Unaware of the ongoing drama here in town and the latest news that were aired in all morning-shows, Janet looked out through the window into their yard. It was foggy and today, like it was usual at this time of autumn, it will rain again, soon.
Janet had no clue that her husband's brother was brought out of the plane he just arrived with in a wheelchair, after the man who drugged him told the crew that he just 'drunk too much' to be brought to a boat with several accomplices. She was also not aware that her husband's mother was nearby and watched her house from the distance! Or that her husband was crying…
Janet went upstairs again to their bedroom and checked for Joel again, who was still sleeping in their bed peacefully. Ace was laying next to the bed and looked on her as if he was checking her, to keep sure she had no bad intentions. It was obvious that the dog could feel the current tension and that he was willing to protect the boy if necessary.
Janet went closer and kept sure the boy was fine before she petted the dog's head to thank him for his protection and left the room again to let the boy sleep. She went downstairs again. Mitja was sitting on the windowsill in the living-room, looking outside to the street. Almost as if the notoriously lazy cat was keeping sure that nobody comes closer to the house.
It was still dark outside. She couldn't remember the last time; Connor left the house so early. But well… it was to help Jeff! Janet looked around and thought about what to do to distract herself before she suddenly saw her mother entering their yard, through the hidden door in their fence.
The woman was wearing outdoor-clothes, and she was dirty. It almost looked like as if she just hiked here from the fortress…
"Mom?! What are you doing here?" Janet asked shocked after opening the rear-door.
"I wanted to check with you!" the woman told and came in to put off her dirty clothes in the dirt lock.
"Where is Daddy?"
"Back in the city-hall! Trying to get more information! The governor of Alaska is on the way here!"
"The governor?" Janet said shocked.
"Yes… as if the town is not already crowded enough!" her mother moaned. "The cruise season is about to end, but five ships are on the way here! Three more than scheduled! With every hour more and more people arrive in private planes! The airport is overcrowded! I fear Connor will freak out! Where is your husband?"
"He is on the way to the police! You never guess who stood at our door at 5 a.m. to tell us he fears that he blew up the plane?" Janet moaned.
Lois meanwhile stood at the crossroad and looked up to the house. It was foggy, but she could clearly see that it was a two-storied single-family-house with a duplex-garage, located in the corner. Right behind the house was the forest.
Lois liked it… it was quite and cozy. It was not the big-city-estate, she always imagined her son to live in, since she knew Jon was a big city child and hated rural areas and suburban places. Everyone who spends some time in Smallville learns to hate such places. But it was thousand times better than the farmhouse and any homeless-shelter, homeless-camp, or cave she feared him to live. It was a solid, rustic, craftsman house, located in a good place to sneak out into the forests behind if necessary… Maybe that's why he bought it? Or because of his wife? She couldn't wait to see how it looks inside…
Lois made one step ahead and got immediately a heavy gust of icy wind into her face. Almost as if the weather-gods waited for her to make this step. She shuddered! Was that a sign? Or a warning?
Inside the house, Janet and her mother could hear the gust rattling on the windows. The cat screamed scared and jumped off the windowsill to hide under the couch again…
"Mitja… calm down!" Janet hissed before turning to her mother again. "I don't get smart out of this cat…"
"What do you feed this cat? Every time I see him, he seems to get fatter?"
"I hope Joel does not feed him secretly with sweets…" Janet murmured. "…well… about Jeff… I don't believe it was his fault, but something is odd about it!"
"We need some time to figure out more! We have to wait for the investigation results! Or someone with analytical knowledge…" her mother told. "…but one thing I wanted to tell you, your father and I went to the fortress, yesterday after we left here!"
"You went to the fortress? Now?"
"Jan… your husband, and his grandmother's A.I. have always made it clear that everyone who knows about Connor's secret and the fortress, is always welcomed at the fortress, whenever he or she needs something. And your father and I didn't stop wondering… if all of this… you know…"
"That it could have to do something with our weird trip into the void last month? With the other 'Connors'?" Janet concluded.
