Chlark Fanfic: Agenda, Chapter 6
Title: Agenda
Author: babydee1
Pairing: Chlark
Rating: NC-17 (mostly PG-13)
Warnings: None
Timeline: Futurefic; follows Season 8’s Injustice & Failsday Doomsday
Disclaimer: All known characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: More than a decade after the Doomsday Rampage, Clark makes a shocking discovery that changes his life forever.
Feedback: …makes me squee. :-)
Written for the 2011 smallvillebbanglong Fanfic challenge. Many thanks to twinsareinfor all her tireless organisation and support!
Beta’ed by legendarytobes& The Fallen Sky at KSite.
Art by sylvanelfmistre& go_clo.
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 6
Chloe watched them from the living room, feeling slightly stung by the speed and intensity of Clark and Gabby’s budding relationship. She knew she was being immature, but at the same time it was only natural for her to feel a bit bereft at having to share her child’s affection. Especially considering the speed with which he’d turned his back on her, not even stopping to think of the possibility that she could possibly be pregnant.
She’d known. Not theoretically, but deep down inside, she’d known that she had conceived a child. She remembered resting her hand protectively on her womb as the precise moment he vanished from view. Without having experienced a single pregnancy symptom, she was aware of her child’s presence within her.
A pregnancy test had confirmed her suspicions that very afternoon, and the nausea and morning sickness had kicked in a few weeks later. She’d toyed with the idea of heading to the Fortress to tell Clark he was going to be a father, but each time the thought arose in her head, so did his chilling final words to her: Clark Kent is dead.
Even so, when her twenty-week sonogram confirmed that she was carrying a healthy daughter, it had taken every last shred of willpower she possessed to keep from using the octagonal disc to whizz herself to the Fortress. She’d stood there in the Kawatche Caves, disc in hand, and was inches away from slotting it into the port when she felt her baby move for the first time.
She’d been expecting it for a week or so, but still the stirring in her womb filled her with a sudden jolt of emotion. For the first time since she’d found out she was pregnant, she actually felt like a mother.
Suddenly the enormity of Clark’s sacrifice was made real to her. He had turned away from her not because he hated her, but because he loved her and wanted her to be safe. He was determined never to put her life in danger ever again, or the life of anyone close to her. Jimmy’s death and Lois’s mysterious disappearance had been a jarring wake-up call and a clear indicator of how truly dangerous Clark’s world could be.
So when he’d said goodbye, he’d meant it. And the last thing she wanted to do was give him even more to worry about. If he ever became aware that he was to be a father, he would do the responsible thing and return to her in a heartbeat - and turn his back on his heroic destiny.
She couldn’t allow that. It wasn’t called a destiny for nothing. Clark was put on earth to be its hero, not a middle-American soccer dad. She had to do the right thing for both him, and her child.
So with tears in her eyes, she’d slipped the octagonal disc back in her purse and walked out of the cave.
Now, thirteen years had passed, and as she sat watching Gabby with Clark she wistfully wondered if denying her child any knowledge of her father had been the right decision to make. It had been fine for the first three years of her life, certainly; but once she’d gotten old enough to ask where her Daddy was, Chloe had been able to put her off with a stern ‘Mommy doesn’t like to talk about him.’ Gabby must have thought the worst, because she’d stopped asking not long after, and Chloe had never offered any information about him or his whereabouts whatsoever. Not that there was much she could have said; Clark had been off the grid for the first decade of Gabby’s life, anyway.
When Superman, the hero formerly known as The Blur, had returned to Metropolis, Chloe had strengthened her resolve to keep Clark out of their lives. Clark’s Kryptonian history was public knowledge, and Chloe was determined not to let her daughter’s alien heritage come to light; ergo, telling Gabby the whole truth hadn’t been an option.
But then her heat vision had shown up, and everything changed. Gabriella now needed her father, and Chloe wasn’t going to stand in the way of that.
And if she was going to be true to herself, Gabby wasn’t the only one who needed him.
Standing resolutely, she made her way towards the laughing pair.
***
Clark was still chatting with Gabby when he heard Chloe’s soft footsteps approaching.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” she said with a distant smile.
“Hey, Mom!” Gabby greeted. “What’s up?”
“I, er…I just heard from the office, and I’m gonna have to head back to Gotham for a few days,” she replied.
Clark’s face fell. “But you just got here,” he pointed out, making his disappointment evident. “And I thought you were on holiday.”
“I am, but I’m kind of on call, and they really need me right now,” she explained. “Besides, it’s only for a couple of days.”
“Just a few days?”
She cocked her head and raised a brow. “Why, you worried you’ll be climbing the walls with frustration by the time I get back?”
He smiled. “Gabby and I will be just fine,” he said. “Won’t we, Gabby?”
She nodded. “I’ll be good as gold,” she promised. “Girl Scout’s honour.”
Chloe smiled and gave her daughter a hug. “You be a good girl for your father, now,” she said seriously.
“I will, Mom. Say hi to Bruce for me; he must miss us, all alone in that sprawling house.”
