed and suddenly the tree house wall was opaque again. He gave out a whoop of triumph. "I can control it. Wow this is cool." His face fell. "But what about what I saw at school today? Rachel was also in there. How will ever be able to look any of those girls that I saw in the eye?"

Susan shrugged. "I don't know but promise me that you will never use your ... x-ray vision like that ever again. And you will have to work very hard at acting like it never happened." There was a wicked gleam in her eye. "Though I would love to be there the next time you come face to face with Lana." She giggled. "It will be priceless."

"Aw Susan, don't tease. I'm embarrassed enough as it is."

"I know but that is what's so funny about it. You, trying to keep your composer and Lana trying to figure out why you're turning so red." She gave him an understanding smile. "Come on li'l brother. Mom needs to start dinner and Dad will be coming home from the field in about an hour. The four of us can hash things out after dinner."

~ o ~

It was the day after the x-ray vision had first manifested itself. The day after the incident Clark and Susan had just arrived at school when they encountered Lana and Rachel at the main entry. Clark immediately turned bright red and bolted into the school. All three of them stared after him. Susan was amused. Lana and Rachel were perplexed.

"What's wrong with Clark?" Asked Lana.

Susan thought a moment then responded. "Clark had a very embarrassing dream, last night."

"Oh, what kind of dream?" Rachel inquired with spark of interest in her eyes.

"An embarrassing dream." Susan responded succinctly.

~ o ~

It was a week after the x-ray incident. Clark looked at himself in the mirror. The new glasses he wore held flat leaded glass lenses that blocked his x-ray vision and heat vision. They also partially limited his telescopic and microscopic vision. At Jonathan's request, Wayne Irig had contacted a distant optometrist cousin who had made the special glasses for Clark. "How do I look?" Clark asked as he examined the image in the mirror.

Martha responded, her voice carrying a large dollop of motherly pride. "They look great on you."

Susan added her two cents worth. "You really look quite good in them."

Clark went back to studying his reflection. He would swear that the glasses made his face look different. It was subtle but it was there. He shrugged and smiled. "I think I like it."

Disclaimer: This story is based on the television series "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. The story, however, is a product of my own imagination. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans.