Chapter 10: Effects

I pushed Clark away, shoving him in the chest with my hand and sending him back two dozen yards the way we had come. He rolled and came to a halt on his side.

"Get help," I rasped as I dropped, my cheek slamming onto the grassy field.

"Tal!" he cried, before comprehending my words. "I'll get help!"

He then struggled to his feet and ran. Ran as fast as he could, which was unfortunately now human speed.

I watched his form get smaller and smaller as I felt myself growing distant from my body. It was surreal. I was dying. I could feel my life seeping away, choked by the radiation ebbing from chunks of my former world somewhere beneath the ground. The pain continued to pulse, and I tried to move, to roll away, but all my energy had been sapped. Just breathing was now an undertaking. I cannot fully describe the absolute powerlessness.

And so, with the knowledge that there was nothing I could do, my mind drifted to my brother.

What would happen now? Would Superman still come to be?

I hoped I had helped Clark. That my presence in this universe had not been detrimental to him. And I desperately prayed that my death would, in time, help strengthen him instead of damage his future.

Distantly, I realized night was falling, but my mind was growing cloudy, my body without an ounce of strength. My eyes grew dark. Time was immaterial.

"There! Over there, Dad!" a cry cut through the blackness.

And then a light shined across the field, landing on my face.

"Stay by the truck, Clark!" Martha ordered.

I heard her and Jonathan run toward me as the light bobbed up and down.

"Martha!" Jonathan shouted.

I felt hands on me, yanking up before pulling me away. I was as useless as a ragdoll. I couldn't help at all.

"I-is he breathing?" Martha asked, coming to my other side and helping her husband move me.

"I don't know," he managed, my feet dragging along the ground.

The pain began to lift, but I was so weak, the fatigue was a suffering on its own.

"Tal?! Tal?!" Clark cried.

I tried to move, to speak, to reassure, but all I managed was a wheeze.

"Tal, can you hear us? It's Martha. Clark got us," she said.

I groaned.

"Are we far enough away, Clark? Do you feel any of it?" Jon urgently asked.

"I think we are. I don't feel anything," Clark said, and I felt his hands on my chest as Jonathan maneuvered me – I wasn't sure where.

"Come on, help me get him in the back. We need to get him home," Jonathan said.

"He's burning up," Martha noted, concerned.

I felt as if I was freezing.

They somehow hoisted me up into the back of the bed of the truck, and I found myself being partially cradled by Clark as I began to shiver. Martha draped a blanket over us and I felt the truck rumble when Jonathan started it.

I managed to open my eyes, but everything was so blurry I didn't gain much by trying to see, not to mention the fact it was so dark.

"Tal?" Clark asked, afraid.

"I'monna b'kay," I slurred.

Clark sniffled.

I lost consciousness after that, which was a blessing. The pain detached from me when I wasn't awake.

.

.

.

When I came to, it was to the sound of birds chirping and the feel of warmth on my face and chest.

I felt like a big bruise.

"How do you feel?"

I slowly turned my head to find Jonathan in a chair beside a sunlamp. I was shirtless, and the wonderful light was on me, along with the sunlight from the window. I could feel the light being absorbed into my skin and, in certain areas, specifically my scars, it tingled incessantly.

"Exhausted," I said honestly.

"We were really worried about you. What happened?" Jonathan asked gently.

"I'm not sure." And that wasn't exactly a lie. "I think there is something under the ground there. It felt . . . I think it's radioactive."

Jon's eyes widened. "And because you and Clark absorb radiation from the sun. . . ."

"We must have absorbed whatever was there but it is of a wavelength that doesn't agree with us or something," I said, closing my eyes.

Even with the lamp and sun, I felt so nauseous. I wanted to curl over on myself, and yet the thought of moving was so gut churning I quickly lost all desire to move. I swallowed, and I realized my mouth was parched.

For the first time on this Earth.

I refocused.

"How's Clark?" I asked.