"Yes… so… your father and I talked a bit with Lara! We also told her what Connor did, and she is really proud on him for saving so many people! And… she told us that it is possible that…"
MEAOW…
The loud scream from Mitja, who was sitting on the windowsill again, cut her off. Since the cat spotted Lois walking up the road…
Lois shuddered, since she suddenly had the feeling that someone was watching her. That a pair of furious eyes was focused on her and that her arrival was not appreciated. For some reason, she turned around to hide behind a fence. Not knowing it was just a cat…
In the house, Janet arrived at the window to see why the cat was so upset. She couldn't see Lois in the foggy darkness…
"What? There is nobody?" Janet moaned and looked out again. "Gosh… Everyone is so upset…"
Janet went back to her mother.
"Mom, could you stay with Joel? I need to get some air…" Janet moaned, put on her jacket, and left through the rear door to leave the yard through the hidden door in the fence to be alone for a minute in the forest to think about everything.
Her husband in the meantime stood with Jeff in front of the local police-station…
"I know this is hard… but I speak out of experience!" Connor said while his hand rested on Jeff's shoulders. "Better and end with terror than endless terror!"
Jeff was crying… "I just wanted to get out of the bullshit!"
"And everyone understands that! Listen Jeff… you didn't bring a bomb into the plane! You just placed some geological samples in the plane for a woman, who is hiding something. Can you describe the woman?"
"I think so!"
"Good… you tell them everything about her! And about the man you talked to! Give them the number you called! And the bank-records… you must show that you full cooperate and then they will see that you have nothing to do with it…" Connor explained before they entered the station.
Connor was shocked about the presence of so many upset people who all demanded something…
Connor's super-hearing was overwhelmed by so many yelling, squeaking, fast talking and ranting. He saw people arriving before, but he didn't expect it so full here…
"What is going on here?" Connor asked a passing officer, who was a colleague of his brother-in-law.
"Sorry… no comment!"
"Excuse me, we are here to…" Connor began but got ignored. "…hello…"
"Hey, you are not the only one who has questions!" another officer said.
"Connor, I am scared!" Jeff wailed like a little child.
Connor put his arm around the young man and comforted him.
"Hey… everything will be fine!" Connor said.
But Connor was not sure about his words by himself. Since he was scared as hell by himself since yesterday. He did his best to leave out the sounds of the many voices and focused instead on the sound of the waves outside in the sea again…
Suddenly one of the officers, Connor immediately recognized as Tim's boss, climbed on the counter to stand over the crowd and raised his arms to get everyone's attention.
"SILENCE!" the middle-aged man yelled before the crowd finally calmed down to look up to the officer. "I KNOW YOU ARE ALL UPSET! BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY PROOF FOR THIS!"
Jeff cried up loudly. Scared that they think it was him. It was Connor who held him tightly to calm him down.
"Shhh… there there there… all will be okay…" Connor murmured, while ignoring that some people looked over to them now after it became quiet.
The officer, who stood on the counter just nodded to him and then turned back to the crowd. "Listen… there is no prove! And if it is true, I can assure you that nobody is in danger!"
"It is nothing against him! But the military is after him!" a woman yelled.
"Yeah… What if they bomb us? Everyone knows what the military did with Smallville!" a man yelled.
"Yes, but we don't have any X-Kryptonite here and we are not radiated by it like the people there! Or have you seen any antisocial sociopaths here?" the officer asked, which seemed to calm down the people.
"Well… I think it would be interesting if he is really here?" a woman said, all eyes suddenly focused on her. "I mean… he is a world-famous inventor now!"
"Yeah… that's right!"
"I wonder how he got here?"
"He should be around my age now!"
"Do you think he can hear us talking about him now?"
Connor was confused and placed Jeff on a vacant seat before tipping on a woman's shoulder to catch her attention. "Hey, who are they talking about?"
"Haven't you heard it?" she asked with a confused headshake.
"No, what?"