Clark stiffened at the mention of Bruce’s name. He didn’t need to be reminded of the person who’d had both Chloe’s and Gabby’s affections for the last thirteen years. But he had to accept that Chloe had moved on. Heck, he’d wanted her to move on.
But that was before he discovered he had a daughter with her. Now he wanted her back in his arms, where she belonged.
But if she was so desperate to return to Bruce, maybe he ought to give up hope and admit defeat. His days of chasing unavailable women were well behind him now.
At least he could take comfort from the knowledge that he had loved Chloe, she had loved him, and that one brief union had created a baby. They would always have Gabby.
It would have to be enough for him.
***
Three hours of training was all it took for Gabriella to hone her heat vision skills.
Clark couldn’t have been prouder of his daughter. After a few accidents with charred blocks of wood, she’d managed to control the temperature and regulate the heat to confidently roast a piece of chicken.
“You’re a faster learner that I ever was,” he remarked as he cut into the chicken to find it perfectly cooked from the inside out. “My parents would have loved to have raised you instead of me. It took me weeks to passably brown a piece of toast.”
“Well, you didn’t have the benefit of a mentor who’d gone through exactly the same thing as you,” she pointed out. “Both you and your parents didn’t know what to expect. You had to figure things out as they came, which couldn’t have been easy.” Her face softened and she tilted her head and regarded him. “And now you’re Superman. I think you turned out fine, personally.”
He couldn’t hide the smile that crossed his lips, not that he’d want to. “Thanks for the ringing endorsement.”
“So what was it like for you?” she asked. “When you got your heat vision? Was it the same trigger as mine?”
He could feel himself blushing. “Uh…no.”
“Oh? What was it, then?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “I’d…rather not say.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Because it’s embarrassing.”
“How embarrassing?” she pressed.
“Don’t you ever stop asking questions?” he asked in alarm. It was like being interrogated by Chloe all over again.
“Do you always avoid answering them?” she queried.
“Gabriella…”
“I mean, it can’t be that bad, and I have a strong constitution---”
“Boobs!” he finally shouted. “I was looking at my teacher’s boobs, and all of a sudden the blackboard was on fire. There, now you know!”
She stared at him in horror. “Dude, that’s gross! You’re Superman for crying out loud, not some peeping perv!”
“Hey, I was sixteen!” he said defensively. “It was the age of raging hormones and spontaneous combustion---”
“Spare me, please!” she begged, covering her ears.
“Hey, what happened to your strong constitution?” he joked triumphantly.
“It disintegrated,” she replied with a shudder. “Ugh. I’m gonna need a lifetime supply of brain bleach on back order.”
“Oh, stop acting like the stork dropped you off, Gabriella,” he chuckled, thoroughly enjoying himself. “You were conceived the normal way, you know.”
“Traumatise me some more, why doncha?!” she cried, rocking back and forth in dismay. “Gosh darn it, is this what I have to look forward to? Just…sitting around waiting for my abilities to kick in in weird, unmentionable ways?”
He thought for a moment. “Actually…maybe not.”
“No?” she asked, interested. “What are you thinking?”
“Well…since we do know what to expect, instead of waiting for your abilities to show up over a number of years, how about we try to break them in ourselves?”
She frowned. “How do you mean?”
“I think it would be less traumatic if you learned how to control your abilities first, rather than have them creep up on you and run the risk of discovery,” he explained eagerly. “Sort of…like, help nature along, if that makes sense.”
She nodded, her eyes brightening. “That’s a great idea!” she exclaimed. “Anything’s better than having them hit me by surprise. Can we get started on that today?”
He laughed and shook his head. “I think you’ve done enough work for one day,” he said. “You’ve officially earned the right to chill. Until 9 o’clock tomorrow, that is.”
She chuckled and used her fingertip to move the cut-up pieces of chicken around the plate.
“So, what do I call you?” she asked, nibbling on a sliver of chicken. “Because I can’t keep calling you ‘Dude’.”
He laughed. “Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine,” he said. “What do you want to call me, Gabriella?”
She shrugged. “I dunno; Mr Kent’s kinda formal, and your first name’s a bit too familiar.”
“You can call me Clark, it’s okay,” he reassured her.
She lowered her gaze and gnawed on her lower lip, looking so much like Chloe at that moment.
“What about Dad?” she asked softly. “Will that work?”
He swallowed, suddenly overcome by a wave of emotion. “I’d like that,” he replied thickly. “I’d like that very much. And I know I haven’t earned it yet, but---”
“Oh, don’t worry - you will,” she smirked. “And…you can call me Gabby.”
Gabby. He’d called her that the day he’d met her, and she’d instructed him to call her Gabriella. He’d longed for the time when he could address her by her preferred name, and now that it was here…
“Thank you, Gabby,” he said, his voice sounding strange as his eyes stung with unshed tears. I’d like that, too.”
His daughter smiled, a huge radiant grin so very like her mother’s that lit her face up like a Christmas tree.
“I think you’ve got something in your eye,” she said with a twinkle in hers as she got to her feet. “I’ll go get you a handkerchief, and then we can go watch some TV.”
***
Chapter 7…