Jon gave a nod to the form I suddenly realized was beside me. Clark was asleep on the bed, also shirtless, and my eyes instantly fell to the off-brown and purplish color covering his sternum.

Where I had slammed my hand to knock him back.

"He refused to leave you," Jonathan said, still speaking quietly.

I smiled softly.

"He ran the seven miles to us and then directed us to you," he said before worriedly adding, "His powers are gone."

"I'm certain they'll return," I said. "I can feel the light helping."

Jonathan's shoulders relaxed in relief. "Martha brought the lamp from the greenhouse out back. We weren't sure if it'd help, but we decided it couldn't hurt. Clark said it felt good, so we put you under it too."

"Thank you," I said. "That was good thinking."

"I'll go get you some water and let Martha know you're awake," he said, quietly getting up and leaving.

Clark shifted beside me.

"You awake?" I asked, though I knew it was a somewhat pointless question, especially once he hugged me.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I will be, thanks to you," I said.

"I'm really glad you're okay. When we got to the field, I thought–" He closed his eyes and I could see he was struggling to keep it together.

I hugged him back tightly.

"You did your best in the best way you knew how, which is all anyone can ever ask of you. You saved my life," I pointed out.

"You saved mine first," he said with a tearful grin as he pulled back.

I glanced down at his bruised chest with a grimace.

"How much does it hurt?" I asked as I reached out my hand but stopped before touching it.

"It only hurts if I breathe in all the way," he quickly assured. "It's . . . weird."

I chuckled and allowed myself to lay fully back, still extremely tender.

"What?" I asked, noticing a shift in his expression.

He looked uncertain and concerned, hesitant. His eyes glanced at my side.

Oh.

The large scar I had received from Zeta-Rho over ten years before. It went across my ribs and down toward my hip where it disappeared under the waistband of my pants. If I was sans pants, Clark would see the scar end at my mid thigh.

It had faded over the years, but it was still raised and had a darker tone than the rest of my skin with an odd reflective hue that wasn't exactly normal when the light caught it just right. The odd hue had intensified as I came into my powers so I suspect its appearance has something to do with how I absorb sunlight. It's part of the reason why I didn't go shirtless in public. At the moment, it was also where the tingling was most concentrated.

Clark had never seen it. None of the Kents had, actually. Granted, they never had an opportunity or reason to, until now anyway.

"I was eight, almost nine," I began, understanding his curiosity. "Zeta-Rho. . . ." For some reason, it suddenly became hard to speak as I looked at Clark.

He was twelve years old. Roughly four years older than I had physically been. I'm not sure why, but the emotion that surfaced at that realization struck me, blindsided me really. And I was momentarily brought back to the moment Zeta released his rage upon me. How could he do that to a child? His son?

I had now been alive for 114 years, and while my whole family knew Zeta-Rho had been evil and had hurt me, I had never truly gone into detail about it. The most I had shared had been with Jacob, and I had only shown him my scar after saying I had needed to get away from my father. I didn't ever verbalize what Zeta had actually done or why. I suppose when it comes to certain things, it doesn't matter how old one is. If someone who should love and care for you takes pleasure in hurting you, it's not easy to move past.

Clark swallowed and I knew I had to say something. I cleared my gruff throat and took a deep breath in and out.

"It was an energy weapon. He . . . was upset that I asked to learn . . . from someone he hated," I said, not sure why I was even mentioning that.

"He did this?" Clark asked, appalled as he stared at my chest and side.

"Yes. Every mark you see on me he did," I stated numbly. "At one time or another, to 'root out all weakness' and as 'a lesson in the measure of pain.' According to him, its application was a 'tool of great strategic value'."

"That man was an evil narcissistic sociopath. There's a special place for him in Hell, I have no doubt," Jonathan flatly declared as he entered the room with Martha.

"I agree," I said, gingerly accepting the offered glass of ice water after sitting up.

I winced, the large scar in particular expressing displeasure.