"It was in all news this morning! The military has found prove that Jonathan Kent is living here in this area!" the woman told him.
Suddenly Connor could feel his whole world shattering…
His mind went black…
Suddenly all sounds vanished out of his ears, the air seemed to get colder, his body heavier, and his view dazed. His body suddenly felt the urge to faint, but Connor feared to do so. Instead, all he could do was continuing listening…
"Listen, we don't know why the military suddenly claims that Jonathan Kent is living here…" the officer continued.
"What if he is one of us?"
"Yeah… what if he goes to our shops, visits our church…"
"That is not the problem! The military and the Smallvillians will bomb us! What if the Smallvillians placed that bomb aboard the plane?"
"Oh… they would do that!"
"Agghh…" suddenly Jeff cried up loudly again, catching everyone's attention with his outburst. "…oh, my god… I think I have to vomit… Connor?!"
Jeff was totally shocked by the fact that he could be seen as an Smallvillian. Due to their long exposure to the X-K radiation from the mines, Smallvillians had the reputation of being evil, arrogant Kryptonians by themselves. The worst of the worst. There were countless of stories over the years of people from Smallville who received hate and rejection way worse than that what they did to Jonathan Kent. But since Smallville was worldwide known as 'the town that turned Superman evil' they should not complain.
But Jeff was not a Smallvillian. Hell, he despises these people, since because of them Superman turned evil. Thousands of parents started beating their kids because they thought: 'when Superman can do it, I can do it, too'. Smallvillians stay for lies, for being mean, for being egoistic… Things Jeff wasn't and never wanted to be… He turned to lean on Connor's shoulder again. But Connor was gone…
"Connor? CONNOR?" Jeff yelled. "Where are you…?"
Connor only had to hear what they were talking before rushing out and then leaving in a blur unseen to get into the forests to scream there…
A cold shiver ran down Janet's back when she stood in the forest behind their house and sat down on the quad, her mother used to get from the fortress beyond the mountain back to town. Looking back and forth between the fence to their yard and the small narrow path, Connor created with his superspeed between the house and the fortress, that was located hidden in the mountains, near the lakes. Hikers and tourists regularly walked through the area, but nobody ever discovered it, because the vegetation around it covered it.
Janet wondered if it is not better to leave town with Tim and his fiancé together. Some days of quite time. Away from all the gossip and the talking. That everything was about to escalate already she didn't know. Instead, she rubbed with her hands over her baby-bump and became moody…
"Aww… Martha, I am so sorry that your father and I are now so stressed! But I promise to you, as soon as you are born, everything will have calmed down!" Janet said.
Janet was happy to be pregnant. Knowing that it was just because of Connor!
Three days before she met Connor for the first time, the doctor told her after a routine check-up, that she might not be able to ever get pregnant. Maybe after expensive treatments and artificial insemination. But when she got pregnant with Joel, it was a huge surprise. Obviously, Janet is only able to get pregnant with 'Kryptonian-babies'. It was a huge shock. Especially for Connor, who was not sure if he will be able to be a good father. After his own bad experiences, he feared he could be a failure as father, just like his own. He also feared his powers and the possible consequences for his baby. If it is born powerless, or will have severe identical issues like had? Connor simply feared to ruin his children's life by their heritage, just like his was ruined only for being born into his family.
But nothing in the world could have led Janet to make an abortion or anything like that! It was a miracle that she was pregnant at all. And she never dared to think that it is even possible. Not her, not her parents, or anyone else who knew that she was actually not able to get pregnant in the first place. Eight and a half months ago, when she got pregnant again, it was another miracle. Lara confirmed it! Joel and Martha will live on the legacy of the house of El, according to Lara. And Connor, did everything to not to end like his father. He made a therapy! He is more honest to others than his father! He attended therapy sessions till today…
"Aww… Let's hope this is not getting worse!" Janet murmured not knowing that Lois Lane just rang the doorbell at her house…
A piercing pain shot through Lois' body again when she pressed the button of the doorbell and a heavy gust of wind blew over her again. As if her body threat to die if she does not leave immediately again. Her phone in her purse start to beep, indicating that she received messages… she guessed from John-Henry or Natalie, who realized that she left the hotel already. Or her father, if he woke up again? But she ignored that.
Janet's mother was surprised about the early visit of someone and went to the front door to look through the door viewer to see a woman with blonde hair, thick rimmed glasses a petite stature standing outside. She didn't know her, but she could see that the woman was alone, was freezing and trembling as if she was in pain… so she opened…
"Good morning! How can I help you?"
Lois looked on woman, who was obviously even older than her, with big eyes and Janet's mother could see that the foreign woman looked on her in shock…
"Ehm… Janet Johnson?"
"No… Eloise Johnson! Her mother!" the woman told, which let Lois smile and understand it. "And you are? So early?"
"Ehm… please excuse the early disturbance! I can guess you don't expect someone to come here so early… Ehm… my name is Luna Ellis! I am looking for Connor Johnson!"
"Luna Ellis, the author?" the woman asked with big eyes.
"Ehm… yes!" Lois told, before saying that she planned to write an article about Connor in her 'extraordinary humans' series and actually wanted to show up later. But since there was a huge chaos in town now since the 'appearance' of Jonathan Kent, it was difficult to make an appointment in his office.
"Oh… interesting… well… you just missed him! He already left for work! And my daughter left for a walk and is not at home, too…" Eloise told. Knowing that it was great to hear that Connor gets this great honor, but worried that it was the worst possible timing now. "…I am sorry but… ehm… are you okay?"
"Ehm…" Lois felt the pain in her body again. "I just forgot to take my medicine!"
Lois opened her purse to get the dose with her medicine out. On the display of her phone, she saw the angry messages from John-Henry and Natalie popping up almost secondly…
"I am sorry… I am coming later, again…"
"Do you need some water for your pills?" the woman offered.
Lois smiled. It was her chance to get at least a glimpse of her son's house… and maybe on Joel?
"Come in! I get you a glass of water!" Lois' in-law offered.
"Thank you!" Lois said and entered her son's house. Ignoring the piercing pain in her chest when she invaded the place.
In the meantime, John-Henry and Natalie desperately looked for Lois…
On a tablet, Natalie localized Lois' phone in a private house a mile away, while her father used a computer to hack the hotel to open the electric lock at her hotel-room…
"Look, she is in a private house…" Natalie wailed and presented it to her father. "…I think that is Jon's place?"
"Oh no… if they observe her, too, she lures them directly to him!" her father said, and the door opened. "Let's see what else she is hiding!"
Both stormed into the suite. It was obvious that Lois slept in the living-room. The door to the bedroom was jammed with a chair to prevent that someone inside could get out. John-Henry pushed the chair away and stormed into the bedroom where he and Natalie were shocked to find Sam sleeping on the bed like a dead…
Natalie turned away disgusted. John-Henry was shocked, too. How could Lois get him with her? He was the main reason why Jonathan got scared of his own father and brother…
John-Henry used his hand to feel Sam's pulse. He was alive but it was obvious that he got drugged to stay asleep.
"Oh my god… Lois…" John-Henry murmured before a loud alarm sound up from Natalie's tablet.
"Agh… I think it is getting worse… they are sending these drones over the island again!" Natalie said and saw four drones approaching the island. "I try to hack them…"
"They have Lois' and our genetic codes! When they localize her, she busts Jon…" John-Henry realized while they closed the door again, jammed it with the chair again and left with Natalie to get into their rental-car to get there and stop Lois while Natalie did her best to hack the drones to manipulate their results. Just good that she and her father developed them together…
And indeed…
In the operations-control-center, the soldiers were busy to scan every square-inch of Revillagigedo Island for any traces of Johnathan Kent…
"Anything new?" suddenly Anderson entered the room.
"I don't think we will find anything! He could have left the island already!" a man said.