"Tal?" Martha questioned.

"I'm okay. Just tender, and my scars are a little sensitive," I said.

"You're a horrible liar," Martha pointed out.

I smiled sheepishly.

"We'll try cool and warm compresses," she decided, before moving to breakfast. "Are you hungry? Isabel and the other hens laid some fresh eggs for us. I was thinking about making french toast."

I beamed. "I will always be hungry for your french toast," I said, easing back down. "Thank you."

O

It took me five days to get back to normal, and those five days were quite . . . humbling.

I had forgotten how horrible papercuts could be, especially if one got them along a finger joint. And shaving . . . I will never take heat vision for granted again. However, it did remind me of the importance of teaching Clark how to do everything the normal way in case something like this happened to him in the future and he had to keep up the pretense of being like any other human man.

I recalled certain versions of Superman in The Before where he didn't know how to use a razor and had shown up to work covered in nicks after being exposed to Kryptonite and, in another version, didn't know how to even attempt to defend himself in a fight. Well, I wasn't going to allow Clark to fall under that frustrating and embarrassing display of ineptitude and immediately began making future plans.

However, my primary concern was the present.

Clark's abilities still hadn't returned.

Understandably, Martha and Jonathan were concerned and Jonathan headed out to the field and dug. A few hours later, he returned with a chunk of kryptonite secured in a lead box.

I then took us all to my sanctum to speak with my and Clark's mother.

After telling her what had happened, she quickly scanned Clark and myself.

"Mother?" Clark asked as the light faded and holograms of our forms appeared above her hand.

She scrutinized the images for a moment before looking at us. "You are absorbing the sun's radiation at a slower rate than Tal. Your abilities should return in about three days from what I can discern."

"Why is that? Is something wrong?" Martha asked worriedly.

"I believe there are two reasons for Kal recovering slower than Tal, even though Tal was exposed to the kryptonite longer. First, Kal is still growing. His ability to absorb radiation has not fully matured. That will happen when he is roughly 16 years old. The other reason is because Tal . . . absorbs radiation differently," Lara explained carefully.

"My scars," I stated, quickly putting it together.

"Yes. Zeta's use of that energy weapon altered the way your cells process energy, especially where the scarring is. I doubt he knew what he was doing, but because of his actions, you absorb energy at a higher rate than you would have otherwise, making you more susceptible to the damaging radiation of kryptonite. However, your rate of recovery, when exposed to Earth's yellow sun, is also faster," she said.

I looked at Clark, instantly knowing my condition was both a curse and a blessing.

"When Kal has fully matured, how quickly will he be able to recover compared to me?" I asked, knowing all of us wanted to know.

"Well, I only have this single instance to analyze, but I would estimate 60% as fast as you, though he will also not be harmed as quickly," she said. "However, there are also the unknown long term side effects of repeated exposure. They might impact how well you both can process energy or influence how well your cells heal. I do not know."

"We brought a sample," Jonathan chimed in. "Could you scan that and get a better idea of its effects?"

"I could," she agreed.

Clark and I headed out, leaving Clark's parents to open the lead box. We returned a few minutes later when Martha called us.

"I believe it might be possible for Kal to build up an immunity to kryptonite over time. It will need to be done carefully, but I believe it is possible," Lara said.

"And myself?" I asked, though I already suspected the answer.

"Your cells are not as malleable as Kal's and, assuming it is possible, I believe building any resistance to kryptonite would require a . . . more aggressive approach," she warned. "I will begin conducting simulations but, before we attempt anything on your person, I will need a blood sample from you and Kal," she said.

Clark immediately began rolling up his sleeve. I put my hand on his shoulder and I looked at him appreciatively as he looked up at me.

"Alright. Let me know when you're ready for the blood samples, Mother," I told her.

"It will have to be several years from now, when you are fully grown, Kal," she answered, looking at Clark.

I nodded, not all that surprised.