"Continue searching! There is no way he left! He won't dare to blow his cover!" Anderson said before turning to another man. "Anything about the pills they found at the place where he and his 'girlfriend' or whoever hid?"
"Yes… The medical-service says we look for an around 30 years-old woman who is pregnant in eight or ninth month! It is possible that she got once diagnosed with infertility and that she is a very sporty person already." the soldier told while opening a file on his computer. "The woman is about 5' 7"" tall and should be between 110 and 120 pounds in not pregnant state… the pills themselves were bought cash in a pharmacy directly at the ferry-terminal in Ketchikan 2 weeks ago."
"Any chance to get any footage from security cameras to identify her?" Anderson asked.
"We already called there! The pharmacy hasn't opened yet! And after that I doubt that they cooperate."
"Why?" Anderson ranted.
The soldier opened social media sites to show Anderson how the people of Ketchikan praised Jonathan Kent as a hero. As 'Alaskaman'! As someone they need to protect…
"This trending 'Alaskaman' picture… was made by the son of the pharmacist's owner! And the owner himself was a member of the 'free-Jon-Kent-movement'. We need a warrant for the security footage!"
"Leave that to me!" Anderson said and left. "In the meantime, try to identify the woman other ways."
Anderson knew how to get a warrant! He knew the justice authorities won't help him to identify Jonathan Kent. But he knew a lot of people in a certain town who would do everything to get Jonathan Kent out of his hideout to ruin his life again.
Someone who would do everything to protect this life, but whom he knew was also able to ruin it unintentionally (like he did with all his decisions in the past) was sitting in this building in his cell and was crying while listening to the news…
A morning-show was talking about it endlessly before suddenly they switched to a life-interview in Ketchikan with a reporter named Stacey. She was, Clark just didn't know yet, a friend of his son's wife…
"…here in Ketchikan, the people have mixed feelings about the news that Jonathan Kent is living here. While some people believe it is a hoax, others are worried about possible consequences, while others believe it could be a huge enrichment for this community…"
"It is an enrichment! Every place where my son lives will profit from his presence! Every place that is not as mean as Smallville and that lets him just be himself, will profit from it!"
"So, you say that Ketchikan is going to be the next Silicon Valley? Is that a confirmation?" Anderson moaned when he entered.
"It means… that every town, no matter in what part of the world, or in which country, or on which continent would profit from my son's presence, because he is a great person, with a big heart, a high sense of justice. He could be a famous scientist, surgeon, or professor now! And not be forced to hide because you want him to experiment on him! Or people gossiping about him! Leave him alone!" Clark ranted.
"What about the information that his 'concubine' has a bun in her oven and is close from giving your race another…"
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Clark screamed loudly, smashing with his fist against the reinforced glass.
"Oh… so you know about her already?" Anderson said mockingly. "It must be… bothering you… to know that there is another one of your kind going to be born soon…"
"I don't know what you are talking about!" Clark lied. In truth he knew from his countless of 'eavesdroppings' that his daughter-in-law was expecting a daughter. And that there was already a son. "My son… is absolutely taboo for you! He… his wife… and his children!"
"Wife?" Anderson said with a raised eyebrow. "Wow… so far I expected a mistress… or just a girlfriend… but a wife…"
Clark became pale. That went too far…
"…and children? Plural?" Anderson continued. "Is he expecting twins, too, or is there already another Kryptonian on Earth!"
"SHUT UP!" Clark yelled, smashing against the wall again.
A big crack appeared in the wall that separated Clark from Anderson while tears ran down Clark's face when he thought about his dumbness. Anderson was unimpressed.
"We don't need your help to find him!" Anderson said and left the room again. "Your ex-wife and your son are in Ketchikan. We only need to follow them.
Clark realized that he had to get out of here. And that ASAP! He had to get Lois and Jordan out of that town. And he had to hope that Jonathan knows how serious the situation is right now and takes precautionary measures. While thinking, Clark suddenly realized that the red sunlight got weaker…
Anderson in the meantime talked to his aide…
"Is everything prepared?"