"But, Tal, how will you get your blood drawn?" Jonathan asked, concerned. "You won't be using the kryptonite, will you?"

"No. This place can emit the same light as Krypton's sun, focused in the red spectrum, so that will cancel our invulnerability," I said. "I will need to learn how to properly draw blood however. At least I have plenty of time to learn."

Jonathan and Martha nodded their understanding, appeased, before we said our goodbyes to Lara and headed out.

O

Just as our mother said, Clark's abilities returned to their previous levels three days later. It was a relief to all of us and the kryptonite contaminated field was cleared the week after – after I had thoroughly outfitted a hazmat suit with lead to ensure I was fully protected. I then went through every inch of my property and gathered each spec of kryptonite and placed it all in a lead-lined box.

There was no way I was going to entrust the job to anyone else, and having x-ray vision and being able to work at super speed in the dark certainly helped matters. I would x-ray out of range from above, lowering my visor of leaded glass so I could peer through the ground, locate all fragments in a zone, and then I'd get to work. After I finished scanning my property, I scanned all the surrounding farmland and fields. Thankfully, I only found a few fragments elsewhere. My property, ironically, had the lion's share of kryptonite. What was more, there was only green kryptonite and I desperately prayed that red simply didn't exist in this universe.

From The Before, I hated red kryptonite. I hate it more now, and the mere idea of it is horrifying to me. Thus, I'm working on contingencies, just in case.

But that aside, the core of my attention remains, of course, on my family.

Clark, understandably, was pretty shaken up for the next week or so after regaining his powers and was now back to his normal self – for the most part, anyway. Granted, the incident had impacted myself pretty deeply as well, so I wasn't surprised that it had shifted things between Clark and I.

We were closer. While before our relationship had admittedly been reminiscent of a close nephew and uncle more than anything else, where I served as a role model and mentor, now we were truly brothers. There was a degree of equal footing, in part because we had saved each other but also because we were both learning something new about ourselves together.

It was wonderful.

I kept my side of the family in the loop, and my mom and dad took on the kryptonite issue personally, using their newfound freedom in retirement to dive into mineralogy. Of course, they were still raising Luke, but with Tim now out on his own and Luke 16 years old, deep into his apprenticeship, they had the means and time.

It brought a fair amount of peace to my mind. And I hoped that what they learned from the kryptonite samples would pay dividends later. Afterall, dividends from other types of investments were certainly bearing fruit, financial and otherwise.

Smallville was prospering and not just because of more efficient farming and distribution. Things such as geothermal engineering and even biomedical engineering (for veterinary care) had taken root.

The Martin family, who owned a little shop on the main street of Smallville, had an ambitious daughter who had initially planned on moving to Metropolis to conduct her PHD thesis, but she decided to ask EnerCorp if we'd be willing to back her research instead. After I looked over her proposal, I accepted. Construction on a geothermal research lab on the outskirts of town began a week later.

As for the biomedical aspect, that was being explored by the Darren family. They owned and operated the Stables, a business that instructed people in horseback riding and the like, and they were pioneering the use of my technology in animal husbandry – a field I had honestly never considered even viable for the tech, but it apparently was.

My company continued to grow, bit by bit, and I was a few years out from obtaining full autonomy over a portion of the Namib Desert due to my treaty with Namibia. The desalination stations were working well and Namibia's agricultural sector was booming. I was holding up my end of the bargain and the leaders of Namibia were very happy with their nation's vastly improved situation and were already working on plans for a ceremony that would herald the territory's transition of power to me.

The future was bright and I was looking forward to when my brother was ready to step out and become who he was born to be, especially because I knew we had people looking out for us. Our own salvatorems.

O o O

To be continued in 'Quis Salvabit Salvatorems?: Hope'

O

A/N: I'm not sure when I'll be able to begin posting the next installment of this, but it is in the works. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the story so far, like favorite scenes, as well as what you imagine or would like to see in future parts :) Thanks!