"Yes, sir!" the young man confirmed. "In a few minutes he will be able to leave!"
"Good… follow his way closely. I want to know how fast he flies, where he flies, and whenever he tries to lure us to another place. What about Miss Lane or the former wannabe Superboy?"
"Well…" the other soldier looked on the screen of his tablet. "…Miss Lane is currently walking from house to house. Obviously she is asking around people. And Jordan Kent… ehm…?"
"What, ehm?"
"Ehm… Jordan Kent is… ehm… well… we lost him…"
"Lost? How is that possible? He was aboard the plane from Seattle to Ketchikan!"
"We can't localize his phone anymore…"
"Find him! If he is with his brother, I want to know it!" Anderson ranted and looked on a monitor to see Clark recharging again and preparing to break out…
In Ketchikan meanwhile…
Janet took some deep breaths while calming down. She really needed that break. She was just about to turn around again and go back to her house when suddenly her husband appeared in a blur in front of her. His face full of tears and despair…
"AGHH… Connor… you scared me!"
"Aww… Jan, I fucked up! It is in all news!"
"What?"
"The… The DOK… they… aghh…"
"Hey, shhhh… calm down and tell me what's going on… wait… let's go back inside, okay! And there we talk!" Janet suggested and together they walked slowly back to the house.
Both were unaware of their visitor…
Lois entered the house and looked around in awe…
She found herself in a nice, cozy, and modern furnished house. It was the perfect mix of Alaska-charm and big-city-flair. In absolutely everything she could see Jonathan's big-city-mentality mixed with his willingness to compromise, for his wife's Alaska heritage. The only one who let her feel directly that she was not welcomed here was the cat, that hissed angrily and rejecting when Lois passed it. And indeed, Lois could feel the cat's hate towards her, as if the overweight animal knew who she was…
She spotted photos all over. Jonathan (or Connor now) with his wife or other new family-members at different activities like fishing, hiking, hunting, or from various trips and vacations. Pictures that proved that her son was having a much better life since leaving Smallville. A place where he was literally trapped and forced to spend a dull life without getting a chance. A tear ran down Lois face when she saw how happy Jonathan was now…
"Mrs. Ellis…" suddenly her daughter-in-law's mother came back with a big glass of water. "… are you okay?"
"Ehm… yes!" Lois lied and took the glass to swallow her pill to stop the pain. She drunk the whole glass and turned around to look around again. "Ugh… thank you!"
"Are you sick?"
"I am cancer patient!" Lois confessed.
"Oh… I am sorry to hear that!"
"Aww… There are worse things!" Lois said, knowing that there are indeed worse things than having cancer. She knew it since she experienced them after her son's getaway. "A beautiful house!"
"Oh… thank you! My daughter and my son-in-law have both different tastes, but they made the best of it! Ehm, Mrs. Ellis… It is nice to hear that you want to write about my son-in-law and gives me just one more reason to be so proud on him. But it is right now a very bad timing for your visit. For all of us…"
"Granny?"
Lois dropped the empty glass that fell on the rug and turned around to see a sleepy young boy in pajamas standing on the stairs, rubbing his tired eyes…
In the meantime, John-Henry and Natalie raced in their rental-car across the town towards the location where they localized Lois' phone…
Lois went a step closer to the boy with big, tear-filled eyes and knew immediately: This is her grandson! And he called her 'granny'! That felt so beautiful.
"Oh, Joel… you are awake!" suddenly Elois interfered, remembering Lois painfully that the boy meant her when he said granny and not Lois. "Joel, say hello! We have a guest!"
"Hello!"
"H… Hello…" Lois cried. Surprising her in-law and the boy with her tears. Lois reached out her hand for a handshake that the boy returned with a smile. "…I am…"
Suddenly the rear door opened…
"Mom, we are back!" Janet said when she and her totally pale and husband came inside.
"Is Joel allrea…" Connor began to talk when he suddenly spotted 'Luna Ellis' in his living room. And to make it worse she was shaking hands with his son. "…YOU…